Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

After several months of waiting, we finally received our 2022 Trimarni kits. We have a new company , new design and new colors. We weren't sure how it would all turn out but we could not be happier! Receiving a new training or race day kit is a special moment. As an athlete, you do incredible things with your body on a daily basis. And when it comes to race day, you are often doing what others think is impossible. Every time you get dressed to use your body for sport, you deserve to wear clothes that make you feel confident, empowered and happy. A great mood boost can come from wearing clothes that make you feel so proud of your active and healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, the long-awaited arrival of your new outfit may cause a mood drop - especially if you feel unhappy with your body image when trying on your new training or race day kit. When something doesn't fit right and you feel uncomfortable, it can mess with your head.  If you are an athlete, there is a good chance that...

Last week (while dealing with Madison's declining health ) we had two of our athletes in town for a 2.5 day private training camp. The focus of the camp was improving off-road bike handling skills (gravel biking). We also included swim/run training in the camp as our athletes have several triathlons on their schedule. But with their first ever ultra-distance gravel event (150-mile) happening late summer, it was important that our athletes improve their gravel skills to that they can both feel more comfortable, safe and confident when training off-road.  Although the weather was not in our favor with predicted rain all day on Thurs and Friday (the two full days of their camp), we got incredibly lucky in that we were able to drive to two different locations and entirely miss the rain. Even better, on Thursday we were able to ride in a short sleeve jersey and shorts!  For Zach and Ashley's camp (husband and wife from Nebraska) we completed the following over 2.5 days:  Thurs...

  For any pet owner, saying goodbye to a beloved furry family member can be one of the most difficult times in life. This past week was incredibly hard as we were so close to saying goodbye to our eldest cat Madison (14 years old). Although she is still with us, we aren't sure how much time we have left with our sweet, kind, affectionate and always-by-my side Madison.  On Saturday evening (1/29), Madison was acting completely normal. She was eating normally, following her normal routine and not showing any signs of concerns. On Sunday morning (1/30), everything changed. Madison stopped eating and drinking and started acting unlike herself. She became lethargic and wanted to be by herself. Although this had happened twice in the past (2019), we were a bit concerned with her being older. We took her to the vet on Monday (1/31) and the vet was concerned about her hat. She was quickly diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (a feline type of cardiac disease that causes the...

A few millimeters of blood holds a vast amount of personal information. Although a blood test may appear costly and inconvenient, blood testing offers a quick, reliable and straightforward way of receiving a powerful amount of personalized information that can help you maximize health, overall well-being and performance.getting your blood analyzed with careful interpretation by a sport-specific professional can show how your genetics, training, nutrition, recovery and lifestyle factors impact your biomarkers.  Why guess when you can test?  Let's look into a few reasons why athletes (and fitness enthusiasts) should get routine blood tests:  Health - Blood tests are not just for optimizing performance. First and foremost, a blood test can check for certain diseases, conditions and deficiencies. Because every biomarker has a range or specific number that represents "normal," you can learn if you have a shortage or excess of a specific factor in the blood. A blood test i...

  True to its name, the last GVL WBL was a cold one. Like really really cold. The location changed to Donaldson (~7-mile loop) due to possible ice/snow on the planned route. The start time was also moved back to 11am to give time for it to warm up. However, when we started the ride, it was ~32 degrees F and the wind chill was in the 20s (and the wind was gusty!).  It was one for the record books for me - I  have never biked in such cold conditions before!  I was really proud of myself for doing the group ride and collecting a few more points before the podium ceremony at the Think Tank Brewery. The ride was "only" 35 miles (1:46). We did one warm-up loop and then it was time for the action - each loop had a designated group that was "sprinting". The women went on loop 3 and 5. The last loop also included the QOM/KOM. It was a spicy ride and the strong wind and cold made it even tougher. And just when I thought I was done and ready to defrost in the car, a group of ~...

After completing 17 Ironman distance triathlons, I have become good friends with fatigue. Over the past few years I have become much better at tolerating fatigue. Winning my age group at IM Chatt ('17), IMWI ('18) and IMLP ('21) and qualifying for the Ironman World Championship six times has proved to me that becoming a better long-distance triathlete is all about consistency, patience and strength.  Over the past few years, there's been a great amount of talk over fat burning as a metabolic approach to delay fatigue and to improve endurance performance. Carbohydrate fuels are limited in the body and glycogen (stored carbs) depletion is a major cause of fatigue during high duration activities. Therefore, by increasing the reliance on fat for fuel (because fat fuel supplies are unlimited in the body), endurance athletes can delay fatigue through increased fat burning. To increase fat oxidation during exercise, athletes often resort to fasted training, a high-fat/low carb...

Mindful eating. Intuitive eating. Both approaches are used by Anti-Diet and Health at Every Size dietitians. While these two eating approaches complement each other, there are some important differences. Intuitive eating is a framework created by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch based on their work with eating disorder recovery. They are most known for the 10 principles of intuitive eating, which center around making peace with food, rejecting the diet mentality and to learn how to develop a healthier relationship with food. Intuitive eating goes beyond the eating experience to encourage people to change their relationship with food and the body. Mindful eating is awareness that arises from paying attention, eating with purpose, eating non-judgmentally and being in the present moment. Mindful eating encourages you to use your senses in choosing to eat food that is satisfying and nourishing to you and your body. It means you acknowledge your likes, dislikes and neutral respon...