Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

Preparing for a triathlon is much more than checking off workouts to improve fitness and booking travel accommodations. Nutrition plays an important role in race day readiness. Whether you are training for an Ironman distance triathlon, half marathon or a local sprint triathlon, nutritional preparation is key. How you fuel during a race primarily depends on the duration of the event and your racing intensity (which is based on your fitness level). Proper fueling will help you maximize recovery, fuel your workouts appropriately, boost your immune system and to maintain a healthy body composition, alongside building confidence for race day. While you may be able to get away with a haphazard sport nutrition strategies (or not fueling at all) during short workouts, competing at your best requires you to constantly fine-tune sport nutrition strategies to help minimize the fluid, electrolyte and fuel depletion that will occur throughout the event. Because proper sport nutrition should be par...

Anytime I think about the stress of packing for a long distance triathlon, I am reminded of this picture - from my very first half ironman. My first half ironman was in May 2006 in Orlando - at Disney. The event is no longer at Disney, but is now in Haines City - and is now called Ironman 70.3 Florida (the event we are competing in this weekend). For the past few years, Karel and I have returned to Florida to kick-start our triathlon season in Haines City. Every time I race IM 70.3 Florida, I am reminded of that first scary unknown experience of swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles. It was a humbling experience to feel like a beginner and to have no idea what I would experience over 70.3 miles.  Despite feeling physically prepared for your upcoming long distance triathlon event, lacking actual race experience may leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed. And with the logistics of racing for 70.3 miles, a lot of "stuff" is needed to get from start to fini...

  2019 IM 70.3 FL  Well, it's been a long time coming.  It's officially race week. On Sunday morning, I will join Karel, eleven of our athletes and many other excited triathletes for the start of Ironman 70.3 Florida in Haines City, FL.  I'll be honest with you. I've really struggled with training for an event over the past few months. The race specificity hasn't been well, specific but instead, I've been seeking ways to keep my motivation high for training. Group rides, gravel riding, master swimming and happy running has kept me super active and enjoying the triathlon lifestyle. Although I love riding my triathlon bike, it hadn't seen much action since November. Over the past week, I've made it a point to ride my bike as often as I could to get my mind into race mode. I've had a bit of ambivalence towards triathlon racing but over the past few days, I started to find myself excited to put myself into the race environment.  After nearly 15 consecuti...

Can you relate to any of the following body bashing behaviors?  Feeling "too fat" as you try on your race day outfit.  Seeing an image of a certain part of your body makes you feel "disgusting." Doubting your race day abilities because your stomach is "too big." Weighing yourself on the bathroom scale and feeling immediate distress over your weight. If you can identify with any of the body, you are likely struggling with poor body image and this can sabotage your race day performance. In each of the above scenarios is an athlete who believes one of two things: That looking differently will improve athletic success or a current look is the reason for lack of athletic success. Despite putting in the training and being physically prepared for an event, actual acceptance of one-self can be a major athletic limiter. Inside, you have internalized feelings of being inadequate because of poor body image. Poor body image can wreak havoc on performance, physical hea...

Our culture has an interesting relationship with alcohol. It's often used as a way to unwind after a busy day, cope during hard times, and as a way to celebrate or socialize. Despite the fact that alcohol is addictive and dangerous (contributing to countless injuries, mental and physical health issues and deaths), alcohol is normalized in so many societies around the world. From "mommy juice" to a way to relax or celebrate, alcohol is advertised, touted and consumed in ways that you wouldn't see with any other drug. Even though alcohol is a drug, it's extremely accessible and as socially acceptable as drinking water. With almost every social function, you are likely to find an assortment of alcoholic beverages, or you may even expect that alcohol will be present and available. You see alcohol being consumed at sporting events and in post workout pictures. Beer is a popular beverage consumed after exercise/physical activity. It's a way to celebrate, relax and q...

After eight years and 14+ group triathlon camps, we have learned the importance of having a plan B. Whether it's for rain, snow, a cancelled reservation or some other type of unforeseen circumstance, we have learned that things will not always go as planned. Over the years, we have been rather creative with our plan B scenarios. At our group camp in Clermont, FL last year (just before the pandemic took over), we came up with a long bike/run workout for our 20 campers, in place of our scheduled Olympic distance race that got cancelled at the last minute. In April 2019, rain forced us to change up our planned triathlon practice workout for the last day of camp. Instead, our campers had a great group run workout followed by a swim at Furman (with some fun relays). In March of 2018, weather turned our long ride into a morning indoor workout of strength and relays - let's just say that our campers may have enjoyed it a bit too much as there were so many laughs. After the workout, th...