A quick trip to Charleston, SC

 

We only had two full days in Charleston, SC so we brought our gravel bikes to ride in Francis Marion National Forest. I used routes from the Swamp Fox Gravel Fondo Race. 

I was looking forward to this trip for a few reasons. The first was to explore a different style of gravel riding - flat roads. The second was to enjoy different scenery for a mental boost. The third reason - which was the main reason for our trip, was to take advantage of a promotion that I purchased last year from Blue Green Vacations. For $229 I received a 3-night/4 day stay at a Blue Green Vacation Location of my choice. And for an additional 40,000 Choice Hotel Points, $25 Amex Gift card and $100 Visa Gift card, Karel and I would need to sit through a 2-hour presentation. Karel was not thrilled about having to sit through a sales pitch for Blue Green Vacations but since I'm getting into travel hacking, I felt like I could "sell" Karel on this trip by throwing in some gravel riding. Originally we were going to participate in the Swamp Fox Gravel Fondo Race but the race filled up before I had a chance to register. Since we already had the dates and hotel booked, we decided to take advantage of a short getaway. 

After a morning swim and lifting session at Furman, we packed up the car and hit the road around 12:30pm. It was an easy 3.5 hour drive to Charleston, SC. Karel did all the driving and I worked on Training Peaks in the car. Campy got to enjoy two cat-free nights at my moms house. It's been challenging for Campy as he is showing some siginficant signs of cognitive decline (doggy dementia) so he is much more anxious and confused. It was good for him to be at my moms so that he didn't have to stress about a cat approaching him while he was sleeping. After arriving to the Hampton Inn at Patriots Point, we unloaded the car, checked in to our room (BlueGreen handled the reservation) and went for a short 3 mile run to move some blood. We were both feeling tired and stiff from sitting in the car so it was nice to shake out. We ate dinner at Verde which was delicious. We both got the Greek salad - Karel had chicken and I had tofu on it. 

Prior to leaving, I received the sample pack that I purchased from TORQ nutrition. After 17 years of dialing in my fueling for long distance triathlons, it’s been a bit of a learning curve to figure out the best way to fuel and hydrate for off-road riding. With that said, I’m still prioritizing liquid calories to meet my hydration and energy needs, but also consuming more solid food, gels and chews as the demands are very different when the intensity is higher, limited refill stops, the unpredictable terrain and I don’t have to run off the bike in a gravel or MTB event. I also really enjoy trying out new products to recommend for athletes. I really liked the nutrition profile and ingredients of the Torq products and the variety of flavors. 

I was hoping that we could escape the cold in Charleston but we only had one warm day, on Friday. The weather difference could not have been more extreme - on Thursday we started the ride at 9am and it was 30 degrees. On Friday at 9am it was nearing 70 degrees. But Friday was windy!

We did the 53 mile (race) loop on Friday and it was nice to experience the flat roads. Karel's back was really bothering him (he has two discs that are slipped/bulging) so he wasn't feeling too good. It was a good 3ish hour ride. We had to quickly get back to the hotel to change before our 2pm BlueGreen Vacation presentation in downtown Charleston so I ordered lunch from the Pickled Palate. The place was super cute - I wish we could have eaten at the establishment but we had to get the order to go. Karel got the Cuban and I got the Vegan (no pickles, add provolone). It was delicious. We arrived to downtown Charlotte around 1:45pm and parked the car on a side street. The town was super cute but it was really busy. 

We survived the presentation - which was only an hour, followed by a short discussion with an individual sales rep. After we declined, we received our gifts. They weren't pushy to sell us the packages which was nice. I could see how this type of vacation rental would work for some people but it doesn't fit our style of travel (which is to travel to race). 

We walked through the market and then Karel got some ice cream from the Charleston Candy Company. He got key lime, rasberry and chocolate. I had a few bites and it was delicious (I prefer bready type stuff over ice cream, cake and cookies). 

Our good friends Kathleen and Don live in Charleston so we met up for dinner at 6pm on Thursday. I was so excited for the restaurant that Kathleen suggested. We love trying international cuisine. We ate at Malika and it was incredible. So much flavor! We started off with appetizers - Dahi Puri and Chaat Papri. 

For the entree, we each got a version of the Thali. Don, Kathleen and I had the vegetarian options and Karel got chicken and Aloo Gobi. I had Paneer Tikka Masala and Palak Paneer. It was SO good! 

On Friday we woke up around 6am and had breakfast in the hotel lobby at 7am. Karel had eggs, toast and oatmeal and I had a waffle and eggs. 

Karel never travels without his Nespresso machine. 

We planned on riding the 100 mile route but had a shorter version as plan B (~83 miles) depending on how the ride was going. It was a beautiful day - in the low 70s but super windy. The flat roads were really tough for us as there was no opportunity to coast. It was a big difference from our riding near/in the mountains. We much prefer hilly routes - although hills can be challenging to climb, at least you get to recover on the downhills. We had to include several breaks to stretch our back and hips throughout the ride. We rode pretty strong, each taking pulls. The gravel was mixed - chunky, loose and soft and there were some sections that were filled with deep holes. It was an adventure and I found myself getting frustrated by all the elements. Thankfully I was able to get out of my funk thanks to Karel giving me a bit of a pep talk. 

Karel's back bothered him but a little less than the day prior. He wasn't in the mood to run off the bike and while I was super exhausted from our almost 5 hour ride, I talked myself into a short out and back run. Surprisingly, I felt really good running! 

As for nutrition for the long ride/run on Friday, I consumed:

Pre workout:
1 waffle (360 calories) w/ syrup (100 calories), JIFF packet (110 calories), 2 butters (140 calories) = 650 calories
Scoop of eggs = 120 calories
Total = 770 calories (+ cup of coffee and water)

During the 82 mile, 4:44 ride:
1.5 L USWE pack w/ 5 scoops Never Second Berry (600 calories)
1 TORQ chew bar (120 calories)
1 TORQ gel (120 calories)
1 TORQ hydration (120 calories) in 26 ounce water
1 bottle water (26 ounce)
Total: 960 calories, 102 ounces

During 2 mile, 15:30 min run:
~TORQ hydration in a 10 ounce flask (probably consumed ~30 calories and 5 ounce water)

We enjoyed the change in riding conditions and all of the restaurants but we still love our roads, people and towns in and around Greenville, SC.

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Let's talk (show) FOOD!!!

On Tuesday, we traveled up to Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit my 94-year old Grandpa Joe, my aunt, uncle and cousin and my brother and his wife (and their two babies). It was a lot of fun to be with family. Campy enjoyed his road trip and his Thanksgiving eats. My dad was certainly missed during this holiday but we had plenty of great stories to share about him.

Karel and I stayed active during our trip with 2 x 4000 yard swims at the YMCA. Karel ran once on Thursday and I ran on Wed evening (30 minutes) and then on Thursday (10-miles). Tues and Sat were off days from training due to travel. It was nice to change up the training environment but we are happy to be back in Greenville (and back outside on our bikes).

As for food - I enjoy a break from my normal eating routine. I find that traveling and the holidays provide such a great opportunity to be inspired by new food creations. I was yumming a lot over the past week and rather than writing out my delicious eating experiences, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Here are a few pictures from what I enjoyed (I didn't take pics of all of my meals/snacks):

A stop at the Old Amish Store in Berea, KY in route to IN. I had the most delicious 3-bean cumin sandwich with swiss cheese, tomato, onion and sweet peppers on sourdough bread. AHmazing!

After a long drive (12 hours due to traffic), we were delighted to have a home cooked meal ready for us when we arrived (thanks to my Uncle Denny). I yummed over a vegetable packed stew and a side of cornbread. 

Pre-swim on Wednesday morning I traded my normal pre-workout waffle snack for a bowl of oatmeal topped with banana slices, blueberries and walnuts. 

For lunch on Wednesday, roasted vegetables, cottage cheese topped with pumpkin seeds, a beautiful salad and leftover cornbread. 

My eating experience on Wednesday evening was incredible. My aunt took us all to a vegan/vegetarian restaurant called Loving Cafe. This was one of the coolest experiences of my life as a 25-year vegetarian as I could taste what everyone was eating as I could eat everything on the menu! Karel even enjoyed his meal so much that he wanted to return back to the restaurant the next day (sadly they were closed on Thanksgiving). 

Cabbage soup

Lentil and bean soup

Wraps

My meal - quinoa vegan cheese burger

Karel's meal - Orange sweet and sour


Eating wings with vegan ranch dressing! 

Thursday morning pre-run snack - raisin challah bread with PB and jam and a never-too-much cinnamon and a side of yogurt.

Afternoon Thursday snack - yogurt with chopped dates (topped with coconut - from the Amish store), almonds and blueberries. 

My entree for Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving spread


My Thanksgiving plate (dessert was locally made Rhubarb pie and vanilla bean ice cream)

Campy's plate - plus so many "accident" floor droppings. 

Leftovers on Friday evening (and more)

My entree on Friday - leftovers from Thursday plus cooked crumbled tempeh and cauliflower. 

Friday night eats


Post 3 hour workout (2.5 hour ride + 30 min run) - Homemade french toast on mini brioche bread.


A beautiful large salad to kick-start a new week. 

Weekend training recap - the cold couldn't stop us!

It was so nice to sleep in until almost 7am on Saturday morning. We were in no rush to get up since we had planned to ride indoors on our trainers. Another reason why we could sleep in was because our cat Madison let us sleep in way past her normal internal alarm clock (aka "feed me now!") went off (which is usually around 5:30-6am).

After getting some work done on the computer and eating a yummy pre-workout snack, it was around 8:30am when I went to our workout room to get myself ready for my bike workout. As I was writing my bike trainer workout on the white board, Karel looked outside and said "it's sunny, let's ride outside." What a relief as I wanted to ride outside but with the temps nearly 30 degrees, we both first thought it would be too cold to ride outside but without a cloud in the sky, we decided to bundle up and enjoy a few hours on our road bikes.

Although our toes were a little cold even with our shoe covers on, we both dressed well and stayed rather comfortable throughout our entire 3 hour ride. Of course, it helps to have lots of hills to warm us up. 

With  no set plans as to where our bikes would take us, we made our way onto roads that we had not ridden on in over a year. It was so nice to be outside and to enjoy what felt like new roads in Greenville. Since we have so many options for riding, every ride seems like a fun, new experience.

Karel lead the way for our ride and I followed along. I felt really strong during our ride thanks to so much trainer work (and variable cadence sets, with lots of heavy gear riding) so it was a big confidence builder for me to be able to stay on Karel's wheel for most of the ride, even on the climbs. Plus, I love riding my road bike so this was one of those rides that I just didn't want to end. 

With it being so cold (temps nearly breaking 40 degrees), I knew that I would need something solid in my tummy in addition to my bottles of sport drink (a bottle of Infinit Trimarni base fuel and a bottle of strawberry Levelen). I went with this yummy Luna bar as the chocolate peppermint stick was just perfect on this cold morning of riding. I snacked on it throughout the ride, along with drinking my sport drink at frequent intervals throughout the ride.  

A nice 4400 feet of elevation gain in 3 hours and 6 minutes of riding. We only covered 48 miles but that is pretty typical in Greenville as our terrain is very challenging so the miles go by very slowly, despite us working hard for every mile.

I finished the ride with a 25 minute treadmill run just to keep myself comfortable with running off the bike whereas Karel didn't run off the bike and he was just fine with that decision. 

After a good night of sleep on Saturday evening, Karel and I started our long run around 9am in 40 degree temps. Although we started and finished the run together, we didn't run together. Without a plan as to where I was going to run, I let my legs lead the way. Since I don't enjoy running on flat roads, I stayed on the hills and Karel went to the flat Swamp Rabbit Trail for the majority of his run (he warmed up on the hills first). We both ran for 2 hours but Karel covered almost 3 more miles than me due to his speedy legs.

My run workout included a 40 minute warm-up of nice, form focused running followed by 1 hour of endurance running, broken into 1 mile at a time, with the last 1 minute of each mile as a surge to fast effort followed by a 30 sec walk. It was a nice way to add in some speed into my legs but nothing too hard that would damage my body more than what was done with 2 hours of running. I was able to keep good for throughout my entire run and it was another confidence builder. I have been very patient with my run fitness and extremely diligent with my run training and strength training this season and it's finally all coming together. 

It's always fun to recap our workouts to one another after we train so I was really happy for Karel that he had such a great run. 

Here's my run recap, which includes the walk breaks. I sure do love my Greenville hills! 

Like usual, Campy was SO excited for us to come home. We just love the feeling that after 8.5 years of having Campy in our life, he still gets so excited to see us and showers us with kisses and hugs. We feel so lucky that we rescued this little 9 year old, golden (with a little white hair) nugget. 

As for the weekend eats, Karel had to run some errands on Sat afternoon so he stopped by the European Market (new to Greenville) and enjoyed finding some of his favorite European eats. It's fun when Karel finds a food that reminds him of his upbringing in Czech Republic as he always has a great story to tell with that food. 

After our Sunday afternoon swim (2300 yards), we made a stop at the grocery to pick up a few items for our Sunday night dinner which was homemade grilled pizza. We buy the dough at Publix and then grill it up on the outside grill and top with veggies and protein. It was SO good like usual!!

I also made this European-inspired salad with thinly chopped onion, tomatoes and cucumbers dressed with a little vinegar, olive oil and salt topped with crumbled farmers cheese.

It was another great weekend of training and we could not be more grateful to our bodies for allowing us to stay so consistent with training this season. I wouldn't consider us obsessive with our eating and training but we do place a lot of attention on proper fueling and hydrating during our workouts, effective eating before and after our workouts and healthy eating throughout the day. With good daily nutrition, the body can perform to its full ability during workouts and there's a good chance that it will be easier to stay consistent with training. Consistent training = performance gains. 

Weekend training recap: Miles covered and food consumed

On Friday morning, I got in a light strength session, followed by a 25 minute EZ treadmill run before heading to the airport to pick up Trimarni athlete Stephanie, from Tampa, who was in town for a quick 48 hours for a RETUL fit by Karel. I was really looking forward to spending some time with Stephanie, especially since she loves food and swimming, like me!

It doesn't take much persuading to gather together a group of Trimarnis for a group ride but I promised the Greenville Trimarnis that I would make banana bread to enjoy with smoothies, for after our group ride on Saturday. I knew if I made the bread on Thursday, there would be a great chance that it would not make it to Saturday (and instead, it would end up in my belly). Instead, on Thursday evening, I made a delicious loaf of ginger molasses bread, which was perfect for breakfast on Friday morning.

Ginger Molasses Quick Bread

Pg. 182 from Run Fast Eat Slow

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup dark rye flour, whole wheat or spelt flour (I used spelt)

1 inch knob fresh ginger peeeled and grated, or 1 tsp ground (I used ground0

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

 1 cup whole milk yogurt (I used 0% Greek as that is what I had in my fridge)

1/2 cup molasses

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (I used salted)

1/4 cup golden raisins (I used black)

1 tsp orange zest

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with butter. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. 

3. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, molasses, butter, raisins, and orange zest. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just enough to bring the batter together. Do not overmix. The batter will be very thick. 

4. Pour into the loaf pan and bake until a butter knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. 

5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer the loaf to a wire rack and allow to cool completely prior to slicing. 

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After Stephanie got herself situated, it was time to head to Furman for a swim (around 11:30am). I looked at the swim workout on paper and thought, "this isn't too bad". Ha! I was SO wrong.

Stephanie is a fast swimmer so it was nice for me to be pushed in the water. Karel held his own in the next lane and he swam super strong, just coming in a few seconds behind us for each part of the main set.

WU: 300

Pre set: 8 x 50's kick with fins

MS:

100 at 65% w/ 15 sec rest

2 x 100s at 70% w/ 10 sec rest

300 at 70% w/ 30 sec rest

4 x 100's at 80% w/ 45 sec rest

500 at 80% w/ 45 sec rest

6 x100's at 85% w/ 5 sec rest

700 at 85% w/ 1 min rest

8 x 100's at 90% w/ 5 sec rest

We had a hard time holding ourselves back so I am pretty sure all the 100's were 85-100%!

After our workout, I made a beautiful salad. And no, we didn't just eat salad after that mega swim.

We also had fresh bread and quinoa for carbohydrates and Karel made a tuna mix for him and Stephanie and I had cottage cheese for our protein (Stephanie also enjoyed Karel's tuna mix).

In the afternoon, I got to work on the computer and Stephanie got her RETUL fit by Karel. The fit took a bit longer than expected as Karel had to do some mechanic work on her bike to ensure that everything was dialed in. We had planned a short late afternoon spin after the fit, but we were unable to get on the bikes as we ran out of daylight. Instead, Campy got a nice walk before dinner

Dinner was ahhhmazing. I made a shredded apple, apple vinegar and olive oil (with a little mustard) dressing to toss in a broccoli slaw, to serve with basmati rice and marinara and cheese stuffed mushrooms. I made tempeh for my protein and Karel and Stephanie had chicken (Stephanie and Karel also had some of my tempeh). 

We relaxed in the evening after dinner after making a loaf of banana bread for the Trimarnis after our Saturday workout.

We don't always plan group workouts with our Greenville athletes but when we do, we like to have fun. Seeing that most of our Gville Trimarni athletes are parents, we feel it is important to balance the outside long bike workouts with quality indoor bike sessions. Therefore, when we have an athlete in town or we feel the timing is right, we encourage our Trimarnis to get outside and ride with us. While it doesn't happen all the time, it's a great opportunity to see them in action and we always have so much fun. Although our roads are super bike friendly, we do enjoy having safety in numbers. 

For our Saturday morning ride, we had Dana, Meredith, Stephanie, Bryan, Al, Thomas, Chris and Karel. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that it was just around 32 degrees when we started the ride at 9am and the high on Saturday was only mid 40's!! But thankfully, the sun was out and we all dressed appropriately. 

We were so proud of Stephanie for riding so strong on our challenging terrain. She was extremely attentive to our suggestions with her gears and managing the terrain. We did have a few delays in our ride, like a broken chain and a flat tire, but they didn't add on too much time to our 3 hour ride.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the cars animals were out enjoying the crisp air.  

I had told Stephanie that our roads do not have shoulders were we ride so she saw first hand that we literally share the road with the cars. 

All smiles for 3 hours and over 3600 feet of climbing. 

We didn't have a route picked out for the ride but instead, Karel was the leader and he just let his bike pick the route as we rode along. We just love where we live as there are so many different routes for riding! 

Although the ride was "endurance", it was not an easy ride due to all the punchy climbs for the last hour. 

But, the mountain views make it all worth it. 

After the ride, it was a quick transition (and hello to Campy) at Trimarni HQ before heading off for a 25 minute run. 

And if you were wondering, our running routes are just as hilly as our biking routes. 

Karel ran with Al, Bryan and Thomas and I stayed with Stephanie, Meredith, Dana and Chris.

Although we all had tired legs from the ride, everyone ran really well. 

Perhaps it was this goodness that was to be devoured after the 3.5 hour workout that motivated the Gville Trimarnis. 

After the workout, everyone came inside our house and as promised, I made everyone berry chocolate Clif protein recovery smoothies (with milk) along with my homemade granola chunks and fresh, warm banana bread. Let's just say that there was nothing left of the banana bread and the granola was happily enjoyed with the smoothies. Happy bellies for everyone!

I was a bit tired in the afternoon but I had to get some work done on the computer so I rested on the couch with Stephanie (while I worked) for a little bit before taking Campy for a long walk and then getting ready for dinner.

Seeing that we rarely eat out, we just LOVE heading downtown for dinner when we have company in town (or it's a special occasion). We invited our Trimarnis to join so we had a nice group for dinner at Pomegranate On Main (one of my fav downtown Greenville restaurants). We first walked around downtown for about 30 minutes to show off our amazing downtown to Stephanie and then headed to the restaurant for our 6pm reservation. I just love the vegetarian options on this Persian menu but I went with the special, which was a mushroom, bean and spinach stew served alongside basmati rice. 

Karel ordered the Shish Kabob which included marinated cuts of tenderloin, eggplant, mushroom, bell pepper, pineapple, zucchini, onion and tomato, along with basmati rice with lime and dill.

In typical Karel fashion, he was full after dinner but somehow, had room for dessert next door at Blueberry Frog. I always joke with Karel that he has this special compartment in his stomach that is reserved for something sweet, no matter how full he feels after a meal. Karel has sweet teeth (not just a sweet tooth). 

On Sunday morning, I woke up to an alarm to take Stephanie to the airport (on her birthday!!) and it was sad to say goodbye to her, but, we will meet again at our Clermont camp in mid March. Although her trip was short, it was a great investment to come to Greenville so that she could get a professional fit by Karel to ensure that her bike was all dialed in for her upcoming season of training and racing. 

After I returned home, I was super sleepy so I went back to bed for for 90 minutes to get myself fully rested before my long run on the treadmill.

My run was challenging but in a good way as it required a lot of focus.

30 minute warm-up

MS: 6 x 10 minutes as (3 min steady, 2 min strong, 3 min steady, 2 min strong, 1 min rest)

Then cool down

Total: 1:42

Karel ran outside for 2 hours and did a similar main set.

We typically swim on Sunday afternoon but we were tired and felt we would get nothing out of the swim so we stayed home and stayed busy with some work that we needed to get done.

What a great weekend of eating and training, filled with great people and lots of miles in and around Greenville, SC!

Grocery shopping in Czech

Nearing the last day of our European race-cation which included 1 week in Klagenfurt, Austria and over 2 weeks in Karel's home town of Znojmo, Czech Republic (with only 2 of those days as an overnight trip to sight see in Prague), I thought it would be fun to reflect on my many eating experiences that I have enjoyed, while on vacation.

It's going to take me a while to put all my food pictures into one blog (I'm thinking I'll let the food pics do the talking) so I wanted to share what it is like to grocery shop here in Znojmo, Czech Republic.

While I love eating new foods and meal creations when traveling, I find it important to understand the culture behind food. Whether it's understanding the agriculture (which is an important sector of the economy) or simply learning how to the food gets from farm to table, it's all very exciting to me.

With the "local" grocery store just a block from Karel's mom's flat (and in route to his dad's flat), we visited the store frequently. Sometimes it was just for some fresh bread and pastries whereas other times, our shop included items for Karel's mom (to make our lunch - she started cooking around 8am each morning) or some light items for dinner.
As for shopping for produce, we often stopped by a market, either in town or on the side of the road. 

And, we did a little shopping form nature (Mother Earth doesn't charge!) while riding our bikes.




The mornings are very busy at the grocery store as lunch is the biggest and most important meal of the day. The town pretty much shuts down for lunch and it's typical that most people stop their day (working and at school) for a sit-down lunch. 

To get your cart at the store, you insert 5 or 10 crowns (or 1 Euro) into the cart to unlock the cart. When you return your cart and insert the key, your coin pops out. This eliminates loose carts in the parking lot and having an employee go out to the parking lot to return the carts to the front of the store. 

If you only need a few items from the store, like meat, cheese, bread and/or pastries, you can shop at the front of the store as there are two counters with these items.

The grocery store is set up similar to what I am use to with the produce in the front but the main difference is that you (the customer) weigh your own produce when you select it, versus the check out person weighing everything for you. You put your produce on the scale, select the type of produce and then the machine prints out a bar code which you stick on your bag.
This makes it very quick and efficient at check out.

There is no shortage of fresh bread and pastries at the store. Shop late at night and there is little left.
Everything is made daily and spoils quickly so shopping on a daily basis for fresh bread is just part of this culture. Buying bread in the bag once a week is not typical, although there are a few "packaged" breads. 

While the pastries make your mouth water, they are not overly sweet. This is a nice change from the typical pastries that everyone associates with being overly sweet and packed with sugar.



You bag your own bread and can mix and match in the same bag. The check out person knows which bread is what so it's very efficient at check out .



Here's the packaged bread section. 

Oh the choices. 

I absolutely love the deli and cheese section at the grocery store, which I think is pretty typical here in Europe.
Rather than having one person behind the counter, slicing each cut of meat or block of cheese, everything is ready in the morning.
There's at least one person per section in the meat and cheese area, and they simply use their hands (with gloves) to grab how much meat and cheese you want, weigh is, wrap it and you are on your way.

(For reference for pricing, 1 US dollar = ~24 Czech Crowns. Food is very inexpensive for us here. But keep in mind that they use the metric system. Gas, on the other hand, is very expensive). 

Beer is cheaper than bottled water. 

And speaking of water, you can choose how many water bottles you want without having to buy a big packaged of water bottles. Mineral water is very popular here in all types of flavors. You don't have to worry about food dyes and artificial flavors as they are banned by the European Union. 

Of course, there is a section of candies and chips and other cereals but aside from the chocolate candy bars (which bring back found memories for Karel), we haven't bought much snacky food, if any. 

There's a huge frozen section of meats and cheeses and yogurts. 

And eggs are not refrigerated. 

At checkout, you pay if you want a bag (about 5 crowns) so it's typical that everyone brings their own bags. Also, about 80% or more of people pay for everything in cash here. Credit cards are not very popular. 

After our grocery store trip, we walk home with our bags and get to cooking and eating. 

New eats from Main Street to Traveler's Rest

In a previous blog, I talked about tips for healthy eating while dining out. It's nice to get dressed up every now and then and enjoy food prepared from someone else and to not have to worry about cleaning up dirty pots, pans and dishes. 

Trimarni athlete Jim N was training with us in Greenville for his own private 3-day "camp" and there's nothing better than working out with our athletes and reflecting on workouts, with happy tummy food. 

One evening, we want to Breakwater restaurant, downtown Greenville on Main Street. The atmosphere was great and Karel and Jim enjoyed a local IPA. We all yummed over the bread basket which was filled with bite size corn muffins and biscuits with a side of orange butter.

For starters, I got the SPRING HERB SALAD:

artisan and arugula lettuce, basil, cilantro, tarragon, split creek farm feta, spicy pecans, citrus vinaigrette

For my vegetarian entree, I combined two sides which included: squash, shiitake & zucchini 

And the butternut risotto. 

Both were outstanding and I loved the texture and taste of the veggies with the risotto. 

Karel ordered the SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN: boneless fried chicken breasts, red skin mashed potatoes, haricots verts, cream gravy,

We all left with happy tummies! 

The day prior, we had a late lunch/early dinner after an afternoon 3.5 hour incredibly challenging ride (which followed a morning long course swim) from Upcounty Provisions.

Not sure if we were ready for some solid food after our ride or if the food is just really, really good but our meal was really, really good. And to make this restaurant even better - all the names on the menu are after well-known places in Greenville! 

How fun!!

I got the The Swamp Rabbit:

Hummus, avocado, garden veggies, crispy onions, mixed greens & balsamic vinaigrette dressing in wrapped up in our house-made lavash flatbread with a Ceaser's Head Side Salad (and a bag of chips comes with the meal). Karel ordered the The Traveler: Roast beef, bacon (which Karel rarely has), sauerkraut, feta and horseradish aioli served on a kaiser hoagie.  

The were out of the hoagie and flatbread so we all got Focaccia bread. 

I ordered out so when I went to pick up the food in downtown Traveler's Rest, I couldn't resist the brownie (which all three of us shared). Not sure exactly what was in it but it was gooooood!!

I just love the opportunities that come on occasion to enjoy new places to eat. I try to order new meals that I wouldn't normally make at home so that I can get inspired by a chef creation. I see eating out as a great way for me to become more creative in my own kitchen as I emphasize home cooked meals to fuel my active lifestyle. 

Happy eating (out)!

Remember, always feel better after you eat than before you eat. 

A happy tummy is a great feeling! 

Traveling to Reno/Lake Tahoe - let's eat!

Karel and I are settling back into our normal routine again in Greenville, SC after our 5 day trip out west. It was so great to visit with our best friends, Gloria and Ken (and Frida) and to visit my Grandpa and his wife in Reno, Nevada. Karel and I always enjoy changing up the training environment so it was nice to do a few runs and snow sports at 4,500-9800 feet above sea level. But now we are back to the daily grind, training, work, training and home cooking. 

Speaking of food, I just love eating at new places when we travel. It's the best way to feel like a local but to also enjoy good local food.
I also enjoy simply eating around others. I love to yum over food that is home-cooked and prepared with love.
We accomplished both during our trip so I thought I'd share some of our yummy eats.

To keep our bellies happy during our travel, I packed a snack bag filled with healthy and satisfying snacks.

It was a good thing that I had extra snacks because in route from Atlanta to Sacramento, a passenger had appendicitis! It all started like an episode of Lost "is there a doctor on the plane?" and eventually we were re-routed to St. Louis so that the passenger could get to a hospital. After a 90 min delay, sitting on the plane, we finished our 5 hour flight (which ended up being around 4 hours I think from St. Louis) and finally landed in California. 

The key to getting adjusted to a new time zone quickly is to focus on mini meals rather than trying to follow a breakfast, lunch, dinner strategy. If traveling to the West Coast from the East, you may feel like you are eating 4 big meals so the best way to combat feeling like you are eating all day is to well, eat all day starting with a satisfying breakfast and then continue to eat in smaller portions and then finish your day with a satisfying dinner.

We ate dinner at Hot Italian and it was amazing. I got my salad on my pizza. Yummo!

                                                                                      

On Friday morning, Gloria, Ken, Karel and I woke up at 4:40am to get ready for swim practice. We all had a pre workout snack and coffee and then it was time to drive to the DAM swim practice. Post workout, a recovery drink (Whey Protein and almond milk) was in my belly, followed by delicious stove-top oats, prepared by Chef Ken (YUM!). Gloria and Ken had a buffet of toppings so I went to town with banana slices, chia seeds, almond butter, cranberries and walnuts. This felt good in my gut!

In route to Reno, Karel and I met Trimarni follower Julie. What a breath of fresh air to yum over food with Julie and her positive attitude and contagious energy. It was like we had known each other forever but I think good food does that for two strangers - it connects people very quickly with good conversations included. Thanks Julie for meeting up with us at The Ugly Mug Cafe in Loomis. 

I debated about getting a standard lunch or breakfast (since breakfast is served til 2pm here) so I opted for a "healthy choice" option on the menu - a delicious egg white scramble with cheese, sun dried tomato, peppers, mushrooms and probably more but I can't remember! I added two slices of buttered sourdough bread on the side. I cleaned my plate - it was SO good!

After returning our rental car to the Reno airport, Karel and I were picked up by my  92-year old Grandpa Joe and his wife Barbara.


Just a little history of why Reno is a special place for me and Karel.....



4 months after Karel and I had our first date on my 24th birthday (5/31/08) after being set-up, we took our first trip together...to Reno! I was training for my first IM and had NO biking skills so why not ride our bikes around the entire Lake Tahoe?!?! Karel was amazingly supported despite a few minor mental breakdowns from my fear of climbing and descending and we really started to fall in love with the mountains...and each other. 

2.5 years later, we returned to Lake Tahoe for our honeymoon!! 

And here we are back in Reno, 6 years later. 

It was very special for us to spend this time with my Grandpa as he is getting older but still sharp as a knife. We all yummed over a homecooked meal on Friday evening - my grandpa's special Salmon recipe (for the fish lovers) and tempeh for me. I also made a large salad and roasted potatoes.



On Saturday morning, we had a pre-workout snack and then Karel and I did a little workout in the fitness center (strength and short run - treadmill for me, outside for Karel) and then we had a delicious breakfast of stove-top oats, fresh fruit and yogurt - all prepared by Barbara. 

A few hours later we were out at Kirkwood for some XC Skiing (Karel skate skied). We fed our adventure on the snow with Clif Bar products. 15K for me, 25K for Karel - 2 hours of XC ski time! 

Karel and I made sandwiches for after we skied, PB&J for me and ham and cheese for Karel. We used fresh bread from Whole Foods and I had a side of ginger snap cookies. Hit the spot!



Since we had a late/light lunch, we headed to dinner at 1862 David Walley's Resort. Since the restaurant dinner open until 5:30pm and it was 4:40pm when we arrived, we ate in the Saloon. Excellent food and I think I found more to eat on this menu that I would have on the restaurant menu. 

I was craving some veggies so I got a beautiful salad and a veggie packed pizza that I shared with my grandpa. 

Karel had beer (local IPA), french onion soup and wings.

The next morning we started our day with my grandpa's french toast made on Challah bread. It was SO good - my grandpa is a great cook! Perhaps he is doing something right after 92 years!
 I topped mine with Fig Butter (a new fav of mine!) and 100% Maple Syrup and had a side of fresh fruit, Cara Cara oranges and a hard boiled egg.

Then, it was off to the downhill slopes for some snowboarding (for me) and skiing (for Karel) at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe. 

I packed a lunch for us and kept to the same foods we had the day before at our XC ski adventure but with a glass jar of mixed fruit and a banana. 

On our last day in Reno, we headed up to Virginia City in the afternoon. Karel and I remembered going there on our "date" travel trip back in 2006 (by car and also by bike) so it was nice to go back once again. We had to get some fudge at Grandma's Fudge Factory and since we couldn't decide on which ones to get, we got a sampler package of a pound n' a half. Can you guess which one is my fav? Yep - Peanut Butter Chocolate!

Well, hope I didn't make you too hungry. 

If we ever travel to your neck of the woods, be sure to let us know some great places to eat! 

Jacksonville trip - recap

We spent 6 years living in Jacksonville, FL, prior to moving to Greenville, SC in May. Karel and I met in Clearwater where we lived for about 2 years before moving to Jax.
Karel was the general manager of the Trek Bicycle store in Jax (reason we moved there) and we have lots of friends/training partners/athletes in Jax so we still consider it a "home" for us. 

Karel owns the RETUL fitting system and is a professional bike fitter so almost every month since we moved, he has traveled back to Jax to do RETUL bike fits at Open Road Bicycles (Beach location). 

Every now and then, Campy let's us know that he needs a road trip so last week, I joined Karel for 4 packed days of RETUL fits. 

Before our trip, I gave a presentation on to a group of doctors and residents at Greenville Health System Memorial hospital. I then went to the Y for a strength/run workout and then it was time to hit the road for our 6 hour drive down south. 

I had a few "Campy approved" meals and snacks for our trip. 

Fruit and chocolate- yummmmm. This may be my new favorite sea salt chocolate. 

My little hot Italian and I make sure Karel is well-fed as he is on his feet, performing fit after fit for up to 10 hours a day...for 4 days straight!

Exercise does a body good so although we don't typical adhere to a "training" schedule when we travel for work purposes, it was still nice to get out and swim, bike, run in familiar places. Although we certainly did not expect cold weather but thankfully we brought our winter riding gear just in case. Brrrrrr (but happy to see palm trees again!)

Campy supervised the fits and protected us all from intruders (aka the UPS guy). 

Campy also helped me answer emails. 

You will never find me without snacks as a hungry belly is not a happy belly....especially for an athlete. 

Karel fit Veronica with Veronica's Health Crunch and we received a big box of my FAVORITE crunch. Seriously, it is so good!!!

Campy is NUTS for this crunch! (Just kidding - he'd rather eat chicken). 

On Saturday evening, a group of our friends joined us at Black Finn Ameripub. The food was delish but then again, I ended up with a morning brick and an afternoon swim with my friends so I was ready for some good satisfying food! A salad and flat bread pizza hit the spot. 

And cupcakes from Sweet by Holly hit the spot (Thanks Tricia for the sweet surprise!) PB&J for me, espresso for Karel and a chocolate mega cupcake to share. 

I enjoyed making some Trimarni creations at my friends house...

And yumming over the waffles that Tricia (where we were staying) made for us. Loved dressing the waffle up with syrup, nuts and fruit.
 

 I got to see my friend Susan who stole Campy from me for a selfie ;) 

And on Monday, it was back to Greenville for another RETUL fit on Wed for our athlete Ginger who was driving through town on vacation. 

As Karel was doing some mechanic work on Ginger's bike, I stole her for a swim at the aquatic center. 

And now it's back to the routine - loving the mountains but missing the palm trees. 

Yep, back to the routine....dreaming of his next road trip. 

Ironman fuelilng in Greenville (recipes and pics)

Despite so many life changes over the past few months, my love, passion and excitement for real food did not dissipate. I am constantly giving thanks to my body for all that it allows me to do, for I know I balance a lot and at any moment it has the opportunity to fail me. 

My love for real food has grown bigger and bigger over the years and the more I am introduced to new flavors, foods and cuisines, the more creative I become in my kitchen.
I appreciate real wholesome food just like I appreciate effective and safe sport nutrition. My daily diet nourishes my body and keeps my immune system healthy. Without my good health, I can not train. Through proper fueling and nutrient timing, I am supporting the metabolic demands of my body and ensuring consistent workouts and a quick recovery. 

Here are a few of the eats that I have enjoyed (with Karel) since we have moved to Greenville, both in and out of the Trimarni kitchen. 

The Green lettuce restaurant

Deli trays given to us by family friends, after my dad's funeral.

Greenfields Bagels and Deli

Greenfields Bagels and Deli

Greenfields Bagels and Deli

Dried fruit tray (with macadamia nuts and almonds) from our friend/athlete Wlad. 

Fresh pears from my friend Taryn. 

Tomato soup (1 can of your favorite soup) w/ cooked tortellini , fresh mushrooms and basil. 

Cook the soup and cooked tortellini together along with the fresh mushrooms. Then add chopped basil and top with a little cheese.

Caprese salad - roasted baby tomatoes, mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil

Add a little olive oil to a skillet on medium heat and add a handful of baby tomatoes (washed/cleaned). Cook for a few minutes, then carefully toss. Continue cooking until slightly toasted.

Add chopped mozzarella (fresh, packaged) and fresh chopped basil and drizzle with olive oil

Pomegranate on main - Persian cuisine

Starter - cheese, butter, mint and radishes served with pita bread

Pomegranate on main 

Veggie kabob served with salad.

All items on the menu are gluten free and a salad can be served instead of basmati rice (I shared basmati rice with Karel from his plate and it was amazing! Karel got the Chicken Torsh Kabob)

Simple breakfast 

2 eggs + 1 egg white scrambled with a dallop of greek yogurt. Stuffed with kale and sliced tomatoes.

Toasted bread and fresh fruit.

Deli tray (we aren't sure from where) delivered to us from a family friend.

Salmon (for others to enjoy) as well as a simple salad, tabbouleh and edamame salad.

Tabbouleh and edamame salad

Arugula base topped with tabbouleh (barley and cranberries) and edamame salad (edamame, corn, black beans, sundried tomatoes, red peppers, lemon juice and olive oil).

I served this with a side of cottage cheese for additional protein.

Cabbage with tomato pesto tofu and jasmine rice

Karel made cooked cabbage which is one of his best dishes he makes for me (in a large cooking pot on medium heat, chop a green or purple cabbage and combine w/ 1 shredded potato and a little flour (about a tbsp or two for thickening), chopped onion and garlic in a little water - cooked for 40-60 minutes. Seasoned with salt/pepper to taste).

I made the tofu - cube firm tofu and in a bowl, lightly combine and then toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, pinch of salt, a few shakes of paprika and 1 tbsp sundried tomato pesto powder. Cook on medium heat in a skillet (drizzle a little more olive oil if needed to prevent sticking) for 10-15 minutes. Tofu should not be firm to the touch when finished cooking.

Jasmine rice - I typically use 2:1 ratio of water to rice. We love jasmine rice for it has a very popcorn-like smell and very easy to digest (which is why I love it when I am training for an IM or the night before a race). Topped with parsley from my garden.

I loved mixing the cabbage with the rice - this made the rice super creamy and delicious!

Clif Bar Kits Organic

I recently received a large package from Clif Bar after my recent trip to the Clif bar HQ a few weeks ago for the RD summit.  I was introduced to these bars while tasting almost every bar that Clif Bar offered. I am all about real food and you can't find anything closer to real food (in a "processed bar") than these bars. For those who are looking for a gluten free, soy free, dairy free and certified organic bar with minimal ingredients (all that you know) and at 200 calories or less, I know you will love KIT's Organic from Clif Bar.

Although I do not use solid food when I train for the Ironman (Only my custom INFINIT NUTRITION powder in my bottles - 1 bottle per hour), Karel and some of my other athletes need a tummy satisfier when they train and I will add this bar to my list of recommendations (along with hammer bars, lara bars, bonk breaker, clif bar, stinger waffle) if you are seeking a healthy choice to keep your tummy happy (I recommend around 30-50 calories as needed while riding, in addition to your liquid sport nutrition as your primary carb/electrolyte hydration source).

These bars are also a great choice when you need to carry a bar with you while traveling, running errands or in meetings. Also, if you find yourself without a healthy snack on occasion (ex. fresh fruit), this could be an alternative. There are a variety of flavors w/ nuts and/or seeds. I have not found them in stores so if you know of a place to buy them in a store, please email me so I can share with my athletes.

Potato salad

Roasted potatoes (sliced potatoes tossed in olive oil and seasoned with a little salt and chili spice and cooked at 425 degrees for 25-35 minutes).

Cooked mushrooms (on a skillet with a little olive oil) for 10 minutes.

Leftover edamame salad.

All on top mixed greens nd topped with a little shredded cheese. I added greek yogurt (Fage 0%) to this on top for my protein selection.

Tomato vine roadside market

A great selection of certified SC grown produce. (check out that ginger in the far left!)

So many choices!

YUM!

Tempeh and Broccoli stir fry

Steamed broccoli and cooked tempeh tossed with cooked jasmine rice and topped with cheese. 

Egg casserole with kale, corn and tomatoes

4 egg whites and 2 whole eggs scrambled w/ 1 dallop 0% Fage greek yogurt

Baby tomatoes, kale, corn, mushrooms, onions, garlic - as much as you want of each of these

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and drizzle a casserole dish with olive oil.

Add your veggies into your dish to fill dish 1/2 way full. Season with a little salt, pepper and your choice of seasonings.

Pour egg mixture over veggies.

Cook for 20-30 minutes or until eggs are firm. Top with feta cheese when eggs are finished cooking (oven off) and keep in oven for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Passerelle Bistro in Falls park - 

Green goddess garden baguette

Crisp cucumbers, heirloom tomato, arugula, goat cheese, shoots, Green goddess dressing (I asked for dressing on the side - both dressings for sandwich and salad were amazing!)

My handsome lunch date

Thank you Trimarni friend and athlete Lisa for the nice gift card to Karel's favorite French bakery here in Greenville, Legrand bakery. 

Trimarni egg and chickpea salad

5 hardboiled eggs (2 whole and 3 whites - chopped)

1 can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

large handful baby tomatoes (chopped/sliced)

10 baby carrots - chopped

3 stalks celery - chopped

1/3-1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 - 3/4 cup peas

1/3 cup 0% Fage Greek Yogurt

1 spoonful favorite hummus

Toss together and season to taste with a little salt/pepper. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.

Toasted bread (this is leftover bread from the deli but you can also thinly slice a baguette)

Place bread on pizza tray (I had my bread frozen) and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook bread for 5-8 minutes and if slightly brown on bottom side, flip bread (remove pan from oven first). Keep oven light on for if the bread is cooked 1 minute too long it will burn.

Our new normal

My body feels like I am on a training camp.
My mind feels like I am on vacation.
But in reality, we just moved to the most perfect place for our lifestyle. 

Back in February, Karel, Campy and I checked out Greenville South Carolina for the first time.
It was cold and rainy.
But we still loved it! 

Although we have only been living in Greenville South Carolina for 10 days and for me, not even a full week to believe that we actually live here, we have spent no time wasted since we moved. Although much of our day is focused on our coaching and nutrition athletes (tri season is in full swing!), we have tried to spend a little time each day to get to know our new town. Here are a few pics from the last few days. 

Trimarni coaching athlete Kristen and her hubby Trent were passing by after racing Rev3 in Knoxville. We love the fact that we can walk to downtown, just a short 1 mile from our new home. We all had dinner at Mellow Mushroom.

No more flat roads! Just a quick 8 miles or so on the Swamp Rabbit Trail (riding from our home) and then we make a few turns and a few miles later, we get to climb 2.5 miles to the top of Paris Mountain.....and then descend down the other side!

You know you live in a great city when Trek Travel has a 7-day camp where you live. 

With a change in temps (mid 50's in the morning and 80's during the day), we are really enjoying this change and the comfort foods that come with it. Yummy tomato soup cooked with Boca veggie meat, fresh onions and mushrooms and topped with baby Swiss cheese. 

A dressed up rice cake with PB, raisins, banana and honey, alongside water and coffee. Delicious, happy tummy fuel for a morning workout. 

Every trail should have a delicious cafe and grocery like the Swamp Rabbit Trail. If they are ever out of baguettes, you can blame us.

We love our bike-friendly community!

Not only is Greenville an active community

But they are big supporters of shopping local and recycling. 

WE are glad we are here too!

Karel is getting back to his Euro routes....stopping for a baguette at the end of our ride.

The BEST baguette I have ever had!

Just riding along....
Is it a good or bad thing that I want to stop every mile to take a picture of this beautiful scenery!! LOVE riding on these country roads! So much to look at and so many animals to say hi to!

My body is working over time here with our new terrain, combined with our IM Austria prep (6 more weeks!). My appreciation of fueling my body with real food has gone to a whole new level here in Greenville! 

Campy loves it here too!!

I love to climb.....and now I have no choice! 

We love fresh bread. This pecan bread was amazing!
Real food makes the tummy happy. 

Super raw trail mix....a delicious snack with yogurt to fuel a busy body in the afternoon.

Karel is now an expert at Map My Ride. His Garmin Edge 810 comes in super handy when it comes to riding new routes and not getting lost. You have no idea how happy Karel is riding here. He can not stay off his bike. Every day is a new day for exploring on two wheels.
I just want to ride and say hi to all the animals and take pictures. 

We are SO excited to start planning our 2nd Trimarni camp (and first camp in Greenville) for the fall! We are so excited for you to come and visit us and enjoy these beautiful roads and local eats with us (and Campy too!)

A taste of San Fran

After two days of moving, unloading boxes and getting my kitchen Trimarni-ready for some cooking, I was off to the West Coast for the Clif Bar RD summit.

I will write more about this summit in another blog post but I was invited to the summit, along with 18 other RD's from around the US (many from NY) to learn about Clif Bar, the company and products. As a RD, I take my role as a health professional very seriously. Specifically, with my focus on sport nutrition and fueling a body in motion, this was a great opportunity for me to understand a  sport nutrition product company that focuses on sustainable fuel and taste products to better educate and inform the public and athletes.

As you know by now, real food is how I role. Bars are not my first choice when it comes to nourishing my body or when I need a snack but that doesn't mean I don't travel without them in my stash of traveling eats.

For this direct 5 hour flight from Charlotte to San Fran, I enjoyed a delicious lunch of Ezikiel bread cinnamon raisin bread with fresh smashed raspberries and PB along with a banana. I picked up a Chobani yogurt (all they had was flavored but I typically choose plain 0% and dress it up myself) at the airport for a perfectly balanced (and yummy) lunch. I also brought along some trail mix and an apple.

On behalf of Clif Bar, my trip was paid for and they selected this stylish hotel, right in the heart of downtown, for our lodging. I had my own room but spent little time there as I was always exploring the city. 

Our itinerary had us meeting in the lobby at 7:45am but seeing that I was still on East Coast time, I "slept in" until 5am (8am EST) and my running shoes were calling my name. 

As my first run since St. Croix 11 days ago, I could not have picked a better place to shake out my legs and to explore a new city.

6 miles later and several camera stops, I was ready to clean up and officially start the day. 

My hotel had these cute little maps in our room which was handy for anyone who likes to follow a map. As for me, I let my feet guide me along my own little journey around town.

I will save the pictures from my day at the Clif Bar HQ for another blog but let's just say that I LOVE the Clif Bar corporation and the foundation on which the company thrives.

I was given Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar Inc. in my Clif Bar goodie bag and I am currently working my way through the book. I highly recommend this book - it is very inspiring to read about Gary, who is the creator of Clif Bar.

"In April of 2000, Gary Erickson turned down a $120 million offer to buy his thriving company. Today, instead of taking it easy for the rest of his life and enjoying a luxurious retirement, he's working harder than ever. Why would any sane person pass up the financial opportunity of a lifetime? Raising the Bar tells the amazing story of Clif Bar's Gary Erickson and shows that some things are more important than money. Gary Erickson and coauthor Lois Lorentzen tell the unusual and inspiring story about following your passion, the freedom to create, sustaining a business over the long haul, and living responsibly in your community and on the earth. Raising the Bar chronicles Clif Bar's ascent from a homemade energy bar to a $100 million phenomenon with an estimated 35 million consumers, and a company hailed by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. four years in a row. The book is filled with compelling personal stories from Erickson's life-trekking in the Himalayan mountains, riding his bicycle over roadless European mountain passes, climbing in the Sierra Nevada range--as inspiration for his philosophy of business. Throughout the book, Erickson--a competitive cyclist, jazz musician, world traveler, mountain climber, wilderness guide, and entrepreneur--convinces us that sustaining one's employees, community, and environment is good business. If you are a manager, executive, business owner, or board member, Raising the Bar is your personal guide to corporate integrity. If you are a sports enthusiast, environmentalist, adventure lover, intrigued by a unique corporate culture, or just interested in a good story, Raising the Bar is for you."

Clif Bar believes in sustainable energy and local, fresh and organic food. They are heavy into recycling, giving back to the community and taking care of the environment/earth. So what better place to eat at than at Central Kitchen. Local, fresh organic food enjoyed over 2.5 hours. With four courses and a room full of RDs, there was a lot of yumming going on!

YUM!

This was not Marni-friendly (it had fish in it) but others were yumming).

YUM!

Check out those carrots! And the bread was SO good! YUM!

It was getting dark but this was worthy of a pic!

The potatoes were SO good! Double yum for this plant strong athlete!

Desert - chocolate custard with warm cookies. SO GOOD!

I made sure to get some restful sleep to avoid suppressing my immune system with all that was (and has been) going on in my life so after waking up without an alarm, I had a little time to waste and what better than to use my free time for a morning run. 

5 miles later, it was time for breakfast with the group and then a scavenger hunt around the city! 

We were divided into groups of 4 and had check points at certain times as well as opportunities to get points along the way. We had a camera and a book of to-do's for points. So much fun - I love a good fun challenge with my body!

I think I need Karel to fit me.

If you are ever in San Fran, be sure to rent a bike - this was one of our activities/check points (we got the bikes for free and they were all ready for us) and it was a great way to see the city. We were moving our bodies for 3 hours that morning!

One of our activities was to be blind folded in a garden (sitting down) and to taste and identify 5 different herbs. Oh they were amazing! I felt like I was on Amazing Race!

I haven't put my Fit Bit to full use yet but I am so excited to try it out! I've heard great things about it.

My awesome team!

I was a little jealous  to see a group of triathletes swimming in the water but that's ok.....

We were having so much fun!

Oh bread...how I love you!

A stop at the Boudin Bakery was on our to-do list

And I can not resist a delicious slice of fresh bread. YUM!

A stop to see the seals...who were very chatty!

And what scavenger trip can not be complete with a market stop....

And ice cream!

Once the scavenger hunt was officially complete around 11:45am (points deducted if you were late), it was time for a delicious picnic lunch. 

And we got to try our own Clif Bar's that we made the day before at the HQ!

Our had cashews, dried blueberries and cherries, beet chips, chocolate chips and almonds.

Yay!! Our team won the hunt!!!

How cool are these awards? 

So great to meet Tara, the RD at Clif bar!

Once the hunt was over, it was time for our good-byes and see ya later.

I had a red eye leaving at 10:15pm so I had a good 6 hours to explore the city once more (after a little computer work was done).

Beer always makes me miss Karel when I travel.

My European hubby would have loved to try them all!

It was SO great to see my good friend Doris (and website designer, Trimarni athlete and creator of the Trimarni logo) in San Fran - she only lives 30 min away from this cool city!

We had Blue Bottle Lattes which were delicious! 

And then I got a meal to -go to enjoy around dinner time in my hotel lobby from The Plant - Organic cafe

There's something special about plant strong food that is so exciting for the taste buds! 

Well San Fran....you left me satisfied with a happy belly and my legs loved exploring the city. Until next time West Coast....

Now it's time to explore my new city of Greenville, SC!!!

Team Sumbal weekend training recap - Bricking it up!

source

It's hard to believe it but in 24 days we will be traveling to St. Croix for our first "race-cation" of the season. Not only is this our first time visiting this beautiful island but we are really excited to tackle this beastly  challenging half ironman course. 

This has been a very time-demanding year for us with the Trimarni coaching and nutrition business keeping us super busy. Our athletes are absolutely amazing (one-on-one and pre-built for coaching) and they inspire us every day with their commitment, discipline, passion and enjoyment for using the body. My nutrition athletes have worked hard on daily nutrition as well as fine-tuning sport nutrition for better training and recovery and a more effective fueling plan for race day. 

It's really incredible to see so many age group athletes out there who love to dream big, work hard have fun with training. It's not easy to balance a multisport lifestyle with life but when the outcome is a strong performance on race day, the sacrifices pay off. 

On Thursday we (Karel, me and Campy) made a quick, 6.5 hour drive to Greenville to finally secure a home to rent when we make our big out-of-state move in May. We checked out 6 places that we found on Zillow and the very last house was the winner! We are so excited about living 2.5 miles from downtown Greenville and most of all, enjoying an even more active lifestyle with lots of nature to play with on a daily basis. 

Karel and I love dining out at local restaurants when we travel and we found this place called Bravo in downtown (which we heard has over 100 restaurants!). 

I enjoyed a delicious mushroom, corn and bean salad for dinner on Thursday evening and after being inspired by this salad, I couldn't wait to get back home to re-create the meal at home. 

Viola! My own creation - sauteed mushrooms and onions in olive oil on top a bed of mixed greens, avocado, tomatoes, hard boiled egg (1), rice, shredded cheese and crumbled pita chips and a side of salsa. 

To improve overall health, to reduce risk for disease, to control a healthy body composition and to boost performance, prioritize eating meals cooked/prepared in the home so that you can be in control of portions and ingredients. However, when there's the occasional opportunity to enjoy a meal outside of the home, use my dining out tips from my latest Ironman article.
How to eat healthy when dining out

On Friday morning, Karel and I went for an early morning hilly 4.5 mile run (with headlights - Thanks Trisha!) and after a busy day of finalizing paper work, it was time for a 6.5 hour drive home. 

After a hodgepodge of recovery workouts after HITS Ocala half ironman, with Sunday after the race being a full day of no activity aside from walking Campy several times throughout the day and stretching, all lights were shining green for full-speed ahead with my body and mind to resume structured training a weekend after our tune-up half ironman race. 

With no running until Wednesday (4 days after the race) and extra focus on sleep, Karel had two great workouts for us (we biked together both days) to challenge our running legs off the bike for we know that a steady bike paves the way for a strong run. 

Saturday: 

2 hour Bike + 1:15 hr T-Run

Bike is again just endurance pace for first hour. 2nd hour, take it up just a notch - SESP (steady effort still pushing).

40 miles, 2 hours

T-RUN: 

5 miles descending off the bike (with a planned walk/rest of 30 sec after mile 2 and 4 and 60 sec planned rest after mile 5).

The rest of the run was steady with planned walk breaks (10-20 sec) every 2 miles.

10 miles - 1:17 total time (7:40 min/mile pace w/ walks included)

MS:

7:55

7:38

30 sec walk

7:27

7:06

30 sec walk

6:48

1 min rest

7:45

7:34

30 sec walk

7:52

7:41

8:07 ( with campy and Karel)

(Karel did 12 miles (he did his own MS). Total time: 1:24, average pace 6:58 min/mile)

Sunday:
2 hour bike + 7 mile run

First hour steady endurance pace.

MS: 30 minutes - alternating pulls of 5 min upper Z3/low Z4 watts

(Although being able to trade pulls with Karel was years in the making and I know he can go harder than what he does with me sitting behind his wheel, here's what it looks like for me (stats below) when Karel is pulling and I am sitting on his wheel and then for me to take a pull...it's not easy to draft and then take a pull! I'm sure Karel fully recovers when he sits behind me but when I am behind Karel's wheel, I am still giving a steady, slightly uncomfortable yet doable effort. Also, we were not riding on a straight rode for 30 min so our speed adjusts whereas we both focused on the same normalized power)

5 min (Karel in front, me on his wheel drafting) - 150 W, 23.79 mph

5 min (me in front) - 165 W, 22.68 mph

5 min (Karel in front) - 154 W, 22.77 mph

5 min (me in front) - 168 W, 23.46 mph

5 min (Karel in front) - 155 W, 23.98 mph

5 min (me in front - last pull!) - 170 W, 22.98 mph

Then SESP effort until we arrived home

T-run - 6 miles (+ 1 Campy mile)

Goal was steady effort, RPE 8/10 with 30 sec walk in between

55:08 total time, 7:46 min/mile average (including 3 minutes total of walking, 30 sec after each mile)

7:43

7:22

7:27

7:18

7:22

7:10

8:00 (Campy mile)

(Karel did 14.25 miles and a different MS, 1:42 total time, 7:12 min/mile average)

And to finish off the weekend - the perfectly balanced post-workout meal of fresh pineapple, homemade banana walnut bread (thanks Trimarni athlete Elizabeth from DC!) and an open egg omelet (2 whites + 1 whole egg scrambled with milk) with spinach to replenish, refuel and repair my body.

Staying busy in Laguna Beach!

Even though I live 20 minutes from the beach, there's something about being on the west coast that really makes me happy. 

And walking into my room at Seven4one made me very, VERY happy.

Thank you Oakley Women, Asics, Coola Suncare, Perfect Fit Protein and Zico!

After enjoying a few hours of free time when I arrived

And catching up on a few Trimarni work related things

The sun was setting and it was time for the Oakley Women crew + ambassadors to gather for a meeting.

And enjoy an amazing dinner by a private chef of Eggplant Parmesan, salad and gluten-free baked ziti. So amazing! 

Although I was very tired after being awake for over 20 hours, I made myself stay awake until 10pm (1am EST) and I had a great night of sleep, waking up at 6am and feeling completely fresh and energized. 

So, I went for a 4 mile hilly run on the streets of Laguna Beach and got lucky enough to also enjoy the sunrise. 

A delicious way to start my day I must say! Thanks again to the amazing private chef for the egg scramble with potatoes and veggies. 

                                             

It was a very long day but I'm not complaining. Hair and makeup done and it was time to get to work with OakleyWomen.com and Sweatpants Media. 

And by early afternoon, it was finally time for me to refuel my brain. 

Quinoa salad with a flavor overload of ingredients, tossed in olive oil and topped with dates. Thank you private chef!!

After a full day of being in front of  cameras, we had a little time for downtime to explore Laguna Beach and it's yummy local eats. 

My friend Fitz, creator of the Morning mile and Flip Flop abs, and I (unplanned, kinda matching in Oakley Women) along with a few other ambassadors explored the streets...

And we finally found what we were looking for!

Casey's cupcakes! We arrived around 5:30pm and there were less than a dozen muffins left in the store!! 

My selection was the peanut butter pizazz because peanut butter makes me smile so I figured a PB cupcake had to be too good to be true.

The day is finally over, another meal was enjoyed and we have one more day to go of our Oakley Women event. 

For more info, check out the Oakley Women Training Collection. Any questions about styles, fits or colors, just send me an email:
Marni@trimarnicoach.com 

Hello from Greenville, SC!

On Thursday, we (Campy, Karel and I) took a quick trip to Greenville South Carolina. We have heard so many great things about this beautiful city and bike-friendly community that we decided it was a great time to go and take a little 6 hour road trip and stay until Sat.

And if you know us - we LOVE traveling!

After our morning workout (treadmill run for me and strength and trainer bike + run for Karel), we packed up for our trip.

Yummy Trail mix! I never travel without it!
Cheerios, raisins, pecans, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts. 

Sadly, we left our bikes at home due to the high chance of rain during our trip and it was a good thing that we listened to the weather channel. Two full days of rain...but that didn't stop us from enjoying beautiful Greenville!

Grocery store salad - mixed greens in a container topped with hardboiled eggs, nutritional yeast, swiss cheese, cashews and olive oil/balsamic dressing. A simple and delicious Trimarni "fast food" creation for the road from the Grocery Store. 

When we arrived to Greenville we were anxious to stretch our legs and Campy really needed to let the downtown know that "I WAS HERE." 

We stayed with a friend of mine, Trisha, so we waited til she got off work and she gave us a little tour of this cute town. 

While we waited, Campy spotted one of the Mice on Main!

After spending time in downtown Greenville we finally arrived at our "home" for the next 2 days. It was great to enjoy a home cooked meal.
Steamed veggies and salad and tofu on top salsa, topped with jalepeno cheese.
Karel, Trish and her hubby had baked chicken (instead of tofu) and Trisha cubed tofu for me and drizzled with olive oil and tossed with herbs/spices and we put the tofu in tinfoil and then wrapped it up like a baked potato and baked in oven with the chicken for 15 minutes. 

On Friday morning, we woke up around 6am and had a pre workout snack (Trisha knows me well - WASA crackers and natural PB were waiting for me downstairs!) before our swim and strength workout at the YMCA.

After our workout, it was time to enjoy the local eats and what better than at a bakery!

Traditional European breads and pastries...to say Karel was in heaven is an understatement!! The croissants, apple strudel and Chef baguette were amazing!!! 

We had a busy day so we were out and about and ended up with a stop out at The Point Shopping Center at Zoes Kitchen for a late lunch. 

Greek salad and pita veggie pizza. YUM!!
(I had 1/2 pizza with salad along with an apple that I brought with me and saved the other 1/2 for lunch the next day)

We couldn't wait to get back to downtown and check out the local bike shops (we heard there are over 10 in Greenville!)...especially Pedal Chic -  which caters to women who are empowered through healthy movement.

Pedal Chic is the first women-specific bike shop and athletic boutique in the country, offering an unparalleled selection for the female athlete, cyclist, urban commuter, and yogi, as well as lifestyle/comfort wear in an upscale, boutique environment. The shop is a full-service bicycle shop and athletic boutique.

We are the proud dealer of Bianchi, Jamis, Nirve, and  Linus.

 I bought this cute long sleeve shirt. Now this is the sign that you want to see in the changing room!

Campy made a friend!! 

We were so excited for a dinner in downtown and we picked the perfect place! 

Chicora Alley

I had the vegan burrito which was packed with flavor! It was so delicious!!!

Well it was one exciting weekend and now we have one tired Camper. 

If you get a chance to visit Greenville, I highly recommend checking out this awesome city......be sure to bring your active wear and hopefully you will have great weather and can bike to Paris Mountain and run on the Swamp Rabbit Trail.

Thanks Greenville for the great memories....until next time........

A few more pics...

Fixie and Food for a FUN weekend

 

 

Leave it to Karel to "fix" himself another bike. Only this one doesn't have brakes and is fixed in one gear.

 

I don't know how these guys do it but on Saturday a handful of guys (and one female) lined up for the last fixie Time Trial of the year.

 

20 minutes - all out for Karel.

He said his legs haven't hurt this bad in a long time....not since racing bikes.  As a triathlete, he has to conserve his effort for if he smashes the bike then he won't have the gas in the tank for the run. I'm sure he enjoyed his leg-burning "race" alongside joining the group ride for a total of 57 miles on a fixie with his legs moving non-stop the entire time.

 

 

For my workout, I warmed up with a few guys and Karel for an hour and then did my own thing.

Main set:

6 x 5 min Z4 watts w/ 2 min EZ spin.

10 min EZ spin
5 x 1min on/1 min off (high cadence spin-ups on tired legs)

10 min EZ spin

5 x 1 min single leg drills (1 min each leg with other leg unclipped, sitting up, hands on bars), then 1 min both legs. Again, on tired legs to really make the glute muscles work.

Then cool down.

Total: 3 hours

 

I was super excited to sport my Czech jersey that I received from Karel's friend who owns a bike shop there, when we visited his hometown in Znojmo Czech Republic in May.

 

 

On Sunday, I had to use a few gift cards so Karel and I went to the Town Center for a little shopping. In the middle of the afternoon we were both getting rather hungry after a good post workout breakfast and then a light "lunch" snack so we opted for our favorite restaurant, Seasons 52.
Karel and I leave eating out for traveling so that we can really enjoy occasional eats but when there's a special occasion or just random time to really enjoy a restaurant meal, we LOVE (and I mean LOVE), Seasons 52.

 

Every season, they have a new selection of specials. Right now they are wrapping up the Autumn season and will be showcasing Winter in a few days.

 

 

 

 

For starters, we had the special mushroom and truffle oil flatbread.

 

Karel had the Wild, prime tuna burger with an Asian glaze and wasabi slaw

 

And I had the  Autumn Vegetarian Tasting: quinoa-citrus salad, soft taco, seasonal vegetables, cedar-roasted tofu, mango chutney.

 

With every item on the menu under 475 calories, you won't believe how much flavor is packed into every bite. And even after a mini indulgence for dessert (Karel's favorite is Belgan chocolate rocky road), you won't leave this restaurant feeling stuffed or heavy.

 

I will say, the items are heavily salted so just be aware. You can check out the Nutrition page to learn more about your selection before ordering to be a more informed consumer. Although  not as high in sodium as other restaurants, all you need to do is plan a little extra sodium from this meal into your daily diet so bulk up on a more real food diet for the day (which after you go to this restaurant you will get a lot of inspiration!) and it will all even out. Daily sodium recommendations are between 1500-2500 mg a day.

 

And check out this awesome creature that we found in the parking lot of the Town Center!! Nature is so amazing! Be sure to take a moment every now and then to appreciate Mother Earth and all her amazing little friends.

 

Oh, and while you are at it...don't forget to take a handful of Mother Earth's candy jar once a day (1.5 ounce nuts daily has been shown to provide cardiovascular benefits and nuts have been shown to assist in weight loss due to satiety).

She grows the best goodies to make your heart super happy.

 

Hello from Lake Placid!!

Race to travel. Travel to race.

Karel and I absolutely love seeing new places and making memories together. Since we both live a very active lifestyle, the combination of traveling and racing works very nicely for us for it allows us to see new sights in a very active way.

Lake Placid was a race that we decided to do last year around June. Karel was seeking a new challenge after spending most of his teenage - adult life training and racing cycling, with the past few years as a cat 1 cyclist. Karel jumped in the water last May for his first swim "workout" and after working hard in the water for a few weeks, he was ready for his first ever triathlon in mid July. Never did I ask Karel to do a triathlon, let alone an Ironman for I believe that with two active individuals being married, they don't have to have similar passions but instead, excitement for similar lifestyles. But one day, Karel said he wanted to train for an Ironman and knowing that it would take a while, he set his eyes on a June/July race for the following year ('13) so that he could train for an entire year, primarily learning the skills of triathlon. After tossing around a few ideas, we narrowed down our choices based on logistics, timing, weather and terrain and Ironman Lake Placid was on the top of our list. We both seek challenging, hilly courses and IM Lake Placid was not going to disappoint us based on what we new about the race. Additionally, we really enjoy visiting places where the town comes together to support the Ironman. Knowing that not every town is in favor of having 2500+ athletes take-over 140.6 miles, it is very special to be in a place that thrives off the Ironman weekend.

Lake Placid it was........our first Ironman together.

It was a long day of traveling, starting with a 3:45am wake-up call to drive 2 hours to Orlando (much cheaper flights in Orlando vs Jax). Before we even left Orlando to head to La Guardia, I received a message on my phone from Delta that we would have a delay in NY before heading to Vermont. So our 5 total hours of getting from Orlando to Vermont turned into 7.5 hours. Then, we had to take a ferry from Vermont to New York and I choose the longest ferry which took an hour. But we just missed the 4:10pm ferry so we had to wait until 5:30pm - which was the last one! We killed time by heading to the local grocery store for some groceries for the morning and before we knew it we were driving on board the ferry for a very beautiful trip to NY. I enjoyed a salad from Moe's which made my tummy happy. After arriving to NY, we traveling about 1 hour and 10 minutes to Lake Placid which put us to our rental cottage around 8pm. But despite all the delays and mistakes with my travel arrangements, it was an absolutely beautiful welcome to get to Lake Placid and we purposely drove on the bike course to our cottage (3 miles from the race venue on River Drive) to check out the course. Beautiful, challenging, tough.

We went to bed just before 9pm as we were both exhausted from the day. But up early without an alarm at 6am to get the coffee going w/ a small snack before we met Trimarni Coaching athlete Laura G and her bf Duran for a swim at mirror lake.

Karel and I didn't have our wetsuits because they were packed with our gear bag with Tri Bike Transport and I was really worried that the 43 morning temps would freeze me from a morning swim. Laura let me borrow her speed suit and Karel wore a tri suit and actually, the swim felt great (albeit a tiny bit chilly but nothing that would keep me from swimming 1.2 miles in mirror lake). It was really nice to get the blood flowing as I am itching to push hard and release my contained energy but doing nothing will only get me tight and unfocused.

After warming up back in the cottage, it was time for a real meal, followed by check-in, expo exploring and grocery shopping. So grateful for Laura being a local (grew up playing hockey around Placid but now lives in NC) as she was an excellent tour guide, driving us around and explaining the course to us (which was an added bonus since I have been reviewing her training files on training peaks for the past 2 weeks since she has been staying up here with her family).

After a light lunch, we picked up our bikes at Tri Bike Transport and Karel put on our pedals and we were ready for a ride with Laura as our tour guide.

Karel and I needed to do a little climbing to wake up our legs as it is always a shock for the body to climb, especially when you don't do it for a while (or regularly). We rode the last part of the course by heading down the last climb to Wilmington to then head back up as if we were actually on the course (2 loop course). We rode from Wilmington towards whiteface mountain on Route 86 for around 11 miles of climbing, a few rollers and not a lot of flat. This course is extremely challenging and race day calls for a big chance for rain so this course certainly requires a lot of patience and love for mother nature. All-in-all, I love this course already!

After the ride, it was nearing 5:30 pm by the time we cleaned up so Karel and I each made some dinner and the rest of the evening was relaxing.

We are looking forward to a very easy workout in the morning with a very short swim in the lake at 7:30am followed by a 45ish minute "flat" ride on river road (well- as flat as you can get around here with a few rollers).

The pictures speak louder than words and I hope you can enjoy Lake Placid via my photos for we are absolutely loving it here!

(Karel's eats)

Ironman prep- long run + yummy berry-licious pancakes (recipe)

 

After my quality brick workout on Saturday and my normal post workout recovery routine (recovery drink, stretching, foam rolling on my bac, Epson salt bath/shower, 110% Play Harder gear, food and then trigger point, I rested briefly after a nice long Campy walk and then I had to attend to "work" duties for Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition, LLC while Karel was working at Trek. After a delicious dinner last night, we both were ready for bed around 9pm as our eyes were sleepy and the body was begging for rest. Have I ever mentioned that Campy is a professional sleeper?

 

Without an alarm, we both got up around 5:30am this morning as I guess our bodies were ready to start the day.

 

For the training this am - tempo bike + long run. With the run being the primary focus of the run today.

 

Seeing that I am gradually progressing back with my running, I am very careful to not do too much too soon. However, I have noticed that with all my hip strengthening work, I find myself running with better form than ever before. It's as if my glutes are finally working and my back is finally liking me again. Crazy as it seems - my body always seems to function the best when I train for an Ironman...short distance, speed events - not so much.

 

Considering that the Ironman distance is all about putting together the pieces of swim bike and run into an endurance event, I do not do many "long" runs. The longest I have ever ran in training for an Ironman has been 2:45 as I feel it is better to go by time than by miles. However, I find that 16-17 miles is a good distance to aim for and to get comfortable with in training for an Ironman and to really get comfortable running off the bike. I do most of my runs off the bike because it works for my body to get warmed up on the bike. I don't feel that every Ironman athlete needs to bike before every run but it is good to run off every bike - even if it is for 5 minutes (and it can be  a walk, not always a run).

 

Because my long runs are typically off the bike, I believe that running steady is better than running fast for an Ironman. In years past, I have always tried to focus on a goal time for the marathon in the IM and I tried to simulate that in training. Well, oddly enough - I've never been even close to running that time in the Ironman. I've managed to run 3-sub 4 hour marathons off the bike in Ironman's but always running the pace of a 3:30-3:40 marathon in training. Anyone can teach themselves how to run fast or a certain pace in training but off the bike - well, that's a whole other story. For me, I run better off the bike (not always faster) so I prefer to run a long run at a steady pace.....not slow, but steady. I will always do intervals in my long runs but I am focused on my running being efficient. Thus, I can run continuous if I want but that doesn't always give me a quality week of training with an efficient body, the following week. Thus, every long run has the purpose of making sure I am able to run off the bike in an Ironman and most importantly, arrive to the race hungry and not injured, to race.  I have been keeping check of my HR in training and also on my form for I know if either of those two get off, so does my pace. Of course, the best IM runs come after a bike that has been paced well so it is important to recognize that in order to run strong off the bike (or run/walk as I will do on race day) you have to be able to put together a training plan that allows for endurance fitness gains over time. You do not want to overkill yourself with a 20 week (or even 10 week) Ironman plan with long, slow junk miles. Make your workouts count and you will be able to put that training to good use on race day.

 

Bike:

1:15 bike

20 min warm-up
5 x 2 min leg openers (high cadence) w/ 2 min EZ

Main set: 30 min IM pace (low Z3 watts)

5 min cool down

 

Transition to run

 

Long run: 11 miles

Total time: 1:36 (average pace 8:34 min/mile - which includes my walk breaks)

The focus was to keep my HR as close to 130-145 as I could and to hold around 8:30 min/miles. There are a few faster splits because I was imagining myself on race day and I guess I got excited so I had to dial it back. Also, I ran two bridges (up and down) which was helpful for controlling my form and HR. I was running from 9am - 10:30am so it was getting very hot and humid but my body does well in the heat (not ideal as it isn't the fun type of suffering like pushing in cooler weather) so keeping my HR in check as I stayed in a steady pace was the goal for the long run.

(BTW - this is my longest run since January. What a great feeling to be able to thank my body for this run, especially after I wasn't able to run for 3 months from Feb - April. THANK YOU BODY!)

After each mile, I walked 10-13 seconds after my garmin autolapped the mile and then I hit lap to restart another mile.
On my garmin 910xt, I have my garmin set to see the following on my interval screen when I run which helps me pace myself:
Lap time      Current pace
Lap pace      Lap HR

 

Mile 1: 8:26 min/mile, 120 bpm

Mile 2: 8:22 min/mile, 129 bpm

Mile 3: 8:34 min/mile, 134 bpm (the intercoastal bridge is ~.68 miles from one side to the other)
Mile 4: 8:34 min/mile, 137 bpm (back up the bridge again for ~.68 miles)
Mile 5: 8:27 min/mile, 139 bpm
Mile 6: 8:25 min/mile, 144 bpm
Mile 7: 8:19 min/mile, 146 bpm (got excited thinking about the IM!)
Refilled my flasks with water/sport drink - 2 minute break at most. I had a total of ~250 calories for my run, consuming gel or sport drink, a little every mile and then water/sport drink as needed - I am never strict on when I drink/take in calories - if my body needs it, I take it but no more than every 15 min on the bike or 1 mile on the run)
Mile 8: 8:27 min/mile, 142 bpm
Mile 9: 8:25 min/mile, 146 bpm
Mile 10: 8:23 min/mile, 147 bpm
Mile 11: 8:14 min/mile, 148 bpm (got super excited....allowed myself to go for it)

 

 

 After cooling off and stretching before getting into my car to drive home from Nocattee (where I love to train), Karel and I exchanged training stories from our morning bricks and we were both quick to get to the freezer for our 110% ice pads.

 

While we iced, I made some berry-licious rye pancakes. They came out really good as I put together this creation without looking at any recipes.

 

1/2 cup rye flour (you can use any flour)

1/3 cup blueberries (I used frozen)
3 large strawberries - chopped

1 tbsp. chia seeds
1 tbsp. unsweetened coconut shreds
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2-3 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. sunflower seeds

Makes 7, 1/4 cup wet batter pancakes.

 

1) Mix together ingredients.

2) Heat your skillet to medium heat (or a tad below) and drizzle with olive oil. Pour 1/4 cup serving of batter on to skillet and press down lightly with back of measuring cup to make a flatter pancake. 

3) Cook for 3-4 minutes on one side and flip when bottom of pancake is firm. cook other side for 2-3 minutes.

 

 

 

 

                                      

 

 

I can't believe this is my 6th time training for an Ironman! I am so grateful to my body for allowing me to do this. I absolutely love the journey of training for an Ironman and I never get wrapped up in the end result. I realize that competing in an Ironman is a gift and I am the first to say that the human body does not have to allow "us" to train for anything and push our bodies to higher limits. With everything that I have been through over the past 7 years since I have started racing in Ironmans, I can honestly say that it never gets easier when you keep raising your limits. However, it is always fun, I never get burnt out and I wake up super excited and motivated to see what my body is capable of for that day.

Happy training, exercising and healthy living!

 

 

 

 

VIP Oakley Progression session: DALLAS FORT WORTH

 

 

Not even a week after returning from Czech Republic, it was time to do a light re-pack for a quick trip to Dallas for the last event with Oakley Women and Shape Magazine. San Diego and Boulder were amazing and I couldn't wait to meet 200 more inspiring women who are passionate about health and fitness. After coming back from Europe, I had a bit more material to add to my talk of my 7 top tips for healthy balanced living and couldn't wait to speak and hand out my delicious Trimarni balls.

What I love so much about these events is a place for women of all ages and sizes to get together and to have one special thing in common - each lady loves to move and use her body. There has been so much positive energy at these events and I couldn't wait get one more dose of it in Dallas Fort Worth.

 

But first, I was asked to teach a workout on the beach (Atlantic beach) behind Ocean One resort to a group of Lens Crafters employees on behalf of Oakley. The workout was great as I had everyone sweating at 8:15 in the morning with a beautiful view in sight to keep everyone happy that they were outside and not sitting in a conference room.

 

Thanks Oakley Women and Lens Crafters for having me!

 

 

 

 

After a great brick workout on Thursday morning, it was time to head to the JAX airport. Knowing that I was arriving to DFW around 1:30pm and getting picked up with a group at the massive airport, I had plenty of snacks and a PB&J sandwich to keep me satisfied and fueled for my direct flight to Dallas as well as until I arrived at the hotel. We finally arrived to the hotel around 3:30pm and we were all in need of a mini meal to hold us over until dinner which was at 7pm. We headed to the hotel restaurant and we all got delicious salads that we each modified with either egg (me) or avocado. It was delicious!

(FYI - I always try to have yogurt on a daily basis, about 4-6 ounces a day, in addition to up to 1 cup skim milk. When I travel, I try to bring yogurt with me and I have never had trouble with security and having it in my carry-on. Just a FYI in case you are interested in traveling with yogurt. Just don't forget to get a spoon!)


Soon enough, it was time to head to downtown Fort Worth to eat at a touristy restaurant with a group of 18 (Shape Magazine, Oakley Women and ambassadors). The restaurant was a steakhouse and I was hoping for some corn on the cob, brown rice and sweet potato but no options available and no vegetarian chef-inspired options. No worries - I enjoyed a delicious airy bread roll and then enjoyed a large filling salad and the most delicious baked potato with toppings on the side. I left the restaurant very satisfied and was excited to wake up in the morning for a 6.5 mile interval run on the treadmill and then a full day on my feet outside, speaking to 200 amazing ladies.

 

 

After a delicious buffett breakfast of  milk, fruit, oatmeal, cottage cheese, and a veggie stuffed omelet it was time to head to the park/field for an amazing day of fun!!

The event included yoga with Lacey, my nutrition workshop, social media learning, lunch from a food truck (YUM!) and interviews to be the next Oakley Women ambassador. The event kick-started with a tough bootcamp with Carrie and Cari. My friends Michelle Lovitt and Sarah Dussault were also attending the event to help others better understand fitness and social media.

 

Here are a few pics from Instagram - I LOVE instagram and connecting with others, just like with facebook. It's so great to be inspired by others and to associate yourself with like-minded individuals. To stay connected, you can link with me #trimarni on Instagram or @Trimarnicoach on Twitter and Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition on facebook. For Oakley Women, use #Oakleywomen. Enjoy the pics from some amazing women!

Congrats to Laila for being the next Oakley Women ambassador!!!

 

 

 

(Shape Magazine Diva dash)

Czech trip: Day 7 and 8 pics

Stay tuned for Day 9 and 10...in Prague!

Czech trip Day 7 and 8: Happy vegetarian athlete - running, castles, hiking, wine, food, cycling, shopping

I love waking up in the morning, excited to start the day. I find myself this way every day but in Czech, it is an adventure everyday!

The sun rises rather early in Czech and with no AC in the flat, we often wake up to the birds chirping outside of the open windows and the sun as our alarm clock. Regardless if we sleep to 8 or 5am, it all looks the same. We woke up around 6am which was usual for us and after our morning cup of fabulous coffee, along with some trigger point therapy (rolling on the ball) and active stretching/dynamic warming up, we were off for a 6-mile tour around Znojmo. I guess this was a workout as we were running but with Karel as my amazing tour guide, it was hard to think of this as a workout but instead, the best way to sight-see in a new country. Despite doing a morning run of around 2-4 miles every day since arriving to Czech, we had yet to cover the same route twice in Znojmo. Similar paths but always something new to see. I just couldn't take my eyes off the sights as Karel had me running on a trail, in a forest, on paths, by gardens, on cobblestones. Each place was familiar to Karel, new to me. 6 miles later, we were back at home for a yummy breakfast and then we got ourselves ready to officially start the day.

The day prior we had biked to see a castle that Karel was taken me to the next day. Well, today was the day and we were so happy that both Karel's mom and dad would be joining us.

After a 20 minute or so drive down the road, we parked at a parking lot and made a steep walk (about 1/2 mile) to the top of the hill to visit Vranov nad Dyjí which is a chateaux in the South Moravian region of Czech Republic,which lies on the Dyje (Thaya) river, 3 km north from the Austrian border close to Hardegg. We took a tour of the castle and Karel was my translator for the tour. The rooms were magnificent and so much beauty within each part of the castle. We had to put on slippers over our shoes and you could just smell the history.

After our tour, we hiked back down the steep road to the car and then headed back to Karel's mom's house (after dropping off his dad at his home a mile from his mom's) for lunch. A delicious lunch as usual.

After resting for an hour or so, we got ourselves ready to  meet with Karel's best friend and his girlfriend and their doggy (YIPPE) to tour an underground wine cellar and taste award winning wines. This was an amazing experience for me and although it was cold underground with mold everywhere (perfect humidity for wine), the tasting room was cozy and the wine was amazing! Although I do not drink very much (only wine as beer is not to my liking), I really enjoyed sampling all the white wines which were fantastic.

After our tour, we left with a few bottles of wine that were given to us and headed down the road for a hike with an amazing look-out point. One thing I must add is that this trip has been very special for me but it makes things so much better to have locals (including Karel) as my tour guides. Everything has run so smoothly and I feel like I am at home in another country.

The hike was amazing, with vineyards everywhere and a look out point that takes your breath away. Life just gets really good when I am outside as I just love connecting with nature.

After our hike, we had worked up an appetite as it was nearing 6:30pm (sun still shinning). We went back to Karel's mom's house to clean up and then we all met down the road to walk to the restaurant. Not a new trend as all we did in town was walk which was fantastic seeing that we love to use our bodies as much as possible.

As much as I was loving all the new foods that were served to me in Czech, Karel and I both thought it would be fun to check out something special in Czech that would make me extra happy - a vegetarian restaurant! I found Na Věčnosti online from Happycow.net which is a great website to locate vegetarian/vegan/healthy places to eat while traveling. I absolutely love trying new foods and when I have over a dozen selections to choose from on a menu, I am one happy plant strong athlete :)

Karel was also excited as he loves trying new things and will eat anything so it was nice to have some company with Karel's best friend and Girlfriend to join us for a very new experience. You can read more about our vegetarian dining experience with this link: Na Věčnosti.

After dinner, we chatted a bit more and walked around town and nearing 9:45pm, we made our way back to Karel's mom's house for a good night of rest.

The next morning we had a bike ride on the schedule but that was all! We laughed on Day 7 that for Wednesday, it would be our first unplanned, planned day. Every day was filled with something to do so we decided that for our last full day in Znojmo before heading to Prague, we would enjoy ourselves with a bike ride and then shopping around town to buy gifts for our friends and family and of course, lots of chocolate and coffee for us.

We woke up around 7am and although our first day of not running since arriving to Czech, we were both excited to just ride this day. We had a light breakfast to hold us over for our morning ride and then walked a mile to Karel's dad's house to get our bikes. No need to drive when the roads are made for walking.

We got our bikes and biked a mile or so down the road to the bike shop and picked up Karel's friend's who were joining us for a fun ride in Austria. Little did I know, my skills would be tested again on cobblestones in the town and then descending on switchbacks in Austria. Climbing is no thing for me - I just wish I never had to descend! But thankfully, Karel always gives me pointers and he knows my saying "I'd rather be a chicken than a dead duck." He knows I take my time and although hot brakes at times, I am getting much better at my descending with switchbacks. Karel makes it look so easy just flying down the hills/mountains but then again, after riding in his home, I see why he is so good at cycling. When you grow up in Europe, you have no choice but to learn good cycling skills.

Our bike ride was fantastic today. We left around 9:45 from the bike shop and although only around 35 miles, our 2.5 hours of riding and a few short picture stops was amazing. I am just having so much fun on my bike here in Czech - I fell in love with Karel on our bikes and now I am falling in love with another country on my bike. So many priceless memories.

After riding some long climbs and riding in Austria, crossing over to Czech, seeing the Iron Curtain (which brought back a lot of memories for Karel - he recalls when he was first allowed in Austria, he and his buddies couldn't wait to cycle on different roads) and riding in very gusty winds all the way back to town.

After our ride, it was early afternoon so we showered up at his dad's and then grabbed a coffee and a pastry for refueling, stopped by the bike shop to say good bye to his friend and left with more wine and a new local jersey for myself. People are so generous in Czech - we left with way too much alcohol (Karel says that's not a bad thing and thankfully - nothing broke on the way home).

We finally had some lunch and then rested about 45 minutes before heading out to see more sights (walking) and to shop around for some gifts for us and our family/friends. We finished the evening with a delicious meal and then Karel joined a few of his friends for one last beer at the pub. I decided to stay in as I wanted to give Karel a break from translating so he could just enjoy his time with his friends and just speak Czech. I caught up with my mom and Campy on Skype which was a nice way for me to end my evening.

I stayed up until Karel came home around 9pm and then we were off to bed soon after for we were excited and sad to pack up and head to Prague for day 9 and 10. Wow - I can't believe how time flies....only two more days until we have to return to the USA. Thankfully - I get to bring home lots of memories, pictures and an appreciation for a lifestyle that I have grown to love and hope to continue inspire others to live back in the states.