Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Wow, I can't believe it's finally here. It's race week! Just three more sleeps until race day. A little update from this week. Karel, his mom and Campy started their journey to Madison, WI on Monday morning with a long drive to Indianapolis. They spent the night and then finished the drive on Tues. With traffic and a few stops, it was a long two days of traveling. The house was pretty quiet for me for a day and a half but I kept myself busy with a few light workouts and work until I left for the airport on Tues afternoon. My athlete and friend Thomas and I flew from Greenville to Detroit to Madison on Tues evening and all went smoothly. Since Karel had our bikes and all my race stuff, I traveled pretty light with only a backpack. To be honest, the week was a little stressful to start because of all the flooding in Madison and the great possibility of a cancelled swim and the unknowns of the bike and run course. Thankfully, the Ironman staff went above and beyond ...

Running does not require a gym membership, it's fairly inexpensive and you can do it almost anywhere (and anytime). It comes with a list of benefits including body composition changes, fitness gains, stress relief and improved self-confidence. Plus, when you run outside, you get to explore nature with your senses. Running is also a great way to feel connected to your community.  While running can provide you with a great endorphin-rush, making you feel like you are capable of tackling everything on your to-do list after you finish your workout, running does come with a few downfalls. Running is very corrosive on the body and comes with a great risk of injury. Running requires good range of motion as well as exceptional cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength. Injuries due to overtraining, poor biomechanics and improper shoes or increasing mileage too quickly are very common in runners of all fitness levels. For triathletes, aside from injuries, one of the bi...

I can't believe that it's race week!! Just 6 more days until my 14th Ironman on one of the most awesome race courses on the US Ironman circuit. I can't wait for the cheers from the crowds as Madison knows how to put on a top-notch event. Thanks to the recent live Facebook coverage of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, I think I am officially antsy to race. Whereas last week was filled with normal pre-race emotional highs and lows, I was so inspired by the gutsy and strong performances by the female and male athletes at Worlds that I now want my turn to feel the pressure and excitement of racing. If you didn't watch the coverage, go watch it as it'll fire you up for your upcoming workouts or races. Karel and I are huge fans of the sport of triathlon and we just love watching other athletes in action. There's always something to learn from the professionals and now with the live coverage, we can really see all parts of the ...

                                                       2010 Ironman Wisconsin Finisher! When I started training for my first Ironman, I was really obsessed with volume. I felt that with every workout, the more miles/hours that I could accumulate, the more prepared I would be (IMFL '07). While I had a great day of racing and loved the entire race day experience, this mindset didn't serve me well in my second season of long distance triathlon racing. I got injured just before the Ironman World Championship - my very first IM Kona. Over the next six years, I made a lot of mistakes with my training. I was still able to race but I was always frustrated that I couldn't stay consistent with training. My body never felt strong enough to handle the volume and intensity of training that I felt I should be doing to improve as an Ironman triathlete. It wa...

One of my favorite parts about nearing the end of an Ironman journey is reflecting on all of the past training sessions that occurred over the past year. Even more so, I like to think back to all of my previous Ironman events to remember why I love the 140.6 mile distance. I have 13 Ironman experiences to reflect on and each one came with highs and lows while getting myself to the start and finish line. There's something so special about the process of mentally and physically preparing for this extreme one-day event. While it may seem like an arduous task, I think of it like any other project in life that requires patience, trust, commitment, consistency and flexibility. I also feel strongly that the Ironman distance is an event to be taken very seriously for it takes a huge toll on the body and mind. While there's a big commitment to the training, I never feel like training takes over my life. If anything, I really enjoy the training for it provides me just enough of a re...

Far too many athletes are abusing and excessively relying on pain relieving/anti-inflammatory medications (ex. buprofen and Naproxen) before or after exercise to reduce muscle soreness, aches, pains and niggles. What's even worse is hearing the many stories of athletes using NSAID's to get through a workout or race! T hese drugs aren’t without serious side-effects. Overuse can cause a delay in musculoskeletal tissue repair and bone healing. NSAIDs can also damage your digestive tract, liver and kidneys. Other adverse effects are ulcers and internal bleeding. Keeping in mind that inflammation  is a normal and necessary adaptation to training (it's also your body’s protective response to injury or infection), it's to your performance and health advantage to explore a safer way to reduce pains, niggles and soreness.    Instead of popping a pill, consider the skin as an effective organ to absorb nutrients. Since the skin is being used more frequently as a means ...

Since my first Ironman in 2006, I've developed a strong connection to my body. Rather than seeing it for what it looks like, I constantly thank my body for what it allows me to do. While it's not easy in a body-image obsessed society, Karel and I spend no time discussing body image in our house. We don't weigh ourselves so we couldn't tell you what our "race weight" was at any of our past races.  There's no dieting, restrictive eating, watching what we eat or cheat meals. I'd say that our house is a very good place if you'd like to eat where there are no food rules, off-limit foods or controversial food discussions. While our dedication to sport, love for an active lifestyle and enjoyment for wholesome eating greatly influences the way we look, we have never fallen victim to the idea of "competitive leanness"  - that the leaner we are, the more competitive (or faster) we will be in sport. We've never tried to change the way that ...