Roads worth exploring

Today's workout required a lot of mental focus, strength, fuel and well, a really strong body. I can't believe that I will be racing my first key race of the season here in two weeks at Challenge Knoxville! Karel and I will both be racing and we are excited to race a Challenge event and explore Knoxville by swimming, biking and running in the city. 

                                                                                                                             

I had no time for pictures this morning so I am sharing a few pics from earlier this week (including the pic above from climbing up and over and then up and over again on Paris Mountain). This was the view on top of Paris Mountain (above).....which is now a 10 min bike ride from our new home. 

Oh yes, I forgot to blog about that so that will come soon....we moved out of our rental home and we are now first time home owners!

The Swamp Rabbit Trail (SRT, pictured above) extends from downtown Greenville to Traveler's Rest. We are now less than 2 miles from Furman University which makes for a lot of new running routines to explore. I prefer to stick with rolling hills as they are better for my hips and running form so I don't do much, if any, of my running on the SRT which is flat for almost 30 miles. 

This is our new running route to leave our neighborhood. We have a .25 mile climb out of our neighborhood and then endless country/neighborhood roads to enjoy on two feet. It's like running freedom! 

I've decided that every athlete or fitness enthusiast who lives in Greenville is strong because it's nearly impossible to have an easy workout here. You get strong by default because simply training outside toughens you up in our nature-filled, yet challenging environment.

I made sure to take a lot of mental pictures on today's route. I just love that I can leave for a ride (today I was alone as Karel did his own workout) and not have a plan as to where I will ride and just discover new roads/routes, feel safe and love every mile of it. 

Karel and Campy chilaxin in the back yard after our morning workout. Campy loves our new yard, especially squirrel and bird watching!

Here was our morning workout: 

3 hour ride (which included 4000 feet of climbing)
MS: 5x6 min best effort with 5 min EZ spin.

Followed by a 7.5 mile/1 hour run with 1000 feet of climbing.

Karel's workout: 

~70 miles
MS 9x6min best effort with 5 min EZ. 

Followed by a 20 min run

This evening we had my mom over to watch the Derby and then we watched Unbroken (which is a GREAT movie!). I made this beautiful and delicious salad, topped with Veronica's Health Crunch.
I used petite lettuce, napa cabbage, pears, carrots, thinly sliced onions and celery. 

Hope you are having a great weekend! 

Make sure you enjoy your views on your favorite and new routes! 

2 time-crunched workouts

Everything in moderation. You have probably heard this saying a lot when it comes to the diet but what about when applied to an athlete's workout regime?

Well, I don't want to be a moderate athlete. I want to be the best athlete I can be.

Because my season is focused on endurance racing, I know that there is a specific training regime that I need to follow and accomplish to be mentally and physically prepared for my races.

However, just because I have training plan for the week, this doesn't mean that it can never change. Understanding that life brings changes, stressful moments and days when free-time to train is extremely limited. 

I never sacrifice my diet, sleep or work to train. Work pays the bills and my diet and sleep contribute to performance gains. I have learned through making many mistakes in my endurance training and racing lifestyle over the past 9 years that the quality of workouts matter more than the quality.

Additionally, I constantly remind my athletes that what you do (or don't do) between your workouts (when they do occur) is how we get stronger, faster and more powerful as athletes. Just because you can check off a workout, it doesn't mean that it will bring performance gains if you are sacrificing other things in life that will assist in physical performance gains. 

This past week has been quite busy for us and the planned training routine was modified almost every day. For me and Karel, one week of training never matches the next week of training, even if we accomplish every workout in our training plan.

On Thursday evening, it was nearing 6:30pm and I had a key bike and EZ run on my schedule. Although we rode in the morning with our athlete Justine for almost 2 hours, that ride was all about  her. We would have been just fine not working out in the evening but we both felt like we needed our own personal workout. Karel did a 6 mile run (starting from my mom's house because we needed to help her with something from 4-6pm) and I got on the trainer.

My main set on the trainer was 25 minutes and my main set for the run was 4 minutes. Here's the workout:

(disclaimer, although I share my workouts please keep in mind that they specific to where I am in my periodized training plan. It is important to focus on your development as an athlete and build a strong foundation and powerful body prior to doing any speed work). 

Thursday PM workout:

Trainer Bike: 

10 min mobility/hip/glute work

20 min warm-up (Z1-Z2, increasing cadence and effort every 5 minutes)

MS 5x's:

3 minutes heavy gear at Z3 power

2 minutes high cadence, Z3 power

Repeat

10 min cool down

Brick Run: 

2 min run to the other side of my neighborhood

8 x 30 sec hill sprints w/ 90 sec walk/jog in between (down the hill)

2 min run back home

On Saturday morning, we needed to be in the car to head to Asheville for a meeting at 9:20am (meeting at 11am, 1:20 drive to Asheville) so without sacrificing sleep or fueling before the workout, we planned to head to the Y at 7am. Things would have been different in terms of our run and available time to train if it wasn't raining outside so the treadmill run was better than no run and thus, we made a quality workout out of it.

Karel did his own workout and I did as follows:

Saturday AM workout: 

10 min hip/glute/mobility work (I will never skip this before a run even if that means running 10-15 minutes less)

Warm-up: 

20 min EZ run with 1 min rest at 9 and 19 minutes. 

MS: 20 x 90 sec hill runs at 4% incline with 30 sec rest (straddle treadmill) in between. 

#1-10 @ 7.5 mph (steady)

#11-15 @ 7.8 mph (strong, felt the burn the last 30 sec)

#16-19 @ 8 mph (strong, felt the burn the last 60 sec)

#20 @ best effort, 8.6 mph (felt the burn at 15 sec)

3 min cool down

Total: 1:05, 7.75 miles

The wonderful part of focusing on quality workouts  and making the most out of your available time is knowing that you are still moving closer to your fitness goals but you are not skipping the valuable steps in your development. Plus, if you use your time wisely, you will recover faster, perform better and still enjoy the awesome things in life that will make you smile on race day.

Like Campy exploring the Asheville woods. 

A few take-aways for the time-crunched athlete:
-There are going to be times when you feel so rushed to get it all done. Never sacrifice sleep or healthy eating and proper fueling at the expense of getting in a longer workout  or more workouts.
-Make sure you have a few key workouts during the week dedicated to your development. It's great to workout  with friends but your workouts need to be focused on you and your progression in order for you to apply those workouts to your race day.
-Never underestimate the power of a shorter workout. I challenge anyone to tell me that a 5K all out effort is easier than a 10-mile steady long run. In order to focus on quality workouts you need to get your mind focused and stop telling yourself that more is always better. 

-Your fitness development is based on consistent workouts and frequent workouts. Use this advice to have a global perspective on your training. If you are able to only work out 3 times during the week, make sure they are quality workouts and don't overdo it on the weekends to make up for time-lost during the week. If you can get in 5 x 30 min workouts during the week that is much better than 1-2 ok workouts during the week and 1-2 epic workouts on the weekend.
-A haphazard training plan where you are just checking off workouts to get them done, just going through the motions with an underfueled, exhausted body, following someone else's training or using fear based training to make you feel more prepared for race day, comes with great risks and consequences. Be smart with your available time to train. 

A Campy and bike-happy weekend!

We love to travel. Traveling is great because it give you a chance to see how other people live and it also helps you appreciate what you have at home. Traveling introduces you to new sights, smells and tastes and also helps to create memories that will never go away. 

Although Karel and I love to make memories together, we really love to make memories with Campy. Campy treats every day as a lottery winning day. He never complains, he is always in a good mood and he is always excited to go somewhere he has never been before. 

We are so lucky to have Campy in our life and our goal is to make sure he is filled with memories and exciting adventures for the rest of his life with us.

Karel has a great reputation in Jacksonville for being an expert bike mechanic and RETUL fitter.

When Karel was working at Trek as the GM, he had a group of friendly customers from Waycross GA (2 hours away) who would come to Jacksonville just so Karel could work his magic on their bikes.
Karel recently went to Waycross for a RETUL fit appointment and he knew that I would love the home of one of his past customers.

He was right!! Look at all that nature!!!

When Karel had the opportunity to go back to Waycross to work on two bikes (husband and wife), me and Campy were super excited to make the trip for a quick overnight trip.

The cabin was on the same land as the main house and it was so nice to just enjoy the wide open spaces without busy roads or TV.

Campy, like usual, made himself at home. He LOVED being without a leash and with so many new smells and sights, it was total freedom for Campy. This made me happy because Campy loves the outdoors just as much as me!

Just chillin with my furry BFF while Karel works on bikes.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner outside as the sky began to turn dark and kept ourselves warm by the outdoor fire.

Homemade Lentil and black rice tomato soup with hummus and spinach stuffed pita bread and homemade coleslaw. Thanks to our homestay for keeping our bellies happy during our trip!

The next morning (Sat) we all (Campy, Karel and me) slept in and got up around 7am due to the chilly temps that morning (low 40's - no rush getting on the bike). We thought about not setting an alarm but glad we did for we slept SO well.. I think that was the sleep that we needed to reset our system to finally adjusting to the spring-forward time change. 

After our pre workout snacks (WASA + nut butter + banana/strawberry + maple syrup) we got dressed and drove a few miles to the local YMCA in Waycross to park and get ready for our ride.

The ride was so beautiful! Exactly what bike riding should be like...no cars honking at us or busy roads but instead, country roads and lots of wildlife (Which I made sure to say hello to as I always do).

Karel and I were joined by our homestay friends for most of the ride so it was a nice steady endurance 3-hour (60mile ride) at Karel's upper Z3 zone.

After the ride, it was time for a run. It was getting a bit warm and I noticed a track outside by the Y (not a certified track) of 1/4 mile per loop and decided to do a little interval run off the bike so that I could also stay fueled with my INFINIT customized drink (which I created) during my run.

Run (5 miles):
2 miles (7:14 min/mile, 6:49 min/mile)
90 sec walk/recovery/fuel
1 mile (6:39 min/mile)
90 sec walk/recoveryfuel
2 x 1/2 miles w/ 30 sec in between (6:10-6:12 min/mile)
1 mile cool down with Karel

After our workout, we headed back to the cabin to relax and refuel. 

Campy makes the best recovery partner!

A little later that afternoon, Karel decided to go for a swim in their private lake since he has an Olympic distance race next weekend and hasn't worn his wetsuit in a while. 

Campy enjoyed a little play time barking at his daddy and also chasing the birds in the sky.

Oh and a bit more relaxing for Campy.

So beautiful!!!

We headed back home later on Saturday evening and we couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it was at our homestay. Campy, as to be expected, was exhausted (and in need of a bath) so I guess that means we did a good job as doggy parents for giving Campy a great trip to make lots of wonderful memories. 

The workout today was another brick: 

4 hour ride (85 miles) w/ a TT loop as our main set (around 35-38 minutes for Karel and me). It was crazy windy out which made the workout super challenging but Karel held a solid pace the entire workout and despite wanting to quit and complain at least 10 times, I stayed focused on his wheel and finished the workout a bit stronger than when I started. Gotta love those challenging workouts!

After the bike, I ran two miles (7:49 min mile, 7:02 min mile) w/ 30 sec walk in between. 

Karel ran a 5K (with 30 sec walk after the first mile) in 19:59 - speedy legs after riding so strong for 4 hours to pull me around Penny Farms!

And to cap off the weekend...yummy delicious food!!!

This creation came to mind after our hot workout for I wanted flavor in an evening meal.

Tempeh (grilled on skillet in a little olive oil)

Mango (1 chopped)

Cheese

Avocado (1 chopped)

Stir fry of mushrooms, red and green pepper, chives, black beans, garlic tossed in olive oil
(1 large package sliced prewashed mushrooms, 1 can low sodium black beans rinsed and drained, 1 large red and green pepper, 2 cloves garlic chopped)

Jasmine rice (1 cup dry w/ 2 cups water, cooked for 15-17 minutes)

Romaine lettuce (2 large heads, chopped)

Fage 0% greek yogurt

Salsa

Chips

Happy tummies to conclude a great memory-filled weekend with lots of smiles from me, Karel and Campy

And one tired doggy.......

For a few videos of our trip, check out my Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition facebook page

Workouts fueled by patience and Trimarni blueberry coconut muffins

I knew it was going to be a tough weekend, mentally and physically. 

But through our "train smart" plan, I knew that the timing was right and that I was ready for this weekend's workouts (after a challenging week of training).

 I had worked really hard for several weeks in order to execute this weekend.

With our "train smart" approach to training, one of the most important characteristics that is required is patience.

With a masters degree in exercise physiology, I feel I have a good understanding of how to develop a practical and effective training plan. However, with so many variables to consider with training - intensity, frequency, duration, recovery - the athlete that wants to succeed must be patient with a well-formulated plan. 

This is also true for any individual who works hard for results. 

Karel and myself, along with our athletes, love to work hard. We are all very disciplined, we manage our time well to keep life balanced as age group triathletes/runners and we also are committed to our task in order to achieve our goals. However, the athlete who is patient through all phases in training will enjoy the journey from start the finish. And because there are always challenges within a journey, you do not only need to be patient but also very mindful of progress (which is not always told by a pace or speed).

As athletes, we all have goals. Typically, a long term goal is the driving force to maintain motivation to train hard for a specific amount of weeks/months. But even for the most hard working athlete, if he/she is hindered by impatience, that daily hard work ethic may not pay off. This may seem impossible because we have always been taught that hard work always pays off but progress requires a step by step process. And because we often thrive off instant gratification, it's very easy to fall short of your potential if you are not patient enough to wait for results to happen when they are suppose to happen. This means not getting frustrated if things are not happening right now, not setting too many goals at once that you feel overwhelmed by focusing on too much too soon and not constantly searching for a better, faster or easier way.

Training, exercising, racing or working toward a personal health, nutrition, fitness or life goal. 

Celebrate the milestones as you maintain patience throughout your journey.
-Is there something you can do now that you couldn't do before?
-Is there something that comes easier to you now than before?
-Is there something that you enjoy doing now that felt like a chore before? 
-Do you feel better than before? 
-Are you enjoying certain parts of your life more than before?

WEEKEND TRAINING

Saturday:

4 mile Run + 2 hr Bike + 1 hr T-RUN (7 miles)

(did the bike on the trainer to control my watts for the Z4/Z3 with our resistance controlled Cyclops fluid trainer)

4 miles (or 30 min) run up front. Just a comfy form focused run

Bike: 15-20 min steady then MS:

4 x 5 min @ FT (functional threshold) w/ 3 min EZ spin in between

10 min steady easy pace

MS2:

8 min @ Z4 + 12 min @ low Z3, 2 min EZ,

10 min @ Z4 + 10 min @ low Z3, 2 min EZ,

12 min @ Z4 + 8 min @ low Z3, 2 min EZ 

10 - 15 min SESP (steady effort still pushing) and then T-RUN.

15 min steady run. Walk a few minutes to stretch out.

Then 30 min of alternating: 5 min Strong/5 min steady

Stop and stretch. 

CD: EZ run to finish the workout.

Sunday

4:00hr Bike (84 miles) + 30 min T-Run (3.75 miles)

(biked with Karel. We rode out to Penny Farms in Florida and did 2 loops in Penny Farms on gently rolling hills for our main set)

Bike: 1st hr just ride 

MS: 8 min @ low Z4, 2 min EZ

12 min @ low Z4, 2 min EZ

16 min @ high Z3, 2 min EZ

24 min @ mid Z3, 2 min EZ

30 min SESP 

2 x 15 min @ high Z3/low Z4 w/ 4 min EZ in between

 Then SESP for the rest

T-RUN: 10 min EZ run, 3 x 5 min (descend 1-3) w/ 60 sec walk in between

5 min EZ CD.
(did the EZ run with Campy - who made me run a bit faster than I wanted! 7:44 min/mile pace for 1.44 miles with Campy. Then descend - 7:50 min/mile, 7:28 min/mile, 6:58 min/mile for the 5 minutes)

Blueberry coconut muffins

1 cup flour (I used Bobs Redmill gluten-free all purpose flour)

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk (I used organic skim milk)
Unsweetened coconut shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non stick muffin pan with cooking spray (you will use 7 muffins tins)
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a bowl.
3. Lightly beat egg in small bowl then whisk in milk.
4. Stir in egg mixture into flour mixture. Then fold in blueberries.
5. Divide batter among 7 muffin tins (about 1/4 cup). Sprinkle with coconut shreds (about a tsp or two per muffin)
6. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until muffins are light brown on top or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutrition facts: (without added coconut)

Servings: 7 muffins
Serving size: 1 muffin

Calories: 114
Fat: 1g
Carbohydrates: 23g carbohydrates
Sugar: 9g sugar
Fiber: 1.4g
Protein: 3g
Sodium: 136 mg

I feel ya Campy!!

Tomorrow is NO ALARM (no morning workout) Monday to give my body a huge thank you for the last few weeks of consistent "train smart" training!

Trimarni camp recap - Day 3 (intense "long" brick)

Day 3 of the Trimarni camp was designed to be our key workout because of the specificity of the workout as well as how it feel in the training camp training plan.

According to the Trimarni philosophy of getting faster before you go longer and training smarter to train harder, we termed Saturday as our "long" workout of camp.

3 hour bike + 60-80 min run. 

Rather than having our endurance athletes bike 5+ hours or  run 2+ hours (no matter the fitness level), we utilize the beginning phase of our training plans to get our athletes stronger through strength training. The main goal of any training plan is consistency and many times, the idea of "base" building includes lots of long steady (or slow) miles and much time is wasted when the body can be getting stronger. We find many athletes are 14,16 or 20 weeks out from race day and spend their weekends riding 5+ hours or running 2+ hours as "base" prep. Sure, we understand that you must have good endurance to "survive" endurance training for a half or full Ironman and there needs to be long workouts for mental and physical training but the idea is not to just do them but to do them well with a plan and a purpose.

Once a strong foundation is in place, then it's time to get faster. This is where we encourage our athletes to consider their long-term goals as well longevity in the sport of triathlons (or running). Rather than signing up for endurance races because of the challenge now, get yourself faster over the next 4, 6, or even 12 months so that when you commit to your goal of finishing or racing in an endurance event, you not only have a strong template to work with but one that is faster than 6, 12 or 24 months prior.
I realize that it's super easy to register for races and often times, you sign up for a race because it is the right time in your lifetime and I love that.  But to ensure a consistent and healthy journey to your starting line, it's important that you are always patient with your journey and also progress gradually. Too much too soon is not a great equation and because most athletes want a body that can get faster and stronger over time, trying to train at high intensity during "long" workouts is not the most effective or efficient way to metabolize fuel OR to enjoy consistency with training.

Thus, we have created many key workouts for our endurance athletes (and us included) of higher intensity intervals during a long-ish bike (at specific phases in training) and we follow that workout with an interval run.

You can improve endurance with high intensity intervals at moderate distances. However, it's very difficult to get faster by doing steady long miles.

Not only is our quality approach to training  great for placing a healthy amount of training stress on the body for the body to get stronger and faster with improved endurance but the concept of intervals helps with pacing, to better understand (and use) sport nutrition effectively (to be better prepared for race day) and also to put your mind into race day situations.

Sure, you can bike hard and have an epic long workout. 

Sure, you can run long and strong on fresh legs without a bike preceding the workout.

Sure, you can train all day and talk about it on your blog or social media.

But, as a coach, I want to see you execute on race day and put all that training to good use.

Endurance triathlon racing takes a lot of time, commitment, money and effort so it's is not about how fast or strong you were in training during a long bike or run but instead, how you can put those sports together, following a swim and also how you can digest/absorb nutrition to postpone fatigue and meet metabolic and hydration needs.

And most importantly, as an age group athlete, how you can balance the training with life.

For our camp workout on day #3:
7:15am meet at NTC.
7:45am start workout

Bike - 3 hour rolling hill interval bike:
(athletes fueled with Infinit SPEED or GO FAR and I helped each athlete with scoops per bottle. All athletes were required to carry 3 bottles with them and encouraged to drink every 10-15 minutes).

40 min EZ warm-up (it was a bit cold out so we included a few 1 min on/off intervals to wake up the legs)

MS1: (main set #1)

4 x 5 min @ Z4 watts (or Olympic Tri pace) w/ 90 sec  EZ spin in between.
(we always focus on normalized lap power for intervals but because of rolling terrain the normalized power helps for better pacing)

5 - 10 min EZ spin recovery

 MS2 (main set #2)

8 min @ Z4 (Olympic Tri Pace) + 4 min @ low Z3 (1/2 Iron Pace) - keeping a steady cadence, trying to "recovery" while still pushing 

2 min EZ spin

 8 min @ Z4 (Olympic Tri Pace) + 4 min @ low Z3 (1/2 Iron Pace)

Rest of the ride is steady strong pace (ironman effort) except on the trail or the neighborhood with stop signs which is always just EZ spin.

T-RUN: Long Run. 60 - 80 min.
(So proud of my campers - EVERY athlete ran off the bike!)

(we gave the option if athletes were not comfortable running for an hour after a 3 hour ride, they could walk for time on your feet after time on the saddle)

Warmup (WU): 10 min out and back for 20 min just very comfortable run with stops as needed.  (recommend 10-30 sec walks every 8-10 min if  feeling heavy legs or just want to stretch out and lower the HR).

Walk 1-3 minutes - shake out the legs, lower the HR, hydrate, etc.
We regrouped back at the NTC. Athletes had the opportunity to use NAPALM which I love as an easy and effective fuel on the run. 

1 ounce = 50 calories. It is a powder and you can pour it in your flask (instead of using gels) and top with water. It has the consistency of a sport drink but is more concentrated so this is good to use on race day by supplementing with water at aid stations to meet hydration needs. For camp, we performed out and back so athletes could refill water at our cars with our 5-gallon jug)

Main set: 

30 min of alternating 5 min @ strong/faster pace and 5 min @ comfortable pace (you may also walk here if you need to correct your form or gather yourself). (this is a perceived effort pace - whatever your "strong" is on Saturday, that is your effort).

Walk 1-3 minutes - lower the HR, shake out the legs, stretch, etc.

Cool down: 10 EZ/ comfortable run for a quality brick endurance-prep workout.

For our athletes who have a half or full IM in the next 4 months (me and Karel did this part with our athletes), they ran 80 min off the bike.  After the MS is completed, walk 1-3 minutes to stretch things out and lower the HR and then add 15 min of steady strong running to finish the run. This should feel comfortable as if you are settling into your Ironman pace (or long run pace). Then cool down as needed.

For the run, I did not want my campers running 1+ hour with only 6 ounces of water in a flask or nothing at all. What I recommend is if you do not have a fuel belt with at least 10+ ounces of water for a 90 min or less run, do loops so that by 30-40 min you can refill your bottle with water (and sport nutrition). Not only will you ensure better energy and recovery but you will also simulate race day condition with consistent fueling. 

After an AWESOME workout from our campers, we all stretched (some collapsed...in a good way) and we all talked about this great workout performed by 15 amazing bodies.
I had our normal snacks - Kind bars, coconut water, water, whey and vegan protein powder as well as sliced oranges and strawberries as well as a special treat from Trimarni athlete Sara who delivered homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for our campers. Thank you Sara!!!)

We only had about 90 minutes to rest, eat and clean up so I also gave my campers suggestions as to what to eat to help refuel from our 4-4:20 hr workout and also to fuel for our next workout on the schedule, which was a swim.
I knew our campers would be tired for they had several workouts within 2.5 days of training in them so our afternoon swim (long course) was more of active recovery. Also, because our athletes were tired (Karel and me, too!) it was important that I stressed the importance of proper planning of workouts. Sure, you can do workouts just because they are on the schedule but the swim was not a "workout" designed for training purposes. Just a reminder when you are trying to balance training with life, sometimes it's better to rest if you are feeling tired later in the day and get a good meal in your system and good night of sleep and get yourself together for a great workout the next day (instead of just going through the motions for an evening workout after a long day). It's all about balance. 

3-4pm long course swim: 

10 min warm-up
100 focusing on head position
3 x 100's w/ fins - drills (catch-up and finger tip drag)

MS 3x's: no fins
200 smooth swimming
4 x 50's w/ 10 sec rest (#1-2 build to fast. #3-4 1/2 pool fast, 1/2 pool EZ)

100 cool down

After our swim, I provided a few snacks for campers to help with recovery (dates, coconut water, whey protein) before our team dinner at Goombas.

With almost a half IM distance triathlon completed on Saturday after 4.5 hours of training on Friday and around 2.5 hours of training on Thursday, I wanted to be sure my athletes had fueled and happy tummies for Sunday so a family-owned, local Italian restaurant was the perfect place to eat an early dinner (reservations for 5pm) and to enjoy a motivational talk with 5-year Trimarni coaching athlete Gary (65 years old) who is a top age group sprint and olympic distance triathlete in Clearwater.
Thank you Gary for inspiring us all! 

After a team picture, Karel and I chatted about our last workout of camp which was the mock triathlon - putting all the pieces together. 

The daily fuel station...back of my car.

Safe, effective and efficient fuel. Thanks INFINIT!

Sharing my Oakley women shades with the ladies at camp who didn't have Oakley's so that everyone could wear safe, stylish and functional eyewear during training. Email me if you'd like to know my fav shades. 

Real men wear pink - looking good Karel!

Racking our bikes at the NTC. A great facility to hold a triathlon camp!

4.5 hour workout - DONE!

Thank you SARA!!

Quick refueling in my hotel room. 

Beautiful afternoon swim!

Fun with Go pro!

Underwater selfie.

What an inspiring, motivating and awesome group of campers!!

Let's eat!

Gary is so inspiring! What a great athlete to coach!

Karel takes his hydration very seriously.

YUM!

I LOVE PIZZA!!!

One more day to go!!!

Trimarni camp recap - day 2 (long ride + interval run)

It was a rather late night for Karel and I after our first day of camp but as coaches, we wanted to make sure everything was taken care of for our athletes. Karel had assembled a few bikes on Wednesday when the athletes arrived and we also made sure that we had everything and anything that we would need/want during a long day of training. I had about two weeks of food shopping/prep behind me but still a bit more finishing touches for the pancake buffet on Friday. Thankfully, when it came to refueling after workouts and a few extra snacks throughout the camp, I had a lot of help thanks to fabulous companies who helped out with the first ever Trimarni camp. 

The weather was much nicer for us on Friday although it started out a bit chilly for Florida (upper 40's) but we would warm up quickly thanks to our long ride on the hilly roads of Clermont.
The workout for Friday was as follows:
3-4 hour ride (two groups based on fitness - looped course)
Interval run after the bike:
15 or 30 min run
-15 min run - 5 min steady/comfortable form focused running. Walk 1 minute, 5 min strong. Walk 1 minute, 5 min steady/cool down.
-30 min run - 5 min steady/comfortable form focused running. Walk 1 minute. MS: 3 x 5 min strong w/ 1 min walk in between. Then cool down

Infinit nutrition was the nutrition sponsor for the camp and provided all the campers with SPEED and GO FAR formulas. I helped each athlete with their nutrition for their bottles (how many scoops) as well as what formula would be the best. This was a great opportunity for the athletes to try a well-formulated sport drink that is safe, effective and efficiently digested and absorbed with the proper amounts of electrolytes and carbohydrates when mixed in water. It was not mandatory that the campers use INFINIT but rather that every athlete had adequate nutrition in their bottles to consume during the long bike. Karel and I have been so pleased with INFINIT and we will both be using INFINIT as our primary sport nutrition fuel for this season. 

The campers met at the NTC at 7:10am and we started the day with a few leg opener drills to loosen up the hips and to warm-up the body. 

Every morning, Karel and I gave a short talk on the purpose of the workout as well as key pointers to consider during the workout. For this workout, the goal was time in the saddle but also to gain confidence and skills on the bike. It's one thing to have fitness to ride a bike but on race day, you must have skills to transfer that fitness to racing conditions. Karel and I used this long bike ride as a way to ride with the campers and to give specific instructions as to when to stand or sit-up on the saddle vs being aero (a common mistake is that triathletes have a tendency to always stay aero while riding). Another major area to address was changing gears. Karel and I had a chance to ride with almost every athlete throughout the 3-4 hour ride and to help the athletes learn how to ride smarter by changing gears at appropriate times based on the terrain.

Karel mapped out a small loop (about 20-25 min course) that included 4 steady climbs which was great for the athletes to feel-out the first loop and then learn how to ride smarter on the next loop. This is really important for race day for if you don't pre-ride parts of the course or know where you are riding, you may find yourself struggling to anticipate climbs or feel confident with your skills on the bike. 

We all started together and then split-up into two groups. Karel had a group of 6 and then I had a group of 7. The course was marked so every athlete knew where to go and we gave each athlete the option as to how many loops she/he would like to do. Our goal of the camp was to stretch comfort zones and for the athletes who live in FL, climbing the hills of Clermont was a new experience and was a big confidence builder for those who are doing races on rolling terrain this summer (ex. Raleigh, Haines City, Augusta 70.3)

There was one impromptu stop to say hello to a beautiful friend who was watching us ride around....

And considering that I am always saying HI to animals when I train/race, we just had to stop to take some pics. 

Karel and I could not be more proud of every athlete who rode today. Considering that we picked a challenging course for the athletes, we heard no complaints or excuses but instead, a lot of learning took place. Because we knew that riding 3-4 hours on the hills would give each athlete a lot more training stress than riding 5+ hours on flat terrain, we were not focused on the miles but instead, what each athlete gained within each mile.
As many of you may know, Karel and I do not believe in long miles when training for endurance racing. We only do 2 long rides as part of our IM prep (which takes place 12 weeks before a race). We do 1 x 100 mile ride and 1 x 112 mile ride and then rest of our rides are around 4 hours, primarily intervals and we do more intense or longer bricks off the bike to create a more beneficial training stress than just sitting in the saddle for long hours.
Our philosophy - get faster before you go longer.

We gave the athletes the option of riding up Sugarloaf mountain (1/2 mile climb) either once or twice during the long ride or skipping sugarloaf and riding an alternate route home. We were so impressed that every athlete at our camp not only tested out Sugarloaf but not one athlete clipped out and walked. And Sugarloaf came at the end of the ride (after 2 hours of riding hills) which was incredible for every athlete!

Karel and I really enjoyed riding with our campers and often times, having an athlete draft off our wheel or riding side-by-side to talk about changing gears, getting out of the saddle or aerobars as well as how to race smarter on the bike. We really enjoyed our one-on-one time with our campers since we did not want to just have our athletes get out an ride but instead, gain experience and skills with our help.

After the ride it was time for the run and without hesitation, every athlete finished the morning with a run. I had one athlete who choose to swim after the bike instead of running, which was absolutely fine - we don't focus on CAN'T at Trimarni but instead, I CAN.

We had around 90 minutes to clean-up and have a quick recovery snack/drink before it was time for pancakes and presentations. 

Back at the NTC, I was so excited for the pancake buffet. I don't know about you, but I sure do LOVE pancakes after a long ride. 

The weekend before the camp I made 40 pancakes from scratch with gluten free flour and froze them until the camp. They were super delicious after our 4-4.5 hour workout on Friday. 

Toppings:
Fresh fruit (local strawberries and oranges, bananas, apples and cantaloupe), PB2 powder, KIND peanut butter granola, dark chocolate chips, Irish butter (Karel's favorite), Maple syrup, honey, dates, trail mix, unsweetened coconut, Daisy Brand 2% cottage cheese and Chobani yogurt. 

I also made chocolate chip muffins with the flap jacked protein pancake mix that I received for the camp. YUMMY!

Karel stayed rather busy at camp with RETUL fits but we were happy to offer that service as we know many athletes do not have experienced fitters near by and many times, we have athletes email Karel for advice on saddles, fits, aero bars, pedals, power meters, etc. so it was nice for everyone to have the opportunity to pick Karel's brain. 

Trimarni athlete Ryan brought his Normatec boots to share so there was a bit of compressing going on during the afternoon of presentations. We are all about active recovery and "comfy" clothes were highly suggested during our presentations. We even had our Trigger point kit (which we highly recommend) for anyone who wanted some good-hurt during our presentations. 

As part of our camp, we took time every day to reflect with the athletes. We wanted to talk about what the athletes learned during training for that day but to also ask questions about upcoming training/racing situations. Karel and I also shared stories and lessons learned from our own racing experiences (7 Ironmans for me, including 3 IM World Championships and a lifetime of cycling racing for Karel, now turned IM finisher).

The highlight of the afternoon was giving our campers a break of listening to us talk, and having Kelsey Abbott from Find your awesome give an awesome presentation about the different levels that we go through (1-7) in life and sport. She discussed how to recognize when you are in a certain level, how to move from one level to another and what levels are appropriate at certain times. The presentation had a big impact on each athlete for it related so well to the workouts during camp and all the emotions, hard work and teamwork that was needed for four days of quality training. 

Around 5pm it was time to call it a day.

Some of the athletes jumped in the pool for a recovery swim while Karel and I cleaned up our presentation room and took some time finalizing the details (course, workouts, sport nutrition, recovery snacks, etc.) for day three of the camp.

Karel and I had given every athlete an itinerary before the camp but we did not give specifics on the intervals or purpose of the workout. Rather than overload our athletes with haphazard workouts just to do miles during camp, it was really important that we placed the right stress on our athletes bodies, at the right time, to ensure that we could minimize risk for injury/burnout or fatigue and ensure that our campers would have well fueled bodies (who could tolerate sport nutrition effectively in the hills) to perform strong for every workout as it came throughout camp. And most of all, this camp was designed to improve fitness so that after our athletes recovered, they would not only have new skills and confidence but a stronger foundation to work with during upcoming training. 

After two days of training hard and training smart, we gave our athletes the heads up that day three was going to be a tough day. We encouraged everyone to rest up and to be mentally strong for the brick workout on Saturday.
Karel and I were really excited to show our athletes exactly how we train for endurance events by giving them one of our key "long" workouts. Rather than doing a solo long run or solo long bike we combine a longish interval bike with a longish interval run for a quality workout to work on nutrition and pacing for race day. 

Build confidence, skip the excuses

"Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."

-George Washington Carver

 

 

Saturday morning brick:

2:45 trainer ride

1 hour warm-up (including 20 min of 1 min single leg drills each leg, then both together, etc.)

Main set: 

3 x 15 min Z3 upper w/ 5 min EZ (cadence 90+ rpm)

10 min EZ

2 x 5 min Z4 low w/ 3 min EZ (cadence 90+rpm)

Cool down

 

30 min (3.5 miles) treadmill 'brick' run

15 min warm-up (last 5 minutes picked up the pace a little)

Rest/straddle treadmill for 1 minute

Main set:

5 x 2 minutes (90 sec at half IM race pace, 30 sec at olympic distance race pace) w/ 1 min rest/straddle treadmill

Cool down walk

 

Sunday long run (treadmill):

10.5 miles/1:25

Dynamic stretching warm-up
30 min warm-up (stretched out every 8-10 minutes)
Main set 3x's:
5 min @ half marathon race pace (+20 sec slower)
5 x 1 min @ Olympic distance race pace w/ 20 sec rest in between
1 min straddle treadmill, repeat 2 more times.
Cool down

 

 

It's too cold
I don't have time
I'm too slow
I'm too tired
It won't work
I can't do it
I am not strong enough
I am not smart enough

 

If there is one thing that motivates me every morning to train smart it would be my triathlon goals. My season is laid out well in advance so that I can prep and peak at appropriate times and minimize chances of burnout.

But if there was one thing that keeps me enjoying exercising when I'm not training for triathlons, it would be how great I feel when I workout (and after).

 

One thing that I encourage athletes and fitness enthusiasts to remember is that training for a race is not required to be healthy. You can be healthy and not be training for a triathlon, an Ironman, a bike race or a 5K. Although training may improve health, if not done carefully, training can be very damaging on the body, can interfere with balance in life (work/family/etc.), can increase risk for disease/illness and can increase risk for injury.

 

But no matter if you are training for a race or just exercising for health, it's important to understand the difference between building confidence and having a no excuses mentality when it comes to reaching your fitness goals. 

 

I find that it requires a lot of energy to make excuses. First, there's the thought of what you should be doing. Then there's the thought of why you can't do it, why you don't want to do it, why you don't have time to do it or why it can't be done. Then there's the energy to convince yourself that the reason for not doing whatever you should be doing is good enough to keep you from doing it. But then in the back of your mind, you feel guilty, upset or frustrated that you have convinced yourself that you can't do what you should do.

 

I've said "I can't" many times in my life. In career, education and in sport, I am not afraid of admitting that "I can't" is part of my vocabulary.

But when it comes to my goals, whether career, education of sport, I refuse to give up and I don't like to waste my energy on excuses.

Typically, my use of "I can't" out of my mouth comes from a lack of confidence at the task ahead. I have no problem putting in the work when the work needs to be done but often times, I doubt myself, my skills and my ability to succeed and that's when I need support to keep me positive.

Everyday we are faced with choices and for many, diet and exercise and other life choices are viewed as chores. Something that "has" to be done. But when it comes to making things happen because you have a goal for yourself, you have to make the choice to get it done. Sure, motivation may be higher at certain times than others but just think of all the energy you are making on excuses and perhaps it's time that you spend a little more energy on how you can make things happen.

 

One of the best ways to stop (or reduce) excuses is to work on confidence. Confidence that what you are doing is moving you closer to your goals. (even if you think that you should be doing more or something differently - if you are aiming for perfection you will not be able to recognize progress).

 

Confidence is the feeling that you are unstoppable, even if you have to change the plan at times (but never change the goal).

Confidence is knowing that you can still move closer to your goals as long as you try. And even if you think you could be doing more or better, you don't let that black or white mentality keep you from succeeding.

When you focus your energy on why you can't do something, your mind will give you plenty of reasons why you can't do it. But if are confident that something is better than nothing, you will be amazed how making a little effort, every day, will move you toward your goals. On the contrary, giving yourself reasons why you can't make things happen will not give you the results you want (even at crunch-time when you feel the pressure and motivation to make things happen that should have happened weeks or months prior)

 

Sit down with yourself and create a plan. Life, nutrition, exercise - whatever it is that you are struggling with when it comes to motivation, dedication, discipline or enthusiasm.

Create a plan that is realistic and practical and allows for progress. Your plan is YOUR plan and is helpful only for you and your goals at this time in your life.

If you feel you are too busy, too cold or too tired, close your eyes and visualize yourself reaching your goal.

Now put that vision into your life and dedicate passion, hard work and commitment to your life in order to create the momentum that will help you move closer to your goals.

 

No more excuses.

You CAN succeed.