Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

This past weekend was the last official cycling race of the Florida Cycling racing series. What a LONG season. Karel typically races in early Feb and then takes a short break in mid summer and then finishes up the cycling season in the fall. This year Karel finished his last official race a week after I did IMWI. Karel had an excellent race, finishing 2nd and guaranteed his win as Florida Cup Pro 1,2 Series Champion. The State Road Race was not on Karel's to-do list but since the award banquet was on sat evening (after the age-group road race) he decided to race both on sat and sun (category road race). As I mentioned in a previous post, Karel has been spending much of his off-season drinking beer (opps..don't think I mentioned that) as well as lifting, doing plyo's, mountain biking and fixed gear riding. There have been a few runs and swims in his off-season routine as well. Not so much road biking but we did ride together a few times in the past month. Even though Karel w...

This is just what I needed after a long day of interning. It was a breezy 80-degrees yesterday so I'm thinking that this recipe is going to comfort all of my blog readers who live outside of Florida. When it comes to comfort food, I think we all associate the comforting food with a former memory or habit. In order to change a few old eating habits, try adding some of your favorite treats to your heart-healthy recipes. It may take some time weaning yourself away from old favorites, but eventually I think you will find yourself gravitating more towards wholesome foods and less towards processed (or high fat) options. We had some leftover Sun Chips from my Theme menu a few weeks ago so I decided to top our soup with a little crunch from the chips. If you are a salty or crunchy eater, topping a bowl full of veggies is a perfect way to incorporate something old with something new. The cornbread was super spicy. It was a little dense because I used whole wheat flour but when served warme...

Although I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian there is no part of my diet that is short on protein. From peanut butter and nuts to cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, milk, vegetarian meats, tofu, beans, lentils, whey protein and greek/low fat yogurt...I sure do love my protein. Considering that my diet is primarily plant-based, I enjoy rounding out my meals and snacks with high fiber carbohydrates (ex. whole grains) as well as healthy fats and good sources of vegetarian protein. One of the essential proteins in my diet (as well as for Karel) is whey protein. There is always a container of whey protein in my kitchen. Even if I am not training intensely in the off-season (or high volume during the week), whey protein is an excellent complete protein to help me meet my daily protein needs and when necessary, quickly repair after workouts. Considering that I have used whey protein since college, I am thrilled with the amount of scientific research done on whey protein in relation to the elderly, indi...

This recipe never gets old....Enjoy my previous Halloween post (and recipe).. One word: YUM! I made these on Fri for Laura's Halloween Party and then again on Sat for Shawn's party. Pics of our costumes will be posted tomorrow. I couldn't decide what to make for Laura's party. I had a zillion ideas but pretzels came to mind while I was at swim practice at 6am Fri morning. I had heard of chocolate dipped pretzels for the winter holidays, but I decided to do my own Halloween/black and orange spin on this easy recipe. Athletes are pretty familiar with pretzels and they seem to be a staple in the taper-diet of an Ironman athlete. Not sure if it is the salt or the carbs, but I must say that pretzels do make a yummy snack. Although pretzels do make a healthy snack compared to many chips which are high in fat or sodium, the calories in pretzels can add up as you reach in the bag and before you know it, you've been snacking for more than 10 minutes. Here's...

I am not one to repeat articles or repeat blogs. However, I wrote this blog in 2009 and I would like to re-post it for my new readers. In anticipation for this upcoming holiday (and for the holidays in Nov and Dec), I'd like for you to please keep in mind my philosophy of having a healthy relationship with food as you read this article. I'm not a parent (only a doggy parent) so it is unlikely that there will be Halloween candy in our place on October 31st. I do not work in an office so I am pretty sure that I will not be indulging in the office candy bowl at 10am and 3pm everyday. Lastly, I am not a big fan of the selection of candy at Halloween so there will be no tootsie rolls, lollipops or butterfingers in our place. I am not anti-Halloween Candy. I am just not ok with people going with the all-or-nothing approach when it comes to sweet treats. You eat something you normally don't eat and you feel guilty. Then you say "who cares" and you overindulge. Or, on the...

I just L-O-V-E the off-season. I have so much fun exercising and mixing in lots of different activities into my routine. Last week, Karel asked if I would run with him twice during the week. WHAT???!??! a run with my cycling hubby? How could I pass that up? Without sounding too bitter...Karel's first run in 365 days blew me away. Not sure if I was more surprised that I could average 7:30 min/miles for the 3.12 mile run at 5pm on a sunday evening or that Karel could pace me for a sub 7 min mile for the last mile. Yes-Karel is athletically gifted and we can all be jealous of him...errrrr A few days later we went for another run and average 8 min/miles. We were just chatting away around 7pm on a Tuesday evening. Such fun running with Karel but this week was a no-evening run week. Karel is gearing up for his last race of the season this weekend - the Florida Road Race State Championships. Karel's season ended about a month ago so this race will be for fun. I sure have missed the cy...

Although most of my meals are vegetarian for both Karel and myself, I like to be a little creative with my non-vegetarian meals. Because Karel isn't a vegetarian, it's really important that I give him some type of fish-meal at least twice a week. Tuna is really simple for me since I don't have to do much cooking with a can of tuna packed in water. Karel just loves it when I make him tuna salad. Although I didn't do it in this recipe, I often make a tofu/egg salad for myself and then add the tuna for Karel. I never feel as if I go out of my way to make vegetarian meals because the foundation of both Karel and my diet is plant-based. Therefore, by focusing on the wholesome ingredients first and foremost, I find it rather easy to add in other macronutrients (carbs, fat and protein) to balance out the meal depending on our workout intensity and duration for the day. This recipe can be made hot or cold. I like to have a variety of flavors, textures and temperatures when I pl...