Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

  Over the past 50 years, a significant amount of research has shown the important role of glycogen for delaying fatigue in athletes competing in endurance and ultra endurance events. Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates. In humans, small amounts of glycogen are also found in tissues and cells, like the kidneys, red blood cells and brain. Glycogen is primarily stored primarily in the cells of the liver (~100g) and skeletal muscle (~500g). Skeletal muscles transform chemical energy to mechanical work. Glycogen is the body's predominant source of energy during moderate to high intensity activity. The depletion of muscle glycogen during endurance activity causes early fatigue.  Dietary carbohydrates are converted to glucose - the main source of energy for the body and brain. For the non-diabetic population, when you eat a carb-rich meal, your blood glucose will rise. Increased blood glucose signals the pancreas to produce insulin - a very important hormone that helps the...

  Every sport has its own nutritional considerations. For example, the needs of a 100 meter swimmer are very different than a 10K open water swimmer - even though both are swimmers. The same is true of a marathon runner compared to a long distance triathlete - even though both run 26.2 miles. While nutrition is important for every type of athlete, the nutritional demands of training and racing are different for every athlete and depend on factors such as distances and intensities being performed, as well as on the type of terrain, temperature and altitude.  With respect to endurance and ultra endurance events, athletes experience numerous physiological stressors which can have significant health and performance consequences. Certainly, proper fueling and hydrating can minimize the risk of issues. From glycogen depletion and dehydration to muscle damage and GI issues, many athletes have a poor understanding of how to fuel appropriately during long distance activity - or intenti...

  Every Day is Earth Day. Our oceans are in a critical state, wildlife populations are declining and dangerous weather conditions are becoming more frequent and severe. Mother Earth is struggling. Humanity is destroying the planet. With all she gives us every day, she deserves a lot of love, care and respect. There are many simple things we can do each day to save the environment. Even the smallest of things can make a big difference. We all need to fulfill our responsibilities and make the effort to protect mother Earth. Remember - this is the only planet where life is possible. Our well-being depends entirely on this planet. It is our responsibility to take care of it.

  There are no shortcuts in life. When I decided to become a Registered Dietitian, I knew it would be a long, costly and demanding endeavor. I could have settled for a nutrition certification but not matter how many certifications I received and no matter how many articles I read, nothing would give me the education, experience and professionalism of becoming a Registered Dietitian. In today's society, there appears to be a shortcut for almost anything. Overnight, you can practically buy, become or be anything you want. But sadly, shortcuts don't get you very far. Rather than moving fast, you get stuck. Even worse, cutting corners gets you off track. In a society that worships speed, we must not forget that the journey (or experience) is what matters. Invest time, money and effort into yourself. If you have a goal or there's something important in your life that you want to achieve/experience, there's no magic formula. The tips are simple. Establish a short and long-ter...

Training for an endurance or ultra endurance event is similar to a dose-response assessment.  The goal of this type of scientific test is to determine the required dose to produce a specific outcome (or response). Sadly, when it comes to endurance athletes, far too many athletes are doing work without eliciting a positive or beneficial response.  As it relates to training, the right amount of stress can produce significant fitness gains but too much stress results in high risk of injury, sickness, overtraining and burnout. Not enough stress is simply exercising and doesn't induce favorable change in physiology for race readiness. Training stress shouldn't be associated just with weekly volume as the athlete training 8 hours a week can be as vulnerable to overtraining as the athlete training 20 hours a week.  So why is it that so many endurance and ultra endurance athletes are training so much and so hard but struggling with recovery, body composition, health issues and/or...

  We find it beneficial for our early season campers to participate in a race on the last day of camp. It's a great opportunity to dust of the rust in an early season race, applying everything learned from camp. Not surprisingly, every time we combine a race with a camp, our campers do incredibly well at the race. By removing any expectations or pressure to perform, our campers can simply focus on the small details while staying in the present moment. If only athletes could do this at the longer distance races and not get so overwhelmed by outcomes! 😁 We also find great value in doing a "short" distance race. For many long distance triathletes, short races become "not worth it" and are brushed to the side in favor of more training for half or full distance triathlon events. But in the short events, there's less breakdown and risk for setbacks alongside so many incredible opportunities to go through the motions and emotions that are experienced in long dista...

With so many training routes available to us in and around Greenville, SC. no two Trimarni camps are ever the same. With several returning athletes to our 2022 Early Season triathlon camp, we made sure to give our athletes new workouts, new routes and new experiences.  Every Trimarni camp includes the following:  -Safe run and cycling routes -Specific structured workouts (swim/bike/run) -Proper recovery and nutrition focus -Education -Specifically designed routes so that no one is too fast or too slow -Terrain management execution -Skills, technique and form focus -Race specific tips Our campers settled into Greenville, SC. on Wednesday afternoon/evening and we started our first day of camp bright and early on Thursday morning. The day before camp is always a bit hectic for me as I'm packing swag/goodie bags, printing off liability forms, triple checking the weather and pool reservations and answering any last minute questions from our campers. I always send out an itinerary b...