Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

You are probably hoping that I am going to write about how to plan your sport nutrition for race day or what percentage of your FTP you should hold while you are on the bike, how to swim fast in open water or the best way to run strong off the bike without your legs hurting. While having a plan can ease mental worries for the athlete who tries to predict/control a race day outcome, it's important to recognize that being race ready is more than just checking off workouts and having a strict plan for race day. Two years ago, at 2014 Ironman Wisconsin, something incredible happened. Karel and I both qualified for the 2015 Ironman World Championship. Although our goal was to both qualify, our results could not have been planned nor predicted. Karel: 9:44, 3rd AG (35-39), 9th overall male amateur. Marni: 10:44, 3rd AG (30-34), 6th overall male amateur. To the minute and the exact same podium spot, we both excelled to the best of our best ability on race day. The outcome of rac...

Yep, that's right. Tacos for breakfast. Or, as a recovery meal after a long workout. And maybe even for dinner too! There's no overthinking breakfast tacos. 1) Take your favorite omelet ingredients and scramble them all together in a skillet. 2) Stuff inside a taco (or two, or three). 3) Top with your favorite omelet/taco toppings - gauc, cheese, sour cream, salsa. 4) Yum ------------------ On Saturday afternoon, after a 4 hour ride, I was suddenly in the mood for something savory and crunchy. Although my post ride pancakes were super delish, tacos sounded amazingly awesome while watching the live stream of the Ironman 70.3 Ironman World Championship. I sauteed kale in a skillet and added mushrooms and onions. When my veggies were cooked, I scrambled together 2 eggs and combined with my sauteed veggies. I then took taco shells and slathered the inside with smashed avocado, sprinkled on the shredded cheese (so that it would melt on the shell when I added my hot ingredien...

Sport nutrition products are designed to enhance performance, specifically during prolonged activity when glycogen depletion and dehydration can compromise energy metabolism. Therefore, a major goal of sport nutrition companies is to formulate a variety of products, in all types of textures, flavors and forms, to help athletes train and compete with optimal power, speed, strength, stamina and mental focus.  There is great research showing that carbohydrate-based fuels are the predominant energy source at high intensities and during long duration, to postpone fatigue. Because a decline in muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbohydrates) can greatly limit endurance performance, sugar, the primary ingredient in most sport drinks, can be absorbed quickly to help maintain steady blood glucose levels. Unlike the untrained athlete, a trained athlete has a favorable response to sugar during exercise, not to mention that the sport nutrition has a clear need and reaso...

Mmmmm, homemade pancakes for breakfast. Are you one of the many athletes who feels that something is off with your hunger? -You don't feel hungry before a workout OR you feel starving before a workout but you stop yourself from eating "too much" because you don't want to feel too full during your workout -You feel really hungry in the middle or toward the end of a workout -You have little appetite post workout OR you are starving post workout -When it's time to eat your meals, you don't feel hungry enough to eat but in between meals and in the evening, you are starving If you are an athlete who knows that there are times when you should/shouldn't be so hungry, but you just can't seem to understand or fix your hunger, something needs to change. I've worked with many athletes, just like yo,u and it's not just an annoying feeling to be hungry during your workouts and during snack time but have no appetite during meal time or befor/after w...

I may not have a triathlon race on my schedule but I'm training for Kona! Well, not as a participant this year but I am Karel's official training partner in the pool. Yes, that means that I will be doing every swim workout on Karel's PPF training plan, with him, between now and IM Kona race day. Teammwork makes the dream work...or Karel's case, misery loves company....as in the case of our main set of 8 x 300's (descend by 2 from 70% to very strong effort) this morning (4500 yards total swim). I'm also joining Karel for his easier workouts on the bike (Tri and road bikes).  And for his easy runs. And, I make sure his post workout snacks and meals are always ready for when he finishes a workout. It's a tough job but my reward is a 2-week trip to the big island of Kona in a few weeks! But it won't be all play in paradise as we have two Trimarni athletes racing their first IM World Championship (Justine and Leigh-Ann) so race week will be all about m...

Travel:  -Traveling to and from Mont Tremblant was fairly easy for us. We flew from Greenville, SC into Montreal (Newark layover going, Dulles layover returning), rented an SUV and drove 130km (~1 hour and 40 minutes) to Mont Tremblant. There was a little traffic around Montreal but around 40 minutes into our drive, the scenery changed to trees and hills and it was a beautiful drive into the village of Mont Tremblant. -It's very easy to rent a car at the airport as the rental car kiosk is right across the street, in the parking garage. I would strongly advise to rent a car from the airport and not off-site - it's just too easy to get the car right there, even if you save a few bucks off site. -The customs process did not take long for us when we arrived, however returning home, the customs at the Montreal airport (to fly into the US) took us over two hours to get checked in, go through customs, go through security and then to arrive to our gate (and the airport is no...

In the short time that we were back in our team house, I was doing a lot of calculations, with the help of a few tracker apps (thanks Ryan), to determine where I needed to be, and when, to cheer for our athletes on the bike. Luckily, our house was close to the 12-mile out and back section on the bike  which made it easy to walk to where I needed to be. Karel starting the bike before the rain started. However, once I got changed into dry clothes and ate some food, I realized I needed to hurry up to get down the hill to see Karel coming back from the out and back, before starting his second loop. I ran down the hill with my umbrella, in the rain and sprinted my way up the hill to a spot where I could see Karel coming down the hill to my right, but also I could asee the other Trimarni's starting the out and back to my left. Despite the pouring rain, there were spectators out cheering for the athletes. Knowing Karel's riding style, I spotted a flash of orange and k...