Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Cheers to your 2016 season! If you haven't started already, it's time to start thinking about your 2017 year of racing. When it comes to season planning, there are typically two types of athletes who fail with season planning. Athlete 1 - signs up for races without any thought as to the season as a whole. A race is open, looks "fun", wants redemption from racing it in the past or knows other athletes who are racing the same event are all typical responses as to how athletes plan their races. There's little thought as to the logistics and timing of these races and many times. Athlete 2 - So overwhelmed, doesn't like to plan or commit and just waits to register when the timing is right (typically, races close and the athlete has to find other options).  ------------------------- With so many races to choose from and so much unpredictability in life, you may be overwhelmed with the thought of having to register for races, book hotels/flights and as...

The alarm woke me (and Karel) up at 5:30am so that I had time to eat a pre-race/event meal (2 waffles + PB, syrup and banana for me) and to warm-up with a cup of coffee. My athlete/good friend Meredith arrived to our house (via car) at 7am and we all drove to the parking area for the Hincapie Gran Fondo, about 20 minutes away. I rode with Meredith to chat about the execution for the "fun" 80-mile bike event while Karel followed in his car. I'm sure you can agree with me when I say that you can't help but get excited when you see other like-minded individuals doing what you love to do. Despite the mid 40-degree temps, there was a big field full of vehicles, all with bike racks and a road lined with cyclists, heading a mile down the road to Hotel Domestique. It was very nostalgic as it reminded me of all of the bike events that I went to with Karel.  After riding our bikes on the hwy for 1 mile (we had the shoulder, which was marked off with cones...

There was a time when I was afraid to be on two wheels in a group ride. My skills were sketchy, I didn't feel one with my bike, I wasn't able to anticipate the dynamics of riding with other people, my cycling fitness didn't allow me to push when the group ride effort increased, my bike handling skills were horrible, my reaction time on my bike was non-existent and above all, I was afraid to ride around more experienced cyclists. I didn't grow up riding a bike so being on two wheels always felt foreign to me. Lucky me - I happened to marry a very experienced cyclist. Like with any fear in life, if you avoid what makes you feel uncomfortable, you'll never get better. When we moved to Greenville, SC. in May 2014, I traded the beach for the mountains and I was forced to become a better cyclist. Since learning how to ride a tri bike back in 2006 for my first season of endurance triathlons (a half and a full IM), it wasn't until we moved to Greenville, 8 year...

Do you have what it takes?  What exactly am I talking about? Self-improvement.  Some of the best feelings in life are when you feel like you improved. And not just any improvement like moving up a level at your job or learning a second language. While both meaningful and valuable, it's the moments in life when you overcome a challenge, typically with a bit of suffering, and you feel like you are really living life to the fullest, while doing something worthwhile with your body. This is why it's commonly said that sports change people. Being an athlete is a title that changes you forever. I believe it's a great thing to be an athlete as it fosters great dedication, commitment, focus and passion to many other areas in life - not related to sports. You can't deny that the satisfaction of proving something to yourself as an athlete, perhaps something that you didn't think was possible, is an invigorating feeling. Because the proving requires hard work, in...

As a triathlete, I have to be prepared for any and all race day conditions and scenarios. My sport is not singular but instead, a dynamic mix of three sports - swim, bike, run.  As a coach, I have to be prepared for any and all race day conditions and scenarios to help my athletes overcome race day curve balls. A cancelled swim, a modified bike course, a cancelled, then rescheduled race, non stop rain, freezing cold and windy, extremely hot, two flat tires, GI issues, cramps.....yep, we have dealt with it all by our Trimarni athletes.  A few scenarios come to mind:  2014 IMFL - cancelled swim, cold and windy bike While at the venue, just a short time before the IM Swim start, the swim was cancelled due to swells in the ocean. Karel and I had to think fast and thankfully, our athletes had their cell phones on them as there was a period of time between the cancelled swim and TT bike start that we could re-establish a new game plan. As c...

In the spring, I read  an article from Bethany Rutledge about the perfect pain cave for your budget and it made me so happy. I have always been a gym lover but over the years, I've learned that time management is extremely important as an adult age group triathlete. We could not be more pleased with our at-home gym and how useful it is for our active lifestyle.  A lot of time and money goes into a home-gym but in my opinion, it's a huge time-saver and it's cost effective.  We can workout no matter the weather. We can workout no matter the time of the day.  We can workout when we don't want to commute to the gym. We can workout even when we don't have the energy to workout. We can workout without distractions.  We can workout and suffer in privacy.  I can imagine that there are some pretty nice at-home gyms with some pricey equipment but for us, we needed an at-home gym that was practical for our swim/bike/run lifestyle. Although trainin...

Look...mountains!  It's crazy to think that it was just a week ago when we were swimming with fishes in the ocean, and sweating in the lava fields. This past Saturday, we returned back to our mountains (with arm warmers) and explored a new route on two wheels (on road bikes). I absolutely LOVE cycling this time of the year - the tree leaves are so pretty! Our route was familiar to me as I had rode it at the Purple Patch Fitness (PPF) Greenville camp but it was new to Karel. It's crazy to think that we have lived here in Greenville for 2.5 years and have never done the   Green River Cove loop  together!! I am absolutely in love with this 20-mile loop! The beauty, the switchbacks, the descends, the climbing, the flat roads, the river views, the nice pavement, the quite roads, the mountains...it has everything a cyclist should love when riding on two wheels! Seeing that we will ride this loop at the end of the 80-mile Hincapie Gran Fondo next Saturday...