Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

As usual, another week down, another week closer to my wedding. But among the happy times of counting down and finishing up a few last details, I still try to squeeze in everything I do which makes my life very eventful. For 1 whole week Karel and I were without AC. Actually, our AC worked but it was stuck on 86-degrees. I didn't mind it at first but the evening was just awful. And since I am spending a lot of time at my computer I was super hot in my hot apartment. We first bought a fan so we could get through the night without waking up all sweaty but then when maintenance came last mon morning we were so happy that he said he fixed it. After I came home from school on that Monday afternoon I realized it was not fixed and something was really wrong. We gave it a week because we were told it needed some time to cool off our 3rd floor apartment but I think 7 days was a bit too long. On Mon, Karel explained all the AC details to the maintenance man and once again the AC was being wo...

I'm not a big pasta fan. The name Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill doesn't really get me excited for pasta. I'm more of a pizza girl. When I think thin crust pizza, light on the cheese, lots of marinara sauce and loads of veggies...my mouth starts watering....yummmmmm. But enough about me. For all the pasta lovers out there, I have created a healthy (yes, you heard me right) lasagna . I love cooking for Karel and I love trying new meal ideas. When I was heading to Wal-Mart for a few groceries on Friday afternoon I texted Karel if he wanted anything in particular for dinner. He will eat anything so I usually don't ask him what he wants but when I received the text "Lasanga" I started to cringe. Lasanga!!!?? I knew this meal wouldn't be for me but I do not feed Karel foods that I wouldn't eat. I would not cook for him a high fat, high calorie and big portion meal even if he could get away with eating it all. I am all about showing people that meals can be...

If you think this blog is about me you are wrong. Baby steps....change for me takes time :) As for my other half (wedding countdown 41 days!), Karel has added a new addition to our cycling family by taking up a new sport. As if these bikes weren't enough for him.... He now has a mountain bike (no pic yet..the bike seems to stay at the Trek Store). Karel is now a mountain biker here in Florida. According to my dad Karel is a little clueless if he thinks he can ride on mountains here in Florida but I think karel is proving my dad wrong. Karel got his mountain bike about 2 weeks ago and has fallen in love with it. His first moment of love at first sight (or ride) was at the Trek Conference in WI. Ever since the text message "I have to get a mountain bike" I think Karel was feeling the effects of his long cycling season. Karel is ready for his base training which means lots of hours on the bike in the winter. He still wants to race but the motivation to train anaerobically/ha...

This morning I rode with a new group, new people and new routes. This is BIG for me because I am a creature of habit. I love riding with people I know and on the same routes. Probably my type-A personality and my fear of change but unless my sidekick/comfort blanket(Karel) is with me to ease my worries I will get super excited for new routes and groups but then make an excuse to not go for weeks! Well, no excuses this morning. I planned on going to the beach and meeting up with my friend Kellie this morning and riding 60 miles with a group of triathletes and running 3 miles with Kellie and her friend Joy. Of course, I was a little extra motivated to train at the beach because I have not been to the ocean in Jax since we moved and I really wanted to go in the water and play. This morning started at 5:15am when I woke up, started the coffee and got dressed. I packed my bag, filled up my bottles and put my bike in my car on friday night. I prepared my 1/4 cup oatmeal, raisins and a little...

IMKY 2009: Swim - 1:04 - 1:06 T1 - 4 min - 6 min. Bike - 5:43 - 5:48 T2 - 4 min - 5 min. Run - 3:40 - 3:50 Total: 10:35 - 10:59 There, I did it. I opened up about my race goal for IMKY. Ok, now it is your turn. Do you ever find yourself doubting your potential before a race? Doubting your race goals or race expectations the days before a race. What about a year before a race? Do you find yourself doubting your potential to go a specific time during a race, when it is months before you even start training for a specific race? Are we afraid of letting down our training partners or coaches if we talk about a race goal time and then not achieve that time? Or, do we let down ourselves, considering the race performance as a failure, if we don't go that certain time? Where do we get these times that become our race goal time? These are the numbers that we dream in our head during a company meeting, write on a notepad in your work/home office or visualize as you are swimming repetitive lap...

I recently spoke to the Hammerhead triathlon club here in Jacksonville. I spoke about pre race nutrition but I also wrote an article for their monthly newsletter on keeping your heart healthy. I know it is great to eat whatever you want after you put in a long weekend of training or several days of two-a-days. However, it is likewise important to keep your insides looking as good as your outsides. I wanted to post my eat this not that suggestions since I'm sure a lot of people won't take the time to find alternatives to their favorite treats. This section took me a good 3-days to find all these suggestions. When looking for better alternatives I don't have specific criteria except for reducing sugars, eliminating trans fats and seeking out lower-calorie, satisfying treats. You can read the whole article on the hammerhead triathlon club website http://hammerheadtriathlonclub.com/files/NewsLetter/Newsletter%202008%2009-10.pdf (pg. 8 and 12) Eat this……not that! Instead of Jif ...

I get questions ALL the time about how many calories a person needs for training. For me, I believe people should keep things simple and focus on the bigger things in life rather than counting calories. However, with a recommended calorie count in mind, in order to foster weight loss and to contribute to gains in performance, I believe that women should eat around 1800-2200 calories/day and men around 2400-2800 calories a day. Of course those ranges are given to account for training volume and intensity but I really don't believe that an active woman needs 3000 calories on a daily basis in order to fuel her exercise. Similarly, I don't think Karel gets close to 3500 calories on his big training weekends when he can easily put in 250 miles in 3 days of racing. I do, however, recommend taking in 150-250 extra calories a day for every hour of exercise. This would be an easy way to take the guessing away from how to eat on long training days versus's recovery days. The reason w...