Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Karel explained to me the bike course. I knew the "scary" descends, the "scary" turns and the "tough" climbs. Those are my words, not Karel's. He loved the course. Overall, I loved the course. I wasn't scared and I didn't find it impossible. I did find it very challenging but I knew it would be like nothing I had ever experienced before. I have improved a lot on the bike in the past year and with the last few months dedicated to specific Ironman training with my power meter (thanks to Shawn) I had confidence in this bike course. Karel told me not to worry on an overall time and to just race my plan. Shawn told me to stay within a certain power, especially during the first 70 miles of the course. Because I did not drive the entire course, I re-drew the bike course so I could visualize the course and I also used Mapmyride.com to see where the elevation changes occurred on the course and how long each climb would be. In addition to the help from K...

I woke up at 4:10am for breakfast and coffee. I have to admit that I was nervous. Not as nervous as on Sat, but nervous for the day. On Saturday, I had a slight breakdown for the 112 mile bike ride because Karel told me it was challenging. Although he gave me great details about the race and specifics on the course, I was so scared for the descends. After breakfast, I put on my speed suit and Karel and I headed to the transition area to check in my T1 and T2 gear bags, put in my water bottles and bento box and pump my tires. My wonderful and amazing parents got up at 4am to go wait in line at the swim start. I have the best parents in the world!! After doing my bike stuff, Karel and I made the .6 mile walk from transition area to the swim start. Once again, Karel had me laughing the whole walk. I kept telling him that my tummy hurt but he confirmed that it was just nerves. I tried to listen to him but of course it's hard to knock out all those negative thoughts in your head before ...

I AM an Ironman!! I just love hearing that at the finish line... I was smiling ear to ear from mile 25 to the finish line. RR (with pics) to come shortly. Probably in the middle of the night tonight when I can't sleep because my quads are burning. Karel, my parents and myself are heading to watch the last hour of finishers soon. I had a lot of goals for the race today. Although I had a hip pain for the first half of the run, which turned into intense quad tightness for the second half, I can honestly say that today was a great day for me. I PR'd in the swim and bike and set a best time for an IM. I broke 11 hours!!! I didn't want to look at my watch but at mile 25 I knew that I would come in before 6pm which meant that I would break 11 hours. The pics I will post show my excitement. Thanks to everyone for your support today. I thought about a lot of things on the course today. The day went by fast, the course was beautiful and I loved every minute of the swim, bike and run ...

You can't wait for the day to come and then you want just one more day...or you need just one more day. If I only had one more day. Well, I have no more days and the time has come for me to put all that training to use. The bags are on the Great Lawn, the bike is sitting on the rack, my swim gear and timing chip are next to the door and I have nothing more to do than to sleep, eat and walk to the race venue with near perfect racing conditions. It was great seeing Karel yesterday. He makes me laugh so much and with my parents here with me, I have lots of smiles going into this race. Last night my family and I went to Bearno's Pizza and it was just what I needed. Good veggie pizza. Afterwards, I showed Karel the finish line at 4th street live and Karel joined me for the Athlete Meeting. The meeting was great and it was very informative and funny. There were so many athletes there, it was almost overwhelming. It was a great way to end the evening. After the meeting, Karel put tog...

Enjoying the IM experience. I grew up in Lexington, KY and moved to Florida when I was 22 years old. It is great to be back in my home state. My mom and I ate dinner at 4th street live last night and I had a super yummy salad at a sports bar. I can't wait until I reach the finish line at 4th street live on Sun, it is going to be a HUGE party!!!! Since I picked up my packet yesterday all I had to do this morning was swim. I met up with Jen L. who I had done a nutrition consult for, about a year or so ago. I just love meeting athletes who I have helped in the past (and present). I have also met a TON of Beginner Triathlete athletes, who have been volunteering at the race. What would we do without all these fantastic volunteers???? THANK YOU!!! The swim was great. No waves, no salt water...just the lovely taste of the Ohio River. It is strange being back here because my very first Olympic triathlete (2nd triathlon ever, just a few months before I moved to FL for grad school) was in ...

Karel is packing up my bike in the bike box, my mom is calling to remind me not to forget x,y and z and I am smiling from all the facebook comments and emails from friends I have met and those who I know by a blogger account. When a triathlete signs up for an Ironman, it takes more than high volume training for 3-4 months. After signing up for a M-dot Ironman, you have a year to prepare yourself and others for the decision you made to train for a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. Then you prepare yourself and others for your mood/attitude after a hot and long brick workout or an intense interval workout. You come home glycogen depleted some days and on other days you want to tell everyone you know about your fantastic workout. Sure, you talk in "tri" lingo and you get deer-in-headlight stares from people when you talk about power, HR, zones, hypoxic sets or pace...but because this person cares about you, he/she listens and pretends he/she understands. On the ...