Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Photo by Deuce Bradshaw. Unwanted in training and competition, GI issues frequently impair performance and recovery. The three main causes of GI symptoms include physiological (reduced blood flow to the gut), mechanical (bouncing/jumping) or nutritional (diet/sport nutrition). For example, during exercise, blood flow to the digestive system is impaired so the stomach may reject ingested food or fluids, sending them out of the body - either up or down. Common upper and lower GI issues include: UPPER GI ISSUES LOWER GI ISSUES Nausea Intestinal cramping Vomiting Side stitch Stomach pain/cramps Gas Bloating Loose stools/diarrhea Belching Intestinal bleeding Heartburn/reflux Urgency to defecate Severity differs depending on the athlete and sport. For example, the high-impact nature of running may jostle the gastric system, contributing to lower GI issues. In cycling, posture on th...

Within the endurance sport world, it's not uncommon to see/hear of athletes manipulating training and the diet in an effort to change body composition, to improve health or to boost performance. Although endurance sports welcome all body shapes and sizes and training approaches, many athletes accidentally fall into the mindset that to be successful, an extreme style of eating and a rigorous training plan is necessary This begs the question "is training for an athletic event just a socially acceptable way to disguise an obsession with exercise and disordered eating habits?" Even if you are not obsessed with training miles, body image or the marginal gain approach, it's still rather easy to become extreme with your choices when training for an endurance event - especially if you are following the journey of another athlete. There are many athletes who have been forced away from the sport due to injury or health issue (mental or physical), only to spend years tryi...

Have you ever noticed that you are constantly talking to yourself? While you may not always be aware of what's going on in your mind, there's often a conversation or two going on in your head.  Don't worry - you are not alone in this. We all have an inner voice. Interestingly, most people are incredibly hard on themselves and have a really harsh inner critic. For athletes, saying things like "You are too fat" or "You are so slow" or "You are not ready" or  "You should just give up" or "You will never be successful" are not productive thoughts - especially if you are approaching a workout or race. You may not realize how much your inner critic is telling you that you are never good enough. These destructive thoughts may be difficult to identify, especially when you are stressed, nervous, overwhelmed or anxious. One of the biggest mistakes of the inner critic is acting on your thoughts. If you hear that you are "too ...

As a lifelong swimmer, wearing a wetsuit is not something that I need when it comes to open water swimming. I actually would much rather swim without one. However, if a triathlon is wetsuit legal, I'll be sure to wear one as it does keep me warm in cold water and it gives me a little lift to make swimming faster a bit easier. Because I've spent over two decades mastering my body position, alignment and tautness in the pool, the wetsuit doesn't give me a huge advantage when I swim in the open water. Whereas for Karel - who just learned to swim in the summer of 2012 - the wetsuit gives him everything he needs to "speed up" his swim times. For me, I don't get the same significant advantage. For the past five plus years, we had a great relationship with Xterra wetsuits. The Vengeance was our wetsuit of choice and it worked really well for us. My fastest wetsuit legal open water time in an Ironman was 57.04 - set in Ironman Austria in 2016. Karel also had severa...

It doesn't matter the training session, you'll find me utilizing some type of sport nutrition product. Come race day, I have great confidence and experience in my race day fueling plan, which also helps me reduce the risk of race day GI, bonking and dehydration issues. I have no hesitations or concerns consuming sport nutrition products in all of my training sessions because I feel these products extend far beyond helping my body maximize performance and adapt to training stress. I believe my good relationship with sport nutrition products has helped me ward off illness over the past 12 years (no sickness since 2007!) and help reduce my risk for injury (last injury in 2013!). I've also been able to do a lot of incredible things with my body over the years. Thank you body! In our current society, sport nutrition has come very far. There are so many different types of sport nutrition products designed for your sport and most are very well formulated to provide your body...

Race week was very tough for me mentally and emotionally. On Monday, we made the incredibly difficult decision to say goodbye to Smudla - my best furry friend for the past 16.5 years. Tues was even worse for me. I was able to do my workouts but I felt like I was just going through the motions as I was completely empty inside. My sleep was off and so was my appetite. It was a rough week. I didn't even get around to packing my bike until late Tuesday afternoon. It was probably good that I was able to get away as I was constantly seeing and thinking of Smudla all around the house - even though she was no longer there. My flight left early Wed morning and I arrived in Vegas around lunchtime. Robb (our athlete and friend) picked me up at the airport and we arrived to St. George in the afternoon. After grocery shopping and then checking in to our rental house near Snow Canyon, I went for a short jog just to shake off the travel. It was a very long day of travel and my back was bot...

I always make sure to have fun when I train. Within a season, there may be a handful of workouts when I'm truly not enjoying the workout (typically around my menstrual cycle - ugh) but otherwise, there's joy when I train. I'm not immune to suffering or feeling uncomfortable during intense efforts but when I workout, you'll be sure to see a smile on my face as I'm happy, grateful and thankful for what I get to do with my body. Over the past six months, I've been training under the coaching guidance of Cait Snow (with the watchful eye of Julie Dibens). At the age of 36, after 13 consecutive years of endurance triathlon racing, I'm grateful for how much I've achieved in the sport. But I sought the experience, wisdom and accountability of a coach to see if I could unlock a bit more of my body's fitness potential.  With this in mind, I was aware that I'd be trying a new style of training and my coach would be giving me different training stressor...