Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Race recap:  As an early season race, I went into this knowing that I haven't done any race specific training so I saw this an opportunity to go through the motions again of racing. There was a lot of tough competition, which I don't mind as that's what racing is all about - racing whoever shows up on the day. The nice thing about this race is having a pool to warm-up in. As a non-competitive swimmer, I always need to warmup in the water before the start of the race. This helps me avoid the "panic" feeling of swimming hard right from the gun. I swam about 700 yards in my warm-up and also jogged about 10 minutes to continue my warm-up before the start of my race. The swim was non-wetsuit and AG wave start. The swim was very congested (especially with 6 turns) but I was happy with how I was able to swim, feeling strong and pushing all the way to the finish. The time was slow but it wasn't too bad for me as a non-wetsuit lake swim. My age group had two wave...

Many athletes believe that by reducing caloric/carb/fat intake and increasing training intensity/volume, performance will improve. But sadly, the opposite occurs. Sport performance declines, the risk for injury increases, hormones get out of whack, metabolism suffers and the body becomes overly stressed. Consider these tips to help keep your body in good health as you train to improve performance. 1) When training volume/intensity increases, your energy consumption must also increase.  An extreme jump in training volume/intensity does not make you a faster, stronger or fitter athlete. 2)  Stay on the path of your own developmental journey instead of jumping on the path of another athlete.  3) Loss of menstruation is not a normal part of training.  4) You do not have to achieve an ideal/specific body type to improve your performance or to experience success in sport. 5) Sport nutrition products are designed to help you adapt better...

Pre-race Going into the first race of the season, I had the typical phantom niggles (that make you believe you are injured) but thankfully, I didn't feel stale. With over nine hours of scheduled training from Mon-Saturday, each workout helped me sharpen-up for race day (Sunday). We stayed one mile from the race venue at  Balmoral Resort  and I would absolutely stay there again for this race. The location was perfect as we could jog, bike or drive to the venue through the back gate and could quickly access Publix grocery store for food. Although we didn't use all of the amenities at the resort, the house made for a relaxing stay leading up to the race. Having Campy with us also made our trip feel a bit more like home as he kept me on a routine and I always had something to look forward to throughout the day. Campy enjoyed all the new sights and smells and had plenty of butt rubs from our athletes. We shared the house with 4 of our athletes and the rest of our ...

The nerves were low for this race. I was bottled up with excitement to kick off the 2019 triathlon racing season. I remember my very first half Ironman (in Disney) back in 2006 and I was filled with thoughts of the unknown. But this beginner's mindset opened my mind to possibilities instead of being paralyzed by results. Over the past decade-plus of endurance triathlon racing, it's easy to compare race to race, often wanting to validate improvements by times and paces. However, I've wanted to do things differently this year - starting with my mindset. Instead of seeing improvements as pass or fail based on paces and times, I want to do things well when I race. Karel always has this mindset when he races whereas I often put a lot of pressure on myself to be better, faster or stronger. While this has worked for me at times, it also creates a lot of mental stress that can easily take away the fun of racing. This season is the first time ever that I've had a coach - ...

How in the heck is it already April!?!?! I can't believe we are just a few sleeps away from our first triathlon race of 2019. When planning our 2019 race schedule back in October/November, we knew we wanted to go back to Haines City for the half Ironman. It's a great early season race to dust off the rust and welcome the hurt that comes with racing. We love the race venue as the town welcomes the race, the race vibe is always welcoming and exciting and the course is spectator friendly (swim and run). The course is not an easy one, and that also appeals to us. This year will be even more challenging as the race day temperature is suppose to reach 90 degrees! 😱 But, we are super excited to share the course with 15 of our amazing athletes. We broke up the drive into two days, leaving on Wednesday late morning. We made the 5.5 hour drive to Jacksonville, FL where we stayed overnight with our friends/athletes Joe and Erica. After our morning workout, we hit the road to Haines C...

With social media/media with much of the blame, it's easy to feel an overwhelming amount of pressure to look differently. With so much misinformation and information overload about healthy eating, alongside a great cultural obsession about body image, it's understandable why so many athletes are constantly trying to change the way they look, by changing the way the eat and train. Although a lot of good can result from changing the way that you eat IF trying to optimize health and performance, it's important to create a sustainable, healthy style of eating - not one that is restrictive, obsessive and based on fearing food. Do any of the following questions resonate with you? The number on the scale and my reflection in the mirror significantly affects my relationship with food and my body. I have adopted a restrictive diet in an effort to feel control over my eating choices. (less choices + less guessing = control ---> less anxiety around food).  I often feel ...

Smiling as we go into race week! (Picture from 2018 St. George 70.3) It feels great to know that we are finally approaching race week. Six months without racing had made me miss racing and I am so excited that we get to kick off the season with a half Ironman in Haines City, FL along with 15 of our athletes. Although I'm most excited to dust off the rust and experience the hurt that comes with racing, I'm also anxious to see what my new training (thanks to my new coach - my first ever hired coach) has done for my body. I feel fit and healthy and I'm thankful to my body for letting me train for my races. Over the past seven days, I've completed 21800 yards swimming (5 hours), 10:37 hours cycling, 3:52 hours running and one hour of strength training. Thank you body! Throughout every session, I've made sure to fuel and hydrate my body to support every training session. Not only does this help me master my race day nutrition but I also view fueling/hydr...