IMWI '18 Race Report - 26.2 mile run

Photo: Jay Baker

After dismounting my bike, I quickly removed my cycling shoes as I ran my way into the terrace to grab my T2 (Run) gear bag. My legs were a little tired from 112 miles of biking but I didn't let it worry me. My athlete Diane was out on the course and on lap 2, she told me I was still leading but the girls behind me were closing in. At this point, I assumed I was still leading my age group but I didn't know by how much. Anything can happen in an Ironman marathon and I had a game plan that I trusted and I was looking forward to seeing if I could put together a solid run after what appeared to be a solid day of swimming and biking.

When I entered the women's changing room, I was all smiles as I was the only one in the room and I had all the volunteers to myself. I had a few Trimarni followers in the room (volunteers) giving me cheers which made me so happy. I put on my Nike Zoom Pegasus Turbo, emptied my pockets from the bike and put on my visor. I grabbed my hydration belt and race belt (which had my bib number on it) and headed out of the room. Rather than immediately running, I fast walked as I put on my belts. From experience, I know how good it feels to completely empty myself before a run so I made a quick stop in the port-o-john and I felt so much better afterward. 

I've learned a lot from Ironman racing and one major tip always comes to mind when I start the marathon - be patient. 26.2 miles is a long way to go. I see athletes all the time chasing paces, rushing out of T2 and treating the marathon as if it is a sprint triathlon as if every second matters. Sure, you don't want to waste your time doing silly things but you want to make good decisions as it's a long day of racing and what happens in the first few miles of the marathon can potentially make or break your race. I had no time goals or paces for this run. I trusted my training and my nutrition and felt confident with my run fitness going into this race. And even though I knew my competition was likely close behind me, I needed to be smart with my execution which meant taking care of myself in the early miles and really listening to my body.

Plus, I had a very specific game plan for this marathon. Walk within every mile. 

Photo: Brian Comiskey

Yep, that's right. My strategy was to intentionally take a walk (or reset) break within every mile. Not always at each aid station but instead, to walk to reset my form. This is something that I have practiced in all of my long runs and something that we encourage our athletes to do as well. Committing to walking in an Ironman can be tough for many athletes view it as failing. There's a big difference between unintentional vs intentional walking. The later makes you feel in control whereas the earlier makes you feel like defeated. I'm not saying that unintentional walking is bad but there's something very powerful about having a plan to walk and sticking to it. I figured that it wasn't if I got caught on the run by my competition in my age group, but when. However, I didn't let this thought of being caught scare me as I needed to focus on my strategy to get to the finish line.

In addition to my walk breaks (which were rarely at aid stations until the last 6 or so miles), I was also confident in my fueling plan. I had two flasks, each with 1 scoop Carborocket hydration (108 calories, 10 ounce water, 331 mg sodium and 27g carbs). Each flask was a different flavor - one with kiwi lime and the other with raspberry lemonade. For the second loop, I had two flasks in special needs filled with 3 scoops per flask of Osmo women mango (105 calories, 10 ounce water, 552 mg sodium and 27g carbs). I also carried an Enveritine cheerpack with me to start the run (and one in special needs) in case I needed a little pick-me up (I didn't end up using either). I have practiced with all products listed above as I use sport nutrition in every training session - even easier workouts. I am comfortable running with my Nathan Trail Mix hydration belt (I actually love it so much I don't like to run without it), drinking when I run and I enjoy the taste of my products. I also know that I can eventually move to coke in the later miles of the run and still sip on Osmo. The reason why I run with my hydration is that I can drink when I want to drink. Because muscle glycogen stores are declining, keeping the brain energized with sugar is key. Since the liver is responsible for this, the nutrition that I take in on the run is not only helping me muscles but also keeping my brain alert. In other words, I can always stay one step (literally) ahead of my blood sugar to prevent bonking. Also, I find that it's incredibly easy to overdrink at aid stations when you feel very thirsty or low in energy so by bringing along my own nutrition, I can use the aid stations just for water and then coke, when or if needed. 

Photo: Jay Baker

Within the first mile, I realized that I didn't completely empty myself when I exited T2 so I stopped in the port-o-john right before an aid station. I figured now was the time to go as I didn't want to wait too long and then struggle to find a potty and I knew once I went, I would feel so much better. And it worked! Plus, after a quick sit and rest, I felt a million times better. This also confirmed that adding in the reset breaks was going to help me delay fatigue and hopefully run fresher longer.

As usual, the first few miles were a little tough as I was trying to get my rhythm, settle into a good stride, find my form and just put my mind into a good place. The walk breaks were also a nice distraction from how far I still had left to run as I only focused on one mile at a time. This actually made the first few miles go by really quickly. My friend Jacqui (who was the overall amateur female) blazed by me (she ran 3 hours!) and we had a quick little convo. Based on this, I knew my effort was conversational and I was not over-doing it. Sure, it felt hard as I had been racing for over 6 hours but I wasn't forcing my effort or trying to chase a pace. I would glance down at my watch every now and then and see paces in the low 8 minutes and I felt like I could hold this effort for some time so I just ran with it - literally.

Photo: Jay Baker

Once I found my running legs, my smile grew bigger. I was actually enjoying running and I felt very strong and healthy. Because I don't do the typical "long" runs in training (my longest run was 2 hours/14 miles with a main set of 10 x 1 miles slightly faster than IM marathon effort w/ 30 sec walk between) but instead, many brick runs, double run days and a lot of frequency running, I not only felt fresh for this marathon but I was looking forward to the mechanical fatigue that I knew was coming. Because I only like to put myself in that deep uncomfortable place on race day, it was something that I was welcoming but I wanted to delay it for as long as possible. My goal was to run a very steady and sustainable effort for the first loop (13 miles) as if I was holding myself from going harder. This actually made the effort feel rather "easy" but within the context of Ironman racing (it's never easy). And that tired feeling that I felt on the bike was gone. I was alert, happy, energized and fresh. This rarely happens so I couldn't stop myself from smiling. The course was packed with spectators and I felt like every corner welcomed me with new cheers and faces. I love all the turns and terrain changes on this course as it helped me break it down mentally into small segments. Once I approached Observatory hill, I saw Karel and I was super excited to see him and hear an update of how I was doing. Karel and I have developed an ability to know what the other person needs to hear in the moment when we are racing and Karel said the right thing to me. He told me that I he was so happy with how I was running but the 2nd and 3rd place girls were 2 and 3 minutes behind me. I told Karel that I was feeling really good but I was sticking to my walk-break plan. He told me to not change what I was doing as it is working. All of this conversation occurred in about 30 seconds as I was running my way up the hill. Since I was being very strategic with my walk breaks, I made sure to walk anytime I felt like I wanted to feel good for an upcoming segment. Once I made my way on State Street, I could feel the crowds giving me so much energy. I was just happy that I felt so good and could smile my way through that section.

Photo: Joanne Marshall

Going into the race, my goal was to get a Kona slot. I figured we would have two slots but I wanted to win my age group just be sure. While this goal was important to me, I made sure not to take risks and to stick to my plan. At the end of the day, the only person I can control is myself. If the other girls were to run faster than me, so be it. I wanted to put together a race that I was proud of and at the end of the day, the athlete in my age group who put together the best race (in other words, who is the best at not slowing down) was going to win the age group and get one of the two Kona slots.

When I saw Karel for the second time, he told me that the girls were running just a bit faster than me but to not change what I was doing. This news worried me a little bit as I saw the two girls running in the opposite direction on State Street and I felt like the gap was closing. It was still hoovering around 2-3 minutes which is not that much time in the marathon. I also heard Karel's mom cheering which just made me smile so big as she was having a blast out there with her cowbell. 

Once I made my way on the gravel trail section, my legs were happy. I really enjoy running on gravel and I tried to stay on the gravel section for as long as possible (even if that meant running on the side of the run path with just a small patch of gravel). On the next out and back, I saw the girls and they were getting closer to me. Still, I was feeling good and stayed with my run/walk plan.

The first loop went by really fast which is exactly what I had hoped for. I was also really happy that my form wasn't breaking down. While I thought it would be hard to make the u-turn to lap two within a few hundred meters from the finish line, I was actually looking forward to lap two. Bring it out, I thought to myself.

I made a quick stop at special needs and then made my way back out of town. For this second loop, I needed to take a few small risks but also remain calm. Since I was very patient in the first loop with my effort, I had a lot of trust in my body for the next 13 miles. I knew the mechanical fatigue was building and it was going to get really hard, really soon but I just kept taking care of myself and focused on running well. After the run through the stadium, I started to mentally take note of the segments of the course that I wouldn't have to do again. Stadium - check. As I got to Observatory hill, there was Karel again and he told me that it was still close. Perhaps the coaches/friends of the other girls behind me were giving information like "she's walking" which made the other girls speed up but it was getting close and Karel was on edge (he later told me that my race was a very exciting race for him to track!). Rather than walking up observatory hill(s), I ran because I knew that if I was going to take a risk it was going to be on the hill. So I made my way up the hill, took a reset break, charged down the hill and after state street, Karel told me that I had opened up the gap and it was now around 4-5 minutes. I couldn't believe it. Am I really running away from my competition? This never ever happens?!?! While I knew I was slowing down, I was still able to keep good form and I never felt like I wanted the run to be overwith. I felt like I was there doing what I had trained to do and my body and mind were ON!

As I past mile 20, I told myself to just think of my favorite 6 mile running route. Then when I got to mile 23, it's only 3 miles - that's like a typical brick run (even though I always go by time and not miles/distance). Then when I got to 24, I told myself when I got to mile 25, I could give it everything I had. While it wasn't much more than I was giving for the last few miles, I couldn't believe the day that my body put together. I sprinted my way to the finish (well, it felt like a sprint) and made sure to celebrate the last mile. I loved seeing my athletes on the course and I could not wait to get back out there to help bring everyone to that finish line.

Funny stories....At one point, Karel told me to keep myself cool. I was like, um, I am not hot at all. While a few sections of the course were a little warm, the weather was perfect. I grabbed ice a few times but I didn't hold it long because it was too cold. Also, when I was nearing mile 16, I thought in my head it was mile 17. Total disappointment to see mile 16 instead. However, I must have missed mile marker 24 so after mile 23, I just kept running on the course thinking "where is mile 24?? And then when I saw mile 25 I was like "SCORE!" That was the best feeling ever and it couldn't have come at a better time as my legs were not moving so fast in the last few miles. 

When I crossed the finish line, I felt amazing. Sore, tired, exhausted and short of breath but amazing. I couldn't believe it. When I saw Karel and his mom (and a new friend Lindsey) behind the barricades, I just lifted up my arms as I couldn't believe it. I just won my age group and qualified for Kona for the 6th time. 

There's nothing like that feeling of crossing the finish line of an Ironman!! It makes all the unknowns, challenges, worries and muscle aches worth it. 

My coach, best friend and life-long teammate.

While anything can happen in an Ironman, I feel I put together a perfect race. The exciting part for me was that I was racing for all 140.6 miles. My competition was strong behind me and for most of the race, three of us were within 3 minutes of one another. For me, it wasn't so much about the time or place as far as why I am so proud of my performance but my execution. Everything I did on race day was practiced in training, I listened to my body, I arrived fit, healthy and physically and mentally fresh and excited to race. I didn't chase a result or metrics or an outcome but instead, stayed true to myself and focused on what I needed to do all day to deliver me to my 14th IM finish line with a smile that didn't go off my face for all 26.2 miles.

After the race, it took me some time to hobble my way to my gear bags and change in the terrace bathroom before heading back out to cheer for our athletes. I was so cold after the race that it took me some time to warm-up in the food tent! It got rather cold at night so I was happy that I had my warm clothes from the morning. I made sure to eat as much as I could after the race to help with the recovery process. The worst part of the day was hearing from Karel that our athlete Ericka crashed with just a few miles to go on the bike after she moved herself up to 6th place in the pro field in her first ever Ironman. She hit some gravel on a turn (accident as she is a great rider and bike handler) and went down - luckily nothing was broken but she was taken to the hospital. While we are incredibly sad about how her day ended, we know she will be back stronger and hungrier than before. We love you Ericka!

Here are my splits from the run, which include my walk breaks. I didn't have a set time that I was walking as I just walked to reset my form, stretch out and take care of whatever I needed to do to run well until my next walk break. 

Mile 1: 8:17 min/mile (didn't see the official start to the run so I started my watch late)

Mile 2: 8:43 (bathroom stop)
Mile 3: 8:11
Mile 4: 8:11
Mile 5: 8:05
Mile 6: 8:40
Mile 7: 8:34
Mile 8: 8:15
Mile 9: 8:28
Mile 10: 8:22
Mile 11: 8:23
Mile 12: 8:18
Mile 13: 8:40 (special needs stop)
Mile 14: 8:25
Mile 15: 8:36
Mile 16: 8:42
Mile 17: 8:57
Mile 18: 8:37
Mile 19: 9:16
Mile 20: 8:49
Mile 21: 8:40
Mile 22: 9:08
Mile 23: 9:09
Mile 24: 8:56
Mile 25: 9:05
Mile 26: 9:06
Mile 0.2: 8:26

I think I counted 21 intentional walk breaks over 26 miles (see below)
Per my Garmin: 25.9 miles, 3:44.09 (8:39 min/mile), 843 feet elevation gain

Ironman tracker results for the run: 3:45.44 (8:36 min/mile), 3rd fastest AG group, 24th female run, 113rd overall

RESULTS
Swim: 59.38
T1: 6:20
Bike: 5:37.44
T2: 3:03
Run: 3:45.44
Overall: 10:32.29, 1st AG, 5th amateur female, 2019 Kona Qualified

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2018 Trimarni Supporters and Affiliates

We would like to send a BIG thank you to our Trimarni sponsors and affiliates for supporting the Trimarni team:

• Run In - for helping us with our running gear/shoe needs
• Mg12 - for helping our muscles stay relaxed
• Clif Bar - for quality, organic ingredients in quality sport nutrition
• Carborocket - for providing a quality bike and run nutrition in tasty flavors
• Base nutrition - for making delicious bars and a variety of products to meet the needs of endurance athletes. And for being all around awesome. 
• Veronica's Health Crunch - for the most delicious hand made crunch - ever!
• Infinit - for customizable sport nutrition with safe and effective ingredients
• Levelen - for helping athletes optimize our hydration needs through sweat testing
• Hot Shot - for boosting neuromuscular performance and preventing muscle cramps
• Solestar - for maximum stability, better power transmission
• KLEAN for making quality products, tested to be clean and safe for athlete consumption.
• Boco Gear - for helping us race in style
• Canari - for the most comfortable, functional and stylish gear and for helping our athletes race in good-looking kits
• Amrita bars - for making the most delicious tasting, high-quality plant-based protein and energy bars. 
• Xterra - for the fastest, most comfortable wetsuit ever.
• Alto cycling - for engineering the fastest race wheels
• Swamp Rabbit Inn and Lodge - for keeping our campers happy with perfect lodging options
• Ventum - for designing a cool-looking bike that has been backed by research and top-notch engineering. I love my Ventum!

IMWI '18 Race Report - 112 mile bike

Photo: Jay Baker

If I had one complaint about this course, it's the first few miles on the bike path. Even though the course was altered a bit due to recent flooding, it's still a technical way to start the bike in a race. Thankfully, it's not more than a few miles of navigating cracks, turns and bumps and a railroad track before you are on an open road and heading out to the country.

With the temp around 50 degrees, I was happy I had my arm coolers on as they were keeping me warm. I felt very comfortable (body temp) when I started the bike but I still gave myself a few miles to wake-up my legs and to settle into a nice rhythm. I always start the bike with my helmet shield up so it doesn't fog and then after a few minutes I snap it in place as my "sunglasses" for the rest of the ride. It's also a lot easier to get on this way.

After losing both my rear bottles at Ironman Chattanooga last year in the first few miles of the bike, I was extra paranoid at IMWI with every bump on the road. I kept tapping down my rear bottles before and after every noticeable bump for the first few miles as I didn't want to make the same mistake twice (and this is even with very secure gorilla bottle cages). But just to be safe and not sorry, I filled my hydration flask with 2 bottles worth of INFINIT powder just in case I were to lose two bottles. I chose not to use my hydration system for this race because I am very comfortable grabbing my bottles and it's easy for me to see how much I am drinking and to get in full gulps. But since it is more aero with the hydration system, I keep it on my bike. I've only had my new Ventum to ride for just a few weeks but I have tested out the straw and plan to use it for extreme conditions (ex. rain and wind).

It wasn't too long into the bike when I heard my name and it was my athlete Ericka who was racing in the professional women's field. She is a super strong biker and she loves to ride her bike. It was great to see her ride away from me and I was so pumped for her to experience her first Ironman - and to share the day with her.

The Ironman Wisconsin course is tough. There's little time to settle into a rhythm with over 91-turns per loop (over 200 turns over 112 miles). While the course has 5600 feet of elevation gain, you are either going up or down and rarely do you get a lot of momentum to get yourself from one downhill to the next uphill. There are a few technical sections with tight turns that can be executed safely but you have to be on alert, especially when other athletes are around.  And when there is a flat-ish segment, you usually get wind. On our race day, the wind was angry. And lastly, the road conditions are rough. While several segments have been paved over the years, it's not a "fast" course. However, having said all that, the scenery is beautiful (think farms - lots and lots of farms and fields), there are designated spectator-heavy spots that you can get a ton of energy from the crowds, the course is very-well marked, the course is safe (even though it's not closed to traffic, there are police and volunteers everywhere) and it's a fun course!

NUTRITION
I keep my nutrition super simple during an Ironman so that I can focus on my execution but also ensure that I can optimize digestion and absorption of all calories consumed.  For my nutrition in an Ironman, I use 1 26-ounce bottle of INFINIT per hour (I use my own custom version of my endurance base formula, discount Trimarnicoach if you'd like to try it) with around 500mg sodium, 250 calories, 62g carbs and 15g of sugar. One of my 6 bottles (3 for the first loop and then 3 in special needs - already filled with water and powder) contains caffeine and aminos (mixed in my custom formula) - 50mg caffeine and 1g aminos. I use this bottle as my third bottle on the bike (so around 2 hours of riding). This is the same strategy I use for every long ride. To help with taste bud fatigue, I bring along 4 different flavors (watermelon, pink lemonade, fruit punch and grape) so that each hour is a different flavor. My front bottle cage holds my primary bottle and when I am finished with it, I either toss it at an aid station (I use an old bottle that I am happy to get rid of) or move it to my rear cage and replace with my rear bottle. I keep rotating bottles so I can always grab my front bottle. For this race, I didn't grab water in the first loop but grabbed water at each aid station on the second loop to use for sipping and cooling. While I like to have a plan for an Ironman, I am also always listening to my body. I always bring "extra" fuel with me for those just-in-case situations and in this Ironman, I brought along a Clif PB and pretzel MOJO bar as it's something I have practiced with in training and have had good runs off the bike when I nibble on the bar throughout my ride. So I broke up the bar in advance, put it into a baggy and stuck into my bento box for easy nibbling throughout the ride. I mostly went through the entire bar throughout hour 2-5 of the bike. I also had a small flask filled with 1 Enervite cheerpack (caffeine) that I took a swig from anytime I needed a little burst of energy. Again, I practiced with this in training. So aside from drinking my INFINIT bottle every hour, 4-5 chugs every 10-12 minutes (give or take depending on the terrain and how I was feeling), the extra nutrition was based on how I felt.

Picture: Brian Comiskey

TRAINING PREP

The IMWI bike course is very similar to what we train on in Greenville so I think that helped me a lot with my execution and knowing how to ride my bike on the course. While we have a lot to climb where we live (and bumpy roads), this helped my bike handling skills, terrain management and strength on two wheels but it leaves very little opportunity for steady state riding. So my long rides are always outside and my more specific rides are typically on the trainer. I usually ride my road bike once a week for an easy spin and I have found that I need to incorporate variable cadence work (riding at a very low or very high cadence) during my workouts to keep the fibers firing, versus just focusing on steady state efforts. I haven't done a power test in over a year so all my rides are by feel as I know what each effort should feel like and I adjust based on how I feel for the day. My bike fit is all dialed in thanks to Karel as it wasn't a difficult fit as my new Ventum fits me so well. Whereas my Trek Speed Concept was a size small (700 wheels), it was a bit too big for me. This new bike is just perfect and with my 155mm cranks and Dash saddle plus the shape of my aerobars (Ventum product), the bike feels extremely comfortable and rides so well. And with the wind, I felt like I was just slicing through it! This never happens to me as with my old bike, I felt like I was always getting pushed around. With no downtube on my Ventum, there is less for the wind to hit. Also the chain stay is shorter than on most bikes which brings my weight more towards the center or the back of the bike while still maintaining an aero position. This makes the bike feel more like a road bike compared to a heavy tri bike. The bike road so well and I was so happy with my choice to ride my new Ventum at IMWI (even though I had only completed 2 long rides on it prior!).

As for my training going into this race, my longest ride was 5.5 hours and that was with our campers in August. Other than that, the majority of my rides were around 4-4.5 hours. While I don't do many "long" rides, my workouts are very specific and intense. Either the terrain brings up the inside or the workout itself. Plus, our miles go by very slow where we live so it's not uncommon for us to average 16-17mph for a long ride. Thus, completing a 100+ mile ride would be a long day in the mountains and we feel there are other beneficial ways to gain fitness versus spending so much time in the saddle. While I love to ride my bike and train, I'm always looking for the most efficient way to gain fitness in the least amount of time possible.

Photo: Jay Baker

RACE STRATEGY
As for the race, I hit lap every 30-35 minutes once I got on the loop (~40 miles per loop). I used the stick part of the course to build into my effort and I made sure to keep the first loop very sustainable. I felt strong but tried to hold myself back. There was a lot of sitting up in the saddle or standing on the climbs which I liked as I am much more comfortable changing my position than being stuck in aero for miles at a time. The crowds were incredible on the two longer climbs on the course, in addition to the 3 sisters (or b!tche$ - however you choose to call them). I saw a lot of familiar faces on the course which was awesome - thank you Ed, Diane, Cory, Michela, Tim and all other friends/family for being out there! I was getting updates on my position that I was leading the female amateur race and first in my age group. While this news was motivating, I didn't let it change my game plan of riding my bike well. After a stop at special needs to get three fresh bottles (for those who thinks special needs is a waste of time, my stop was only 12 seconds according to my data), I was looking forward to the second loop. Knowing that fatigue was building, my goal was just to ride the same effort as before but to save a little for the stretch going home as I knew it would be windy and in my face. I was starting to warm-up and while I probably could have kept on my arm coolers, I decided to remove them around mile 60 just to feel something different. I tucked the arm coolers into my jersey pockets. Not too long later, it hit me. A low. After 14 Ironmans, I know these lows come but it's always a guessing game as to how long. While the miles were going by very quickly, my low stayed with me for some time. Maybe it was the wind, the part of the course where I was riding (I was alone for a very long time) or being passed by two very strong girls but the low stayed with me for more than I would have liked. It's hard to describe this feeling but it's easy to get negative and to start having doubts. I took in some calories, did a few check-in's with my body and all was still feeling ok so I just rode it out (literally) and was able to bounce back from it.

Karel was spectating around the 3 sisters and I was super excited to see him. I gave him a big smile but also told him "I'm feeling tired." He yelled back "you should be, you are doing an Ironman." Sometimes it helps to say what I am feeling as it's kinda like a little self-talk for myself to get out of my funk. It helped and I felt stronger soon after I saw Karel. I was prepared for the final section of the bike (the last 14 miles) to be very tough and it was. It was slow but I just focused on smooth pedaling, staying relaxed and doing my best to deliver myself to the run as fresh as possible after riding a super windy and tough 112 miles. While I was passed by two girls, I was still first in my age group so that gave me a lot of motivation to keep taking good care of myself and giving my best on this day. While sometimes our thoughts tell us negative things, thoughts aren't always actions. I had nothing to convince me that I was having a bad race so even with a low on the bike, I still told myself that I could have a great race. I reminded myself of all my hard training sessions and no matter how I feel on the bike, I can still put together a solid run. To be honest, I had my normal thoughts of quitting and questioning why I do this crazy sport but something deep inside myself loves to prove myself wrong. 

As I neared the helix, I couldn't believe how fast the day was going and that I was about to start the marathon. Only 26.2 miles until the finish of my 14th Ironman! With the lead in my age group and 3rd female amateur overall, I questioned if history would repeat itself and with only 2 and 3 minutes between me and 2nd and 3rd place in my age group, I was in need of the run of my life to take the age group win.

112 mile BIKE RESULT (per Ironman tracker)
5:37.55 (19.86 mph)
2nd fastest AG (35-39)
14th female
141th overall

Bike specifics:
Any questions about these components, email me and I'll send your question along to Karel. I don't do bikes - I just ride them :) 

• Ventum One Frame size 46 (custom paint) 
• Ventum handlebar set up with TriRig ultra light elbow cups with CeeGees pads
• Wheels: Alto CC 86 rear and Alto CC 56 front wheel with Specialized S-works 24mm tubeless tires and Ultegra 11-28 cassette.
• Crank: Rotor 3D24 crank arms 155mm with Rotor Qarbon 53 aero big chainring and 39 small chainring with Power2Max pwoermeter. 
• BB: CeramicSpeed bottom bracket (red) 
• Saddle: Dash Stage Custom saddle 
• Other components: Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 and Utegra 8000 Di2 group set with CeramicSpeed oversized pulley system (red) 

My race data (Garmin 810): Each split represents when I lapped my computer (I wasn't always perfect, sometimes I would forget)

-14 miles (39 minutes/21.7 mph), 169w NP, 87 RPM
-11 miles (30 minutes/21.3 mph), 168w NP, 85 RPM
-10 miles (31 minutes/19.3 mph), 180w NP, 84 RPM
-10 miles (32 minutes/18.9 mph), 170w NP, 83 RPM
-13 miles (37 minutes/20.9 mph), 164w NP, 83 RPM
-12.4 miles (37 minutes/20 mph), 169w NP, 82 RPM
-9.66 miles (30 minutes/19 mph), 159w NP, 81 RPM
-10 miles (34 minutes/17.6 mph), 161w NP, 80 RPM
-6.6 miles (19 minutes/20.9 mph),135w NP, 80 RPM
-14 miles (45 minutes/18.5 mph), 140w NP, 78 RPM
Data recorded 111 miles in 5:35.59 (19.8 mph)

IMWI '18 Race Report - Pre-race + Swim + T1

Pre-race

I was looking forward to my 30-minute swim on Friday morning at the Pinaccle Health Club. Karel joined me but swam about double my distance as he is still in training mode for his upcoming races. Because two days out from an Ironman is a relatively light day of training for me, I was really looking forward to connecting with our 13 athletes who were racing IMWI (and seeing their family members). In usual Trimarni fashion, we had our pre-race pizza party + course talk as a way to connect everyone and provide last minute advice and tips. Our athlete Lisa lives in Madison and offered up her rooftop deck/clubhouse for our party. The views were incredible. Plus, you can never go wrong with pizza two days before a race. We ordered pizza from Pizza Brutta and it was amazing!

The rest of the day was very low-key for me and it was early to bed to try to get a good night of sleep as you never know how sleep will go on the night before the race. 

Saturday was all about waking up the body and fueling for the long adventure that awaited me on Sunday. Interesting, I never felt “too full or heavy” despite eating far more than I normally eat before a race. I started the day with my typical pre-training snack (2 waffles w/ PB, syrup and Greek yogurt) and a small cup of coffee and water. Then it was off for a 55 minute spin on the race course (with the terrain dictating my efforts to raise the intensity) followed by a 15 minute run off the bike. I’m not tied to any specific goal times, paces or distances to achieve with my pre-race warm-up as I’m looking to warm-up until I feel good and then save it all for race day. Karel started with me (and our athlete Thomas) but then continued on with his ride as he had a big day of training planned with a 6-hour ride followed by a 20-minute run. After a big glass of milk while cleaning up, I prepared myself 2 big slices of French toast w/ scrambled eggs and fruit. 

                                        

                                         

I re-packed my gear bags (I had them all laid out and almost packed as of Thurs evening) and then around 11:30am, headed downtown with Thomas, Karel’s mom and Campy to check-in our bikes and gear bags. Because the wind was gusty, I noticed that a few other athletes had used duct tape to secure their saddle on the transition rack. This was a great idea since my bike is too small to touch the ground so I did the same by taping down the saddle rails to the bike rack. After dropping off our gear bags, we walked around the outside expo and checked out the finish line and then headed home. 

But first, we had to make a quick stop at a local bakery to pick-up a few treats for Karel so he could survive his day of spectating on Sunday. Sadly, they were out of croissants but I substituted with two scones and a huge cinnamon roll (for me). If you didn't know, I LOVE cinnamon rolls. 

When we returned home, my lunch consisted of leftover pizza (from Pizza Brutta), cottage cheese, a handful of arugula. I really cut back on my veggies in the 48 hours before the race. I also yummed over some of my cinnamon roll (it was calling my name and I couldn’t wait to dig into it). Then it was time to fill my bottles with my sport nutrition powders (topping off with water on race day morning) and put my feet up and relax. Since I am not the best relaxer, I found a movie to watch on Netflix which distracted me for a while. Karel eventually came home from his workout around 3pm and he provided us with some great feedback on the course (since he did the entire course and a little more during his ride). I snacked on corn chips and fruit throughout the afternoon and ended the day with a bag of microwave rice (high in carbs and lots of sodium). Our professional athlete Ericka (doing her first IM!) came over with her husband in the evening on Friday for a last minute pre-race chat with me and Karel.

Since carbonated water can sometimes irritate the gut, I avoided it and just drank plain water all day plus 1 bottle of precision hydration (1500). Even though the temps were not predicted to be warm for race day, I still found it important to load on sodium to optimize my hydration level before the event. Since Karel was tired from his training, we both headed off to bed around 7pm and lights were off around 8:30pm. I think Campy was the first to fall asleep – this Ironman stuff is tough for his almost 11-year old body!

Race morning
My alarm went off at 3:45am and surprisingly, Karel was quick out of bed. He was starving and ready to eat after his big day of training on Saturday. This made it easy for me to get out of bed but I made sure to sit up slowly as to not throw off my blood pressure and faint (which happened to me at IM 70.3 World Championships in 2017). Campy (as you see below), was not quick to get out of bed. 

While I felt a little nervous, I didn’t let it get to me too much. I knew once I got to the race venue, my nerves would disappear. I ate my typical pre-race meal (which is also the same thing I eat before every training session – just in higher quantities for race day and a few extra toppings) of 2 waffles, PB, yogurt, syrup, banana, cinnamon, granola. I had a cup of coffee (instant is what I like), glass of water, 3 MAP BCAA’s and 1 scoop Osmo pre-load. I filled all of my 6 bike bottles and 4 flasks with water (since I put powder in them the day before) and then packed up my race day bag. 

Karel’s mom and Campy stayed at the house as Karel planned to go back to the house before heading out on the bike course to cheer. Karel drove Thomas and I to the race venue and we parked on the street just a block from the capital. We walked first to special needs to drop off our bags (Bike and run bag drop offs were both by the capital, before the finish line) and then headed to our gear bags inside the terrace to drop off any last minute items (like nutrition). I kept myself warm with pants, a jacket, a hat and gloves because it was a bit cool out (in the low 50’s) and a little windy. For every race, I always bring a bag of "extra" clothing like gloves, ear covers, shoe covers, arm warmers, leg warmers, rain jacket/vest and anything else I may need if weather changes. I made a mental note of where my bags were before heading to body marking and then to our bikes. 

Karel stood outside of the transition area and gave my tires a touch to see if they were good to go for the race. Since we pumped them up the day before (gave the bike a full charge for my electronic shifting on Friday night), they held their pressure on race day morning. It was nice to see so many familiar faces throughout the morning, including several of our athletes. Of course, I made sure to untape my saddle – that would have been no fun if I would have forgot! 

                                  

It was nearing 5:45pm when I was finished with my pre-race to do’s. I made a potty stop inside the terrace (nice clean bathrooms with no line) and then did a little light mobility work on the floor in the terrace for the next 10 minutes. Around 6pm, I put on my wetsuit, gave Karel a kiss and hug good-bye, found a doggy to give a kiss (can't forget the furry ones) and then made my way down to the swim start. It was a little crowded to get down there so I was happy to give myself extra time. I was hoping to get in the water but it appeared they weren’t letting anyone in the water so I just kept myself loose before getting into the corral. I had an Enervite pre-race Jelly around 20 minutes before the start. With the pros going off at 6:40am (in-the-water start at the first buoy), it was getting rather tight in the corral by 6:20am. I wanted to get around the 1-hour group but the only sign was 1-1:10 (predicted swim time for the rolling start). This created a lot of chaos even before the start for there was a wide range of swim abilities all crammed together (plus those that probably shouldn’t be near the front anyways). While it may seem like standing around for 30 minutes in a tight corral would be stressful, I didn’t mind it for I knew that for the next 10+ hours, I would be moving and using my body. 

Swim 2.4 miles - 59:38 (2nd 35-39, 6th female, 24th overall)

Source: IMWI facebook page

Once the gun went off, the line moved quickly. I first stepped over the timing mat and then walked to the water. It felt like forever until I crossed over the mat and then entered the water but I’m guessing it wasn’t more than a 30 seconds. I made a poor decision and started on the left of the swim start which was a bit more crowded since we needed to keep all buoys to our left. I found it very chaotic in the water for the first few buoys due to the large amount of athletes who lined up in the 1-1:10 time frame plus the sub 1-hour swimmers. There were many times that instead of focusing on staying on course, I was sighting to find clean water. The best part of the early part of the swim was swimming next to my athlete Stephanie who is a great swimmer. I immediately noticed her as we both wear the same Xterra vengeance wetsuit and I know her swim stroke. I eventually swam away from her but she wasn’t too far behind me as she had an awesome swim. The stretch to the first buoy went by rather quickly. While I found myself needing to swim by many swimmers, I finally found my groove.

However, once I made my way around the two turn buoys and started to swim back toward the start, the water became incredibly choppy – more like an ocean. Since I have a pretty straight-arm stroke, I really focused on catching the water and trying to time my stroke with the chop. While it worked for a little bit at a time, the chop would change and then I would need to reset my rhythm. Since it was a good mile of straight swimming against the chop, I had no time to think about anything in the future (bike and run) but to stay in the moment. Since it takes me some time to feel warmed-up (this is for any sport), I like to pick up my effort as the swim progresses. I found myself around a few other girls (pink caps) which gave me a little boost to keep my effort going and to swim really strong to the finish. Since I always wear new goggles for an Ironman swim, I could see perfectly throughout the entire swim which also helped me stay on course. Although the long stretch felt long, the final stretch to the shore came rather quickly. I felt strong throughout the entire swim and felt I paced it well. Since I don’t wear a watch, I didn’t know my swim time but quickly glanced at the race clock and saw 1:10 – which I figured was for the pros. I quickly did the math and figured I was right around an hour which I was happy about. It was a nice tone to set the day.  Karel stayed inside the terrace and then made his way near the mount line to cheer me on (and our other athletes) for the start of the bike.

T1 - 6:10

Source (not from this year)

The transition from swim to bike at IMWI is a loooooong one. I first got my wetsuit removed by the “strippers” and choose to go to the very end before laying down as to not get stuck around other athletes. I kept my cap and goggles on as two less things to carry up the helix. Oh that helix. The crowds were incredible as they were 3-4 rows deep cheering as I ran up and up and up to the entrance to the terrace. This race is also special because the transition area is inside! The volunteers were great as always and directed me into the room with our blue bike gear bags and then into the female “changing tent” (a room). My volunteer helped me put on my gear and held my timing chip as I put on my compression socks (typically I put it in my mouth so I don’t forget it). I wasn’t planning to wear my arm warmers as the swim really warmed me up (water temp was in the 70’s) but the volunteer told me it was rather chilly out and in looking back, I was glad I had them on. They were actually arm coolers so they were really light but provided my arms with just enough warmth for the early miles of the bike (well – actually until mile 60!). While the Ironman is a very long day requiring patience and not taking risks, transitions are nothing more than “free speed.” 

Source (not from this year)

Since this transition is naturally long, I made good use of my time by removing my cap and goggles right when I entered the terrace, put my helmet on as I ran to the changing tent and then carried my bike shoes with me until I got to my bike. While running the entire length of the parking lot to my bike (on the very far side near the mount line), I also put on my arm warmers while running. Once I got to my bike rack, a volunteer held my bike, I turned on my bike computer and then put on my shoes. I grabbed my bike and then I was off. I felt like it was one of my best executed transitions, even though it’s a long one. As my first race on my new Ventum, I was really excited to put it to the test and see how it dealt with the bumpy roads, gusty winds and technical terrain that was ahead of me for 112 miles of riding. 

2018 Ironman Wisconsin - quick recap

Every athlete is in pursuit for that perfect race. We'd all like to believe that if you keep racing, it’s bound to occur. But what if that perfect race never happens? Does this mean that all past races are failures? More so, what really defines the “perfect” race.....Is it a time, a place or a feeling?

After 13 Ironman races, five Kona qualifications, several podiums, an Ironman PR of 10:06 and an amateur female win at 2017 Ironman Chattanooga, I'm incredibly grateful to my body for what it's accomplished over the past 12 years of endurance triathlon racing. But even with all those accomplishments, I have yet to have that race where I felt like it was perfect. In reflecting on my performance at Ironman Wisconsin, I feel that IMWI was a perfect race.

For me, Ironman Wisconsin was the perfect race for a few reasons.

Going into the race, I was full of emotions. Two weeks out, I felt so exhausted and tired. I felt flat during all my training sessions and my efforts felt much harder than I wanted them to feel. Karel reminded me that I get this way before every Ironman but my taper-brain was giving me a ton of misleading signals. I trusted Karel and my training and just carried on with my workouts. The best part of the weekend before race week was watching the Ironman 70.3 World Championship which had me fired-up to race (even though I felt sluggish).

Come race week, the emotions got worse as word was getting around that there was a lot of flooding in the Madison area. This created a lot of talk (and rumors) about the swim being cancelled and possible modifications to the bike and run course. As a coach, I needed to keep my ears open for any changes as I needed to stay on my toes to communicate accurate information to the 13 other Trimarni athletes who were racing. Perhaps the unknowns of race day were getting to me for I had trouble putting myself into “race mode” on Monday. But once I arrived to the race venue on Tues evening, I felt more at ease with whatever we were given on race day. Once I got myself into a good place mentally, I found myself feeling really good with my sharpening workouts leading up to the race. With each workout, I felt better and better and more excited for the race. I didn’t have any pains or niggles and this was something that I constantly reminded myself of, for there’s no better feeling than feeling healthy, strong and injury-free before an Ironman. I felt like I had a good rhythm during the week because I didn’t venture too far from my normal workout routine. 

Each morning after a good night of sleep (no alarm), a substantial pre-workout snack (2 waffles + PB, syrup, Greek yogurt and fruit – similar to race day) and a bit of mobility work, I did my planned workouts. We had to move a few things around because of the weather on Wed but other than that, I kept myself swimming, biking and running on race week with something every day. On Wed I ran and swam (am run and pm swim), Thurs we biked one loop of the bike course (~40 miles) and on Fri I swam. Sat was the typical bike/run combo. 

I found that every time I was at the race venue, I was getting more excited for my 14^th Ironman (and 3^rd Ironman Wisconsin). I made sure to get in a few pool swims on race week (even if the swim was to be cancelled) because that’s my happy place. Riding my new Ventum felt amazing and that was getting me super pumped for race day. Even though I had only rode my new Ventum about 5 or 6 times, I was confident with my decision to race on a new bike for I felt very dialed-in with my fit (thanks to Karel) and the bike was the perfect fit for me. The run always leaves me a little concerned as it's a continued work-in-progress for me but I felt confident based on my previous run training.
Come race day morning, I was antsy to get things going. I knew from past experience that once I got into the water, I would feel so much better. I just needed the race to start.

Once the race got going, I had no idea how the day would go and I feel that thinking helped me create the “perfect” race. With no expectations and a lot of Ironman experience (especially with racing Ironman Austria just 10 weeks ag), it wasn't until I exited the water that I felt like this could be a good race for me. What that meant, I wasn't sure but I felt like my body was ready to perform. While I battled low moments (as I always due in an Ironman) and had my typical “I’m never doing this again....why am I doing this” thoughts on the bike, my body was still working well. In other words, I felt like my mind and body were working together which meant I was able to still perform, even during those low moments. Most of all, I was having fun and felt like I wanted to be in the race. Plus, receiving feedback from people on the course about my position in the race (overall and in my age group) had me feeling a bit of pressure all day – which I liked.

While every Ironman requires a bit of good luck and there are bound to be plenty of obstacles to overcome out of your control, things were going rather well for me on the swim and bike. Even on the run, I didn’t have any nutrition/gut issues, no major obstacles to overcome and my body didn’t start to get really fatigued until around mile 16/17 of the run. More than anything, I felt good on the run and it never felt "too long" to run a marathon at the end of the Ironman. I was in the zone. And for me, I stayed in front of my age-group competition throughout the entire race! It's pretty typical for me to get run-down on the run but I couldn’t help but smile throughout the entire run (even though it was an incredibly tight race between me and my competition!) because of how well I was playing my tactics throughout the race. I felt this was the smartest I raced and in looking back, I didn’t deviate from what I know and from what has worked in training. 

You may not be surprised to hear that I felt good on the swim, but it was super chaotic and messy in the water. It was incredibly choppy and felt more like an ocean swim than a lake swim. Oh the bike. It was SO windy. Thank goodness for my new Ventum for it literally felt like I was slicing through the wind. But of course, the low moment came and didn't go away for some time. I had about 30 miles of being in a very low place where I wanted to quit and really considered that this would be my last Ironman. But then,, I popped out of it and I was having fun again. But then it wasn’t that long until I got another low again. While I had a good bike time for the distance, it was very windy which took a lot of mental and physical energy. The bike actually went by quickly for me but it wasn’t without plenty of low moments to ride through. 

Come the run, I had two bathroom breaks which I initiated before I really needed to go to the bathroom and I also intentionally walked once within every mile of the entire marathon as that was part of my plan. I stayed confident with my run/walk strategy for it works so well for me and I trusted my training. Throughout the entire race, I stuck to my nutrition plan and applied what I practiced in training and deviated when I needed to listen to my body and react to what my body was telling me (this comes from experience). As I mentioned above, I didn’t have any nutrition issues (I rocked my hydration belt for the entire run - just like I do for every single outdoor run training session) but I also had no low moments on the run. For me, this is where I feel my perfect race came about. After a solid swim and bike, I was running strong for my current level of fitness. Aside from the expected mechanical fatigue that comes in an Ironman (which didn't happen to me until after 2 hours of running the marathon), I felt in control of my body throughout the entire 26.2 mile run and my mind stayed in a positive place. And you can’t help but get energy from the Madison crowds as the spectators and volunteers are amazing and will lift you up for all 140.6 miles. The race staff did an exceptional job providing us with a safe and fair course.

So while I mentally and physically went through a lot during the race and yes, my body did get tired in the last few miles of the run, my perfect race came from taking good care of my body going into the race so that I arrived healthy, fit, strong, fresh and excited to race and then being proactive, present and smart during the race. Even though my competition was running me down, I didn't let it affect my race. I never chased an outcome and although I was racing my competition, I just focused on doing things well for all 140.6 miles.

Stay tuned for my entire Ironman Wisconsin race report with all the insider details on how I put together my perfect race. In the meantime.......

You can order my new book! In case you missed the Monday announcement on my Facebook page, I am now a published author. A dream come true for me! If you are an athlete, fitness enthusiast, coach, personal trainer, physical therapist, doctor, parent or friend of an athlete or you live an active lifestyle, my book Essential Sports Nutrition offers the most up-to-date nutritional guidance along with delicious recipes to make it easy to eat right to support an active lifestyle and to reach your performance goals. You can pre-order the book here: Essential Sports Nutrition

Thank you for your support – athletically and professionally. 

                             

2018 Ironman Wisconsin Race Results

2.4 mile Swim: 59:38

T1: 6:10

112 mile Bike: 5:37.55

T2: 3:03

26.2 mile Run: 3:45.45

Total: 10:32.29

1^st AG (35-39), 5^th female amateur, 13^th overall female.
2019 Kona qualified (accepted my slot).

Hello from Madison - It's IMWI week!

Wow, I can't believe it's finally here. It's race week! Just three more sleeps until race day.

A little update from this week.

Karel, his mom and Campy started their journey to Madison, WI on Monday morning with a long drive to Indianapolis. They spent the night and then finished the drive on Tues. With traffic and a few stops, it was a long two days of traveling. The house was pretty quiet for me for a day and a half but I kept myself busy with a few light workouts and work until I left for the airport on Tues afternoon. My athlete and friend Thomas and I flew from Greenville to Detroit to Madison on Tues evening and all went smoothly. Since Karel had our bikes and all my race stuff, I traveled pretty light with only a backpack.

To be honest, the week was a little stressful to start because of all the flooding in Madison and the great possibility of a cancelled swim and the unknowns of the bike and run course. Thankfully, the Ironman staff went above and beyond and the course is on for the entire 140.6 mile distance. Sure, anything can change between now and race day but the weather is looking good for an amazing day of swimbikerun come Sunday.

Our homestay and friend Ed picked Thomas and I up at the airport on Tues evening around 8:30pm and it was nice to reunite with Karel and Campy when we arrive to his home. With all the chatter about the weather/rain in Madison, all it took was a drive through downtown - in route to Ed's house in Fitchburg - to remind me why this race is so special. No matter what happens on race day, Madison knows how to put on a top-notch Ironman event. This will be my 3rd time racing IMWI and although it's a challenging bike/run course combo, the crowds are unbelievable!

Campy has been on squirrel (and rabbit and chipmunk duty) since he arrived and he is loving looking out the windows for any intruders.

Ed made us the most amazing pumpkin waffles on Wed after our wet run. YUM!

After a good night of sleep on Tues evening (the one-hour time change wasn't too hard to get use to!) we woke up to a very rainy day. This was expected according to the weather channels so we adjusted our planned training and instead of riding a loop of the bike course we went out for a morning run and finished the day with a late afternoon swim at Pinnacle Fitness.

Run workout (mostly on a bike/run path):
~15 min warm-up w/ walking to reset form and to control breathing
MS: 3 x 6 min build by 2 min to strong w/ 90 sec walk/rest between
~10 min smooth form focused running

Swim workout:
600 warm-up
Pre set:
200,175,150,125,100,75,50,25 w/ snorkel and buoy
MS: 2x's
2 x 100's build to strong w/ 15 sec rest
50 smooth
50 fast

Cool down: 100 EZ

Between the run and the swim workouts, we stocked up on groceries from HyVee and Karel's mom made us the most delicious vegetable and potato soup for dinner.

Because Karel is not racing, he is able to shuttle me around and also get in a few workouts of his own this week in route to his busy end-of-the-year race schedule with Augusta 70.3, Kona and IMFL all within about 8 weeks.

This morning we drove to Verona to bike one loop of the course. I really enjoyed being on my new Ventum and seeing the Wisconsin landscape of cows, farms and fields. Several of the roads have been paved (and others are still super bumpy) which was really nice. The course is challenging but it's also a lot of fun because it's constantly changing - up and down, left and right. It reminds me a lot of Greenville so it's not far from what we train on on a daily basis.

After the bike we drove back to Ed's house and had some lunch and then ventured to downtown Madison for the athlete briefing and check-in. Although this is my 14th time going through the athlete check-in procedure, I still get excited as if I am a first timer. I always go to the athlete briefing as you never know what updated or race-specific information will be provided. In the case of IMWI, a lot has changed such as the new bike course (first and last 3-miles) and the new swim course and rolling start (instead of waves). Also, IMWI has indoor transitions so it's also worth scoping out the layout before race day.

It was also fun to run into so many Trimarnis this morning. We have 13 athletes racing! 

While it seemed like a busy last two days, it has actually been rather smooth and relaxing. I have stressed myself out in the past by trying to do too much in one day and leave little time to myself to rest so I have tried to do a better job of this before my races.

Thanks for following along!

Case Study - a nutrition change to improve the triathlon run

Running does not require a gym membership, it's fairly inexpensive and you can do it almost anywhere (and anytime). It comes with a list of benefits including body composition changes, fitness gains, stress relief and improved self-confidence. Plus, when you run outside, you get to explore nature with your senses. Running is also a great way to feel connected to your community. 

While running can provide you with a great endorphin-rush, making you feel like you are capable of tackling everything on your to-do list after you finish your workout, running does come with a few downfalls.

Running is very corrosive on the body and comes with a great risk of injury. Running requires good range of motion as well as exceptional cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength. Injuries due to overtraining, poor biomechanics and improper shoes or increasing mileage too quickly are very common in runners of all fitness levels.

For triathletes, aside from injuries, one of the biggest concerns that I hear time and time again is the complain of nutrition issues. Those dreaded side stitches and gut-related issues like bloating, belching, diarrhea/loose stools and vomiting are no fun during a run workout or running race. 

A while back, I started working with triathlete Joel, who is a well-experienced long-distance triathlete. Joel and his wife Ali are accomplished triathletes and love to race. Joel was frustrated that he was unable to put together a solid marathon off the bike in an Ironman. Physically he felt like he was able to complete the distance but as the miles progressed, he consistently suffered from fatigue - turning his run into a walk.

To learn more about what Joel changed with his nutrition to help him excel on race day, you can read the full article here on Triathlete.com or on page 47 of the August 2018 Triathlete Magazine Issue in print.

If you are interested in incorporating a hydration belt into your workout (or race day) wardrobe, here's a recent blog post on the topic and a discount code for the Naked Running Belt: Benefits of wearing a hydration belt

Race week self-doubts? Boost your confidence with these tips.

I can't believe that it's race week!! Just 6 more days until my 14th Ironman on one of the most awesome race courses on the US Ironman circuit. I can't wait for the cheers from the crowds as Madison knows how to put on a top-notch event.

Thanks to the recent live Facebook coverage of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, I think I am officially antsy to race. Whereas last week was filled with normal pre-race emotional highs and lows, I was so inspired by the gutsy and strong performances by the female and male athletes at Worlds that I now want my turn to feel the pressure and excitement of racing. If you didn't watch the coverage, go watch it as it'll fire you up for your upcoming workouts or races. Karel and I are huge fans of the sport of triathlon and we just love watching other athletes in action. There's always something to learn from the professionals and now with the live coverage, we can really see all parts of the race (and not just see the results) to truly understand what is really going on within the race and what each athlete endures to get to the finish line. Many times, you realize that the professional athletes are human just like the rest of us, dealing with similar issues and obstacles.

                                                                  ---------------------------

Are you preparing for an upcoming race? Will we see you in Wisconsin for the Ironman? If yes, hopefully the phantom pains and niggles and self-doubts are behind you as you gear up for your upcoming race and you are working on your mental game to put yourself into a calm and relaxed state before race day.

For some athletes, it's easy to ignore the doubts and negative thoughts that can creep into the head on race week but for others, with the race quickly approaching, you may be feeling a lot of emotions such as self-doubt, negativity, worry and anxiety.

Keeping in mind that your race performance is a reflection of your previous training, don't let negativity suck the fun away from what you get to do with your body and mind on race day. While it's perfectly normal to feel some stress, nerves and mental pressure before a big event, use that powerful energy to fire you up so it brings out the best version of you (and your current level of fitness) on race day.

Because lack of self-belief and worry can have a disastrous effect on your race day performance, here are a few tips to improve your confidence for race day.

1. Stop worrying about the uncontrollables - If you find yourself emotionally stressed out in the week or two before a big event, there's a good chance that you are dealing with the nagging negative thoughts of "what ifs". Worrying about details that are out of your control, like the weather or competition, is self sabotaging. Turn those negative thoughts into something positive so that those thoughts do not paint a bad mental picture for you before or during your race.
   
2. Stop focusing on the outcome - Too much mental energy on paces, speed. times or results can leave you emotionally drained, worried and anxious. It can also keep you from making good decisions in the moment. Remove any extra pressure on the end result and focus on the process of delivering yourself to the finish line. Remind yourself of all the tools that you have gained over the season and that a great race day performance is all about being in the moment and dealing with obstacles as they come about.
   
3. List your mantras - Every athlete will have low moments in a race - lots of them. There will be voices in your head that will try to convince you to stop, and maybe even quit when the going gets tough. How will you challenge these voices? What will help you take your focus off your self-doubts and refocus your mind to get you to a positive state of flow? By repeating a powerful statement to yourself over and over again in your mind, you'll find yourself pushing through these low moments and getting yourself closer and closer to that finish line.
   
4. Reflect on your journey - Look at your training log to see how far you've come. Remember that time when you couldn't do....... or you completed that tough workout on tired legs? Or how you overcome a setback? Focus on the highlighted moments instead of dwelling on what should have or could have been.
   
5. Visualize yourself succeeding - Picture yourself at various points during the race and go through all types of scenarios - the good and the bad. Look at course maps, videos and pictures to help you put images to places on the course. And don't forget to visualize yourself crossing the finish line.
   
6. Focus on what you can control - Take care of yourself. Focus on what you can control such as your gear and equipment, your sleep, nutrition and hydration as well as stress management. Surround yourself with energy givers, not energy suckers and avoid forums/media that cause self-doubt, worry or stress.
   
7. Have fun - Remind yourself that this is just a hobby. Your self-worth and athletic worthiness is not determined by a race. Enjoy being on the roller coaster of emotions as it's your body's way of preparing you for action. Make sure to remember why you signed up for the event and how special it will be to cross that finish line. Don't let your nerves and worries suck the fun out of racing. Focus on what you can control, trust your training, visualize success and don't forget to have fun. 

My 2018 IMWI training stats

                                                       2010 Ironman Wisconsin Finisher!

When I started training for my first Ironman, I was really obsessed with volume. I felt that with every workout, the more miles/hours that I could accumulate, the more prepared I would be (IMFL '07). While I had a great day of racing and loved the entire race day experience, this mindset didn't serve me well in my second season of long distance triathlon racing. I got injured just before the Ironman World Championship - my very first IM Kona.

Over the next six years, I made a lot of mistakes with my training. I was still able to race but I was always frustrated that I couldn't stay consistent with training. My body never felt strong enough to handle the volume and intensity of training that I felt I should be doing to improve as an Ironman triathlete. It was disappointing to feel like I was constantly rehabing myself to get well enough to race, instead of putting my energy and time (and money) into training.

Thankfully, lessons were learned. I changed my perspective on endurance triathlon training. It was not an easy change or one that came naturally. Rather than trying to go longer or to get faster, my focus was on getting stronger. This required a new methodology of training that did not look like the training of other Ironman athletes. I kept worrying that I wouldn't be ready without all the volume. I was doing much less volume and the results were very slow to come. I was hesitant at first but with Karel as my guide (coach), I knew something had to change if I wanted to stay in this sport and not destroy my body.

Overtime, I improved. And continued to improve. And I'm still improving. As I got stronger, my confidence grew. A lot of this happened over the last 4 years. I have been racing more often and I'm racing better than ever before. And with this new style of training, my body is staying healthy.

Because I had spent so many years frustrated with my body, I finally felt what it was like to have a healthy and resilient body. This made me love the sport even more for I felt like I wasn't destroying my body but actually making it stronger with an appropriate style of training. We didn't want to keep this training a secret so we began to apply these new methods to our coaching athletes. While some athletes needed a learning curve to trust this higher-frequency/intensity, lower volume Ironman training, we can confidently say that this style of training works for us and our athletes.

Of course, the definition of "works" is all relative to our coaching philosophy which is focused on helping our athletes reach performance goals without compromising health. 

While my 2018 IMWI training stats may not be all that impressive in terms of volume, I'm very proud of what my body was able to do with my training this summer. More so, I'm so thankful to my body and I hope that my health stats reflect why this style of training works so well for me. 

Training stats:
Number of Ironman starts: 13
Number of Ironman finishes: 13
Kona qualifying: 5 times
IMKona finisher: 4 times
Races completed this year: 1 Ironman (IM Austria, 2nd AG), 3 half Ironmans (IM 70.3 FL 1st AG, IM 70.3 St. George tied for 2nd AG, Challenge Prague 1st AG)

Longest swim (8/29)
5400 yards

Longest bike hours (8/11)
5:20 (88 miles, ~6200 feet elevation gained) - Trimarni training camp

Longest bike miles (5/12)
91 miles (4:56)

Longest run (8/19)
1:58, 14 miles

Mentally toughest weekend of training (8/17-8/19)
Friday: AM 5100 yard swim
Sat: AM 3:56 bike + 1:01 (7.7 mile) brick run, PM 25 minute (2.5 mile) run
Sun: AM 1:58 run (14 miles), PM 2600 yard swim

Biggest week of training (6/4-6/10)
21:35 hours
12 hours swim
11:36 hours bike
5:46 hours run
15 sessions completed over the week

Biggest weekend of training (6/8-6/10)
Friday: AM 4200 yard swim, PM 1:22 bike
Sat: AM 4:20 bike (78 miles) + 1 hour brick run (7.48 miles), PM 45 min run (4.76 miles)
Sun: AM 1:56 run (13.5 miles), PM 3000 yard swim

Number of workouts to "test" to establish training zones:
None this year

Health Stats: 
Last sickness (cold/flu) - June 2007
Last time taking antibiotics - ? Maybe 10+ years ago
Menstrual cycle - regular each month since Sept 2007 (naturally)
Stress fractures - Never
Broken bones - Never
Last injury - Spring 2013 (hip/back)
Average sleep - 8-9 hours/night
Food allergies - none
Health issues - none
Daily supplements consumed:  Iron
Diet: Lacto-ovo vegetarian for 26 years

Feeling burned out before a big race?

One of my favorite parts about nearing the end of an Ironman journey is reflecting on all of the past training sessions that occurred over the past year. Even more so, I like to think back to all of my previous Ironman events to remember why I love the 140.6 mile distance. I have 13 Ironman experiences to reflect on and each one came with highs and lows while getting myself to the start and finish line. There's something so special about the process of mentally and physically preparing for this extreme one-day event. While it may seem like an arduous task, I think of it like any other project in life that requires patience, trust, commitment, consistency and flexibility. I also feel strongly that the Ironman distance is an event to be taken very seriously for it takes a huge toll on the body and mind. While there's a big commitment to the training, I never feel like training takes over my life. If anything, I really enjoy the training for it provides me just enough of a release to explore nature, strech my limits and relieve some stress without feeling too exhausted for more important life responsibilities.

Nearing the end of Ironman training while approaching the Ironman taper, I find that many athletes feel a sense of relief that the Ironman journey is almost over with and they can't wait get their life back and return to a normal state of health and living. This is concerning to me for I feel that even with the monumental task of preparing for a 140.6 mile event, no athlete should feel that training is taking over their life. Sure, there are some times when training will take on more of a focus in life but I don't feel that an endurance triathlete should experience this type of burn out, especially so close to race day.

So why does this happen? Here are a few of my thoughts:

• Too much emphasis on miles/volume completed and not enough rest and proper nutrition to support this extreme style of training. 
• Internal and external pressure. 
• Perfectionism, a rigid training plan and unrealistically high expectations can contribute to loss of enjoyment for the sport. 
• Training monotony and not enough variation in the training structure of workouts. 
• Feeling stressed about a performance outcome (achieving a certain time, place or qualification standard). 
• Ignoring the body's signs and symptoms of being fatigue, overtrained, dehydrated, sleep deprived, underfueled and injured. 
• Low self-confidence due to inconsistent performances or not meeting self-imposed standards. 
• "More is better" belief and starting/completing a training session at any cost. 
• Losing your relationship with the sport and seeing training as a chore. 
• Spending too much energy on what other athletes are doing, never feeling like you are doing enough. 
• Poor stress management, self-care and coping skills for when life feels too busy or overwhelming. 
• Not enough (or any) support from family/significant other. 
• Your coach is treating you only like an athlete instead of like a human being and whole person. 
• Too much focus/emphasis on weaknesses instead of on strengths. 
• An extreme and rigid style of eating. 
• Obsession with body image.

While it's completely normal and expected that you are going to feel tired at times throughout your Ironman journey, complete mental and physical exhaustion just a few weeks (or months) out from your big event is not something to take lightly.  The pressure that most athletes put on themselves to succeed in all areas of life is tremendous. Remember, you do this sport because of what it gives you in return, with all the other moving parts in your life. If you are feeling burned out, take a step back and figure out how you can train for your event without it feeling like it's another stressor in your busy life.

If you need a break from your sport, take it without guilt, shame or worry. 

Mg12 - The magnesium cream that really works!

Far too many athletes are abusing and excessively relying on pain relieving/anti-inflammatory medications (ex. buprofen and Naproxen) before or after exercise to reduce muscle soreness, aches, pains and niggles. What's even worse is hearing the many stories of athletes using NSAID's to get through a workout or race! These drugs aren’t without serious side-effects. Overuse can cause a delay in musculoskeletal tissue repair and bone healing. NSAIDs can also damage your digestive tract, liver and kidneys. Other adverse effects are ulcers and internal bleeding. Keeping in mind that inflammation is a normal and necessary adaptation to training (it's also your body’s protective response to injury or infection), it's to your performance and health advantage to explore a safer way to reduce pains, niggles and soreness.    Instead of popping a pill, consider the skin as an effective organ to absorb nutrients. Since the skin is being used more frequently as a means to deliver substances into the body, topical creams/lotions/sprays can serve as a safe, effective, affordable and quick method for pain relief and muscle recovery for athletes. Magnesium is an important element found in the human body and is known to help with muscle contractions, nerve functioning, cardiac activity, bone health and muscle soreness. Although found in dietary and supplemental forms, you can take advantage of the health benefits of magnesium through transdermal application of magnesium chloride. According to the Mg12 website: "We produce the purest and most effective Magnesium oil on the market. The most important aspect is the source of our magnesium chloride. There are numerous salt water sources available for the magnesium chloride needed to manufacture magnesium oil, but very few are considered to be as clean and effective. Only two sources have been found to be virtually free of both; the Dead Sea and deep underground basins. We have chosen the Dead Sea as the source of our magnesium chloride because along with its unsurpassed purity, it also contains a unique combination of 20+ macro and micro minerals that have been known for providing health benefits for thousands of years. The Mg12 process involves combining dead sea magnesium chloride salts with purified water, sending it through our proprietary filtration system that produces our ultra pure, pristine clean, and crystal clear MagneSoothe Magnesium Oil™." "Mg12 mineral supplements are 100 percent pure magnesium, plus 20 essential mineral salts straight from the Dead Sea, the most ancient health retreat on Earth. Our Dead Sea Magnesium products are formulated and distributed from Tryon, North Carolina. We also produce other magnesium oil based products such as shampoo, soap, deodorant, and body balm for transdermal magnesium therapy." Mg12 product features include: • Formulated in the USA • 100% natural • No additives • No synthetics • Vegan friendly • Never tested on animals • Gluten free, non-GMO • From an earth-conscious company Mg12 Magne Sport Balm ingredients:  Magnesooth Magnesium Oil Water Saponins Aloe Vera Juice Arnica Essential Oils of Peppermint, Spearmint, Eucalyptus, Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Frankincense, Myrrh  Ingredient profile of a commonly found/used "pain relief" gel: Active ingredients: Menthol 4% Inactive ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Arctium Lappa Root (Burdock) Extract, Boswellia Carterii Resin Extract, Calendula Officinalis Extract, Carbomer, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Camphor, Glycerin, Ilex Paraguariensis Leaf Extract, Isopropyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Myristate, Melissa Officinalis (Lemon Balm) Leaf Extract, Silica, Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) Acetate, Triethanolamine, Water, Blue 1, Yellow 5. From our personal usage over the past 2+ years, we can confidently say that these products work and there's no other product like it on the market. We routinely apply MagneSport Balm before and after exercise, as well as before bed. We never travel without it. With a safe ingredient profile, including no food dyes and free of a strong odor with a non-greasy-feel application, we highly recommend for you to try out the line of sport products before and after your workouts as well as during the day on any sore spots. The MagneSport Balm has become a regular staple in our recovery routine along with the Roll On and Bath Salts.  To try out this effective product and to support this local company, use discount code: TriMarni.

Is it socially acceptable to diet if you are an athlete?

Since my first Ironman in 2006, I've developed a strong connection to my body. Rather than seeing it for what it looks like, I constantly thank my body for what it allows me to do. While it's not easy in a body-image obsessed society, Karel and I spend no time discussing body image in our house. We don't weigh ourselves so we couldn't tell you what our "race weight" was at any of our past races.  There's no dieting, restrictive eating, watching what we eat or cheat meals. I'd say that our house is a very good place if you'd like to eat where there are no food rules, off-limit foods or controversial food discussions. While our dedication to sport, love for an active lifestyle and enjoyment for wholesome eating greatly influences the way we look, we have never fallen victim to the idea of "competitive leanness"  - that the leaner we are, the more competitive (or faster) we will be in sport. We've never tried to change the way that we look through diet or exercise. 

In light of a recent video of a professional male triathlete discussing his recent dietary change and current struggle of body image relating to performance, I feel this provides a great platform to once again discuss the pressure that most athletes feel when it comes to body weight/body composition and the extreme shifts that occur with diet and exercise. Even without the performance component, many athletes put great emphasis on how they look - which can contribute to great psychological and physical stress, not to mention the risk for health issues and a performance decline. 

We live in an interesting time where it has become socially acceptable not to eat. In other words, it's not uncommon for an athlete to restrict food/sport nutrition and it's accepted, encouraged or advised. Some athletes are afraid to eat "bad" foods while others are afraid to eat "too much." There are tricks, rules and games that athletes play as it relates to food - all in an effort to keep, obtain or achieve a different look or weight. Athletes are fasting, eliminating food groups, strategically choosing the training sessions that deserve fuel and hydration and avoiding/reducing carb and calorie intake and it's often applauded as a way of taking control over health, being dedicated to sport or having a passion for healthy living. To me it looks like a miserable way to live but to others, it's become viewed as the right thing to do. I'm shocked to see how many endurance triathletes will train for hours at a time, only to eat a few hundred calories for fear of "eating too much." 

To the outsider, certain athletes may look fit, lean, strong, healthy and happy but it's very easy to hide behind a photo on Instagram or Facebook or boast amount recent performance and health improvements from a recent extreme dietary change. It isn't until an athlete admits that there is an issue or is forced to back away from the sport due to a health issue, the dieting athlete is often praised and admired for his/her dedication (watchers are tempted to copy similar diet changes), even though this athlete has created a socially acceptable type of disordered eating. With an overvalued belief that a lower body weight will improve performance, coupled with society emphasizing leanness, performance anxiety, athletic self-identity, low self-confidence and a negative self-evaluation of athletic development/performance, it's not surprising to hear that so many athletes suffer from eating disorders and mental health issues.

Our society has a very dysfunctional relationship with food and body weight/image but things only get worse when it affects athletes who place tremendous stress on the body. A super strict, rigid and controlled way of eating often comes at a huge emotional and physical cost and takes up a lot of mental space in daily activities and food-related decisions.

It's a common misconception that the dieting athlete is lean and ripped, skinny or emaciated. This is far from the truth. You can also be very lean or skinny and be very well nourished, fueled and healthy. This is why you can't "look" at an athlete and make assumptions about health, fitness, happiness or performance. Eating disorders and disordered eating isn't a look. There are many athletes out there who are restricting and obsessing over foodwhile spending an exhausting amount of time and energy on body image and getting praised for their "healthy" efforts or being envied for looking so fit. How many times have you looked at an athlete and assumed "wow - he/she must be so fast." 

Because athletes can easily hide under the umbrella of being very dedicated to healthy eating and extreme exercise because they are training for an athletic event, it's important to ask yourself if you are eating and fueling adequately for health and performance improvements or suffering from disordered eating (or an eating disorder).

There's a common saying "are you eating to be thin or eating to win?" Changing your diet and/or exercise regime in an attempt to achieve an "idealistic" body type fights against your current biology and places you at risk for physical and mental health, hormonal and performance issues. There's nothing wrong with changing the way you look for health or performance but the methods of your strategies should optimize health and performance.

Regardless of your fitness level, I'm here to tell you that it's ok to not have a body that fits into your sport specific body "ideal". Fuel for performance and eat to nourish your body. And above all, be proud of the way you look, especially when you can do awesome things with your body. 

Weekend training recap - 3 weeks until IMWI!

I can't believe that in less than 3 weeks, I get to start my 14th Ironman. I am incredibly grateful to my body and mind for letting me train so hard for such an extreme endurance event. I've come to the conclusion that it takes my body time throughout the season to peak. Now is that time. I feel strong, healthy and confident for Ironman Wisconsin and I plan to use my experience, Ironman racing "lessons" and enjoyment for this sport to help me race at my best for 140.6 miles. And whenever I'm having a low moment (which I am sure there will be many!) I'll just look for one of our 14 athletes who I get to share the course with.

It took me a few days to mentally and physically recover from our 4.5 day training camp. While it's physically exhausting to keep up with 20 campers, it's even more so mentally exhausting to be so alert, attentive and aware of everyone during each workout (especially on the bike). I felt completely empty for a good 48 hours post camp. After a few nights of extra sleep and super easy workout sessions and lots of eating/food, I started to feel back to normal again which was a sign that I can ease myself back into more structured training.

On Tuesday evening, I was super pumped to take my new bike outside for the very first time. Yes, you heard correct....my new ride!! I couldn't be more happy about my decision to join the Ventum family as Karel loves his Ventum and I continue to hear such great things from other athletes about the bike and how it rides. I had the opportunity to test out a demo bike in Chattanooga in May and I was instantly sold - I just loved how it felt on the road. Although the frame arrived when we were in Europe, it took Karel some time to get all the parts he needed/wanted for and then for him to do a RETUL fit on me. With so much going on over the past two weeks, the frame hung on the bike stand until Karel had a few hours to start building my bike. On Tues, I had my first official ride on it and I loved it. While only about 70 minutes, it was still a fun ride.

No workout this week was super long (the majority of my sessions were around 75 minutes), the intensity was high. As I have mentioned in past blogs, building my endurance is not something I need to continue to work on as 12 years of endurance training (plus 10+ years of competitive swimming) has given me a good engine. The focus now is on adding a little more specificity while working on my mental game to dial in efforts based on feel, form and fluidity. It may sound simple but when you are fatigued, it's extremely difficult to find an effort that can be maintained with good form.

Before my swim on Friday morning, I told Karel that I was not expecting a good swim. I had felt horrible in the water all week and my paces were far from impressive to my standards. Despite how I felt, I kept swimming away because many times a blah feeling means a breakthrough is coming. Well, that breakthrough happened on Friday. It was also a good reminder that feelings are not actions. After a good warm-up, I had one of (if not) my best swim workouts in a very long time. I also contribute that to a fairly packed pool and sharing a lane with my friend Kristen (former pro triathlete who is a super speedy swimmer!). Karel was in the lane next to me sticking to his own cycle.

My swim workout totaled 5100 but surprisingly, it went by really fast. Here's the main set: 

Part 1:
6 times through
200 fast w/ 5 seconds rest
175 choice effort on same cycle as the 200

(Example, I did the 200 fast on 2:40-2:45 cycle so I had about 15-20 sec rest for the 175, which I used as active recovery but also had to keep a steady effort - not too slow). 

100 smooth

Part 2:
6 times through:
150 fast w/ 5 sec rest
125 choice effort on same cycle as the 125

(I did the 150 fast on 2-2:03 cycle so I had about 10-15 sec rest for the 150).

It was a tough swim but one that kept me mentally engaged throughout it all. It felt good to get that one finished and I felt very accomplished to start to the day.

So now on to the weekend. I had the first opportunity to really test out my new Ventum and it was everything I had hoped for and more. I instantly felt good on it (love my new custom Dash saddle) and I liked how Karel had the bottle placements (cages). I tested out the straw but I prefer bottles to avoid sucking down air so I plan to only use the straw-system in emergency situations and to rely on my 3 bottles from my cages. The bike is very smooth and handles like a road bike. I am still getting use to how it turns but other than that, it was an easy transition from my Trek. The bike climbs really well (again - feels like a road bike) and I felt really fast going downhill. While it was only my first real ride on it, I was happy from start to finish. For someone like myself who doesn't like change, I was really happy with my recent bike change and plan to ride my new Ventum at IMWI. 

Karel and I rode together for the long ride and it was a pretty solid session. While we didn't do any specific intervals, we let the terrain dictate our efforts and we kept the intensity high throughout. I made sure to apply a similar fueling/hydration to IMWI as I believe in using all my long sessions to dial in and test nutrition to give me confidence for race day. Despite pushing hard on the bike, I never worried about the run. I've gotten to the place in my Ironman journey where I would rather take small risks than play it safe for I can learn more from a workout gone bad than a workout that was too easy to complete. Thankfully, my workouts continue to get better and better as I am learning that my mind can often mislead me to thinking I am tired when in reality, I have plenty of energy still in my body.

Karel joined me for my run off the bike - all of it. As much as I wish I could say that I held his normal paces, it was the other way around - he stuck to my efforts. I had a very specific run set off the bike and Karel wanted to hold me accountable to staying mentally tough on this run, despite feeling tired. I welcomed his company and although we never talked throughout the entire run, it was nice to have him following me for every mile. It was an exhausting morning brick but one that left me feeling confident, strong and happy. I didn't feel too broken afterward and was able to feel relatively good in my muscles for my PM (super easy) treadmill run. Karel went out to the trail for his run and his mom walked around the trail while he ran.

On Sunday morning, I had one of those moments where I questioned if I would be able to complete my run as planned. While the distance didn't worry me, it was the mental energy that I needed to put into this workout and whether or not my body wanted to join in on the "fun" of trying to hold a steady effort. I don't go by paces when I run but instead, I go by feel. One thing that I am really trying to work on this season is running by "feel." I have gotten a lot better about feeling certain efforts and then I can review my file on Training Peaks to see if I was able to execute as planned and to evaluate my workout. I surprised myself once again but it sure did require a lot of mental energy. Karel also had a tough and mentally challenging run on Sunday morning and we both came home pretty exhausted. We mustered enough energy for an afternoon swim but the body was not giving too much for the swim so we adjusted our workout as something is better than nothing. 

While the workouts were rather intense this week, I never felt broken. I was still able to bounce back from my workouts and function well during the day. More than anything, by not chasing metrics (or an exact distance), I was able to work on some key aspects that are necessary in Ironman racing. I tested out clothing and gear/equipment (I love my new Nike Zoom Pegasus Turbo shoes, thanks Dane at Run In! - I plan to wear them at IMWI as they are cushy but supportive and I feel like I get good propulsion from them with my shorter running stride), I practiced my nutrition similar to race day (for bike and run), I ate a lot (and often) when I wasn't working out, I worked on my mental strength skills (especially working through low moments) and I used each workout to find that rhythm and form that I hope to achieve on race day.

Here were my workouts from the weekend:

Saturday
-AM Bike - 3:56, 70.4 miles, ~4800 feet of elevation gain
-Run off the bike - 1:01, 7.73 miles.
Workout: 10 min build to stronger than IM effort, 30 sec walk.
20 min IM effort w/ 30 sec walk every 10 minutes.
10 minutes stronger than IM effort. 30 sec walk.
Finish off with FBRF (fatigue-based running form - the best form you can hold and the best sustainable effort while fatigued). 

-PM treadmill run - 4 min walk into 20 min EZ jog followed by 1 min walk. 2.5 miles

Sunday
-AM run - 1:58.07, 14.1 miles, 587 feet of elevation gain
Workout: 3 miles warm-up w/ 30 sec walk between
10 x 1 miles at Ironman "effort" w/ 30 sec walk between (I plan to walk all aid stations at IMWI)
Smooth running to finish off

-PM Swim - 2600 yards
600 warm-up
3 x 200's single arm drill w/ fins/snorkel
8 x 25s build to fast w/ fins/snorkel/paddles (FINIS agility paddles)
MS: 1 round of
1 x 100 fast w/ paddles
200 smooth w/ buoy
2 x 100 fast w/ paddles
200 smooth w/ buoy
3 x 100 fast w/ paddes
200 swim with buoy
10 sec rest for the fast
20 sec rest for the smooth

Recovering from a training camp

A training camp sounds like an awesome experience....and it is!! But it's important to consider the purpose of your training camp in the context of your season so you benefit positively from the camp training.

At our recent Trimarni advanced endurance camp in Greenville, the majority of our campers were training for an Ironman event in the next 4-8 weeks. With months of accumulated training behind them and a lot of resilience and strength, we gently overloaded them with intensity and duration but nothing that would risk injury, burnout, sickness or a health issue. We carefully stretched comfort zones but strictly enforced proper nutrition before and after every workout, sport nutrition usage during all workouts and adequate rest and recovery between sessions. Each workout was planned with the mentality that we will challenge but not break our athletes. We had no issues occur at camp in terms of injury, GI issues or bonking and many of our campers felt stronger as the camp went on.

Having said this, not every camp has the same focus but every camp should be taken seriously for what you do in the days after the camp may make or break your season. Interestingly, many athletes can feel strong during camp and then in the 24-72 hours post camp, they feel weak, run-down, sick and depleted. This isn't unlike what is felt after an Ironman. While it's expected to feel exhausted for a few days after a training camp, it's not normal to feel like you can't get back into training later on in the week. Although each athlete is different, there are risks to participating in a training camp and one of those is not being able to bounce back into structured training.....which kinda defeats the purpose of a training camp - to boost fitness.

Despite feeling superhuman during camp (not to mention enjoying the stress-free atmosphere without work, kids, laundry, commuting and other daily to-do's), most athletes are eager to get back into training way too soon which places extra fatigue on an already fatigued body. Considering that the heart, brain and other organs experience just as much stress as the muscles, tendons and bones, it is important to respect the body in the 24-72 hours and focus on recovery before trying to get fitter, faster and stronger. You must recover first for the magic of camp to take in effect.

Having said this - recovery does not mean laying around, staying up late watching Netflix, drinking beer/wine and indulging on fast food. Exercise does a body good when you can move blood and loosen out stiff joints. However, working out when sleep deprived, run down and exhausted and in an underfueled state does you no good - no matter how "easy" you take it. Sleep and nutrition should be top priorities in assisting in the recovery post camp and should come before any training session. If you can't get a good night of sleep or eat well, don't make yourself train. Get these lifestyle habits dialed in before easing yourself back into training for the sooner you get your diet and sleep schedule back on track, the sooner you'll be able to stay consistent with your training.  And above all, be an active participant during every workout by listening to your body to ensure that you are actually recovering your body and not overworking it.

Although it's important to rest and recover the body and mind after a training camp, it's not always that simple. It's hard to rest a body that is extremely sore, depleted and tired - just ask any Ironman athlete who experiences post-race insomnia. This is why you really need to give your body time to recover and not "train" - but instead exercise with flexibility and attentiveness until your sleep, diet, GI tract, mindset and body return to good health again. You may struggle with motivation, tightness in the chest, fatigue, sleep issues, stiff joints and even question how in the heck did you put together so many great workouts throughout your training camp? This is all normal and expected so the more strenuous your training camp, the more cautious you need to be with your return to training.

Remember, consistency is the key to athletic excellence on race day. What you do on a daily basis matters more than what you can accomplish (or check-off) over the weekend or during a training camp. Be patient with your body and respect it, especially if it's not recovering as quickly as you'd like after a training camp. When you begin to feel healthy and normal again in the mind and body, that is a sign that you are almost ready to ease yourself back into structured training.

Listening to your body doesn't make you weak. It makes you a smart athlete who knows how to avoid injury, fatigue, burnout and sickness in order to prioritize health over training miles/hours. In the big picture, you'll accomplish far more than the athlete who is injured or sick from trying to get back to training too soon.

Trimarni Greenville Advanced Endurance Training Camp recap

As a former high school and college competitive swimmer, I had the unique experience of participating in an individual sport that often felt like a team sport. In the sport of swimming, although athletic development is made individually, there comes a point in every swimmers athletic journey when you want to train for something more than yourself. I would always show up to practice with a couple dozen of my teammates. We would laugh together, support one another, eat together and make memories together. These were my people - they "got me." While I always enjoyed training to improve my personal best times and to race the clock, I never felt like I was alone in the lane during a swim meet. In practice, I was always pushed by my teammates to be a better athlete.  When I was having an off day, I was proud of a lane-mate who was feeling strong that day. And at meets, as soon as I was finished racing in my event, I couldn't wait to cheer on a teammate. 

After graduating from college and deciding to pursue endurance sports, I missed having a team. While I didn't mind training alone, I really missed the camaraderie, the support, the passion and the encouragement of having teammates to share this new sport with in training and on race day.

When I turned a coaching hobby into a career over a decade ago, it was very important to me early on that I develop a "team" feel at Trimarni coaching and nutrition. It took many years in the making but I feel we finally developed something incredibly special at Trimarni. Every athlete feels like he/she is part of a team. Near and far, every Trimarni athlete supports, encourages and believes in one another.  While social media can be negative at times, we regularly use social media to connect our athletes to feel more like a team. Knowing that our coaching athletes spread all over the globe, this can be incredibly difficult to maintain this type of "team feel" so we have to be consistent with our words to ensure that every athlete that we coach understands that he/she is part of a team. While this may not work for every triathlete out there, it works extremely well for the athletes on our team.

To keep that team feel, nothing brings together our athletes closer than a training camp. Eating, sleeping, training and relaxing together is the backbone of our training camps. Since almost every triathlete that we coach trains alone (almost 98% of the time) and its rare for us to see our athletes in action, a training camp provides the perfect opportunity for us to get many of our coaching athletes together at one time to train with each other and for us to instruct, educate and motivate while they bond, laugh, have fun and remind themselves why they started this sport in the first place. 

As athletes ourselves, Karel and I understand that it's much easier to go through the motions and emotions of a hard workout when your teammates are giving in just as much effort (or more) as you are. We love sharing these special experiences with our athletes. Because every athlete has a demon inside the head that is trying to make you quit a workout, make excuses to not start a workout and to give up on yourself when the going gets tough, your teammates can help silent that voice to help you prove that you are capable of so much more than you ever thought was possible. As coaches, we want to see our athletes experience those break-through moments when they thought that what was once impossible is possible. We love it when our campers bust through a comfort zone and discover something new - either physical or mental. When someone is cheering you on, giving you a high-five or encouraging you to keep on going, that makes for a special environment that can't be replicated at home when training alone. At the end of the day, we coach our athletes to become the best triathletes that they can be but as a triathlete, you belong to a very special community and we never want our athletes (and campers) to forget that. 

For 4.5 days, we witness 20 campers doing incredible things with the body and mind. We challenged them with tough workouts, we put them through uncomfortable situations, we often surprised them with "one more set" when they thought that were finished with a workout and had nothing left to give and we made sure to create an atmosphere where they could be motivated and inspired each and every day. As much as I wish we could take all the credit, it's always our campers who made the camp so special. Even with a packed Swamp Rabbit Lodge with 19 campers in one house, there was never a complaint and we were constantly surrounded by energy givers (and not energy suckers). While each camper had countless opportunities to showcase strengths and work on individual weaknesses, no athlete felt excluded, too slow or too fast. Everyone was accepted in an ego and judge-free zone.

As time-consuming, exhausting and mentally challenging as it is to put on a triathlon training camp, it's extremely rewarding. The before camp nerves and anticipation, the during camp highs and lows of emotions and energy and the post camp sadness of leaving new (and old) friends combined with a strong enthusiasm to train and race better than ever before - this is what camp is all about.  While our campers always keep us alert and attentive, I couldn't image being a coach and not having these special opportunities to see our athletes in action as they make memories with their teammates at a group training camp. 

Here's a quick recap of the camp:

Wednesday: 
PM: 75 min social spin

Thursday: 
AM: 45 min camper introduction and educational session followed by a 90 min interval swim (Furman)
AM: 90 min track workout (Furman)
PM: 2 hour terrain management/skill focused bike (finishing in the pouring rain and a loud thunder storm)
Evening: Daily reflection with coaches and athletes at the Lodge

Friday: 
AM: 3 hour interval bike workout with a surprise TT at the end
AM: 40-50 min brick run (interval run on a hilly loop)
PM: 90 min skill focused swim
Evening; Daily reflection with coaches and athletes at the Lodge

Saturday: 
AM: 20 min warm-up run (for some of the campers) followed by a ~5.5 hour long endurance ride
AM: 20 min brick run
Evening: Team pizza party followed by coaches feedback on the day/camp

Sunday: 
AM: 1-hour open water swim workout at Lake Jocassee
AM: Quick transition to a 90 min interval run on very hilly terrain at the lake

Total Stats over 4.5 days: 
Hours training: ~20 hours
Swim distance: ~9700 yards
Bike distance: ~195 miles

Bike elevation gained: ~12,800 feet

Run distance: ~25 miles

A huge thank you to our camp SAG/photographer Joey, our swim expert Kristen and our assistant coach Joe for making our camp extra special. 

Do you call yourself an athlete?

Tomorrow we will welcome 21 campers to Greenville for 4.5 days of endurance training as part of our 2018 Trimarni advanced endurance camp. While a stressful and exhausting experience for us coaches, it's extremely rewarding to see our campers break out of their comfort zone and stretch their physical and mental boundaries. These campers will be swimming, biking and running for several hours a day (and multiple training sessions) as we put them through challenging training sessions while also addressing skills, sport nutrition, form, pacing, execution and terrain management. Without a doubt, these athletes will be tested mentally and physically but will gain valuable tools to use in training at their home environment, and on race day.

Interestingly, many people struggle to self-identify as an athlete despite training for and participating in athletic events. And then there are those who struggle with motivation to stay active when they give up the identify of being an athlete because they are no longer training (hard) for an event.

Comparing yourself to someone who places high in their age-group, is well-known as a "fast" athlete or dedicates a lot of time, energy and money to training and racing doesn't mean that you are any less of an athlete. Regardless of how long it takes you to complete an event, you belong in the same group of "athletes" as those who will finish minutes (or hours) ahead of you.

If you register for a race and dedicate yourself to the training, you deserve to call yourself an athlete. If you are able to get to the start line and eventually the finish line, you understand the dedication, discipline, motivation, time, energy and sacrifices it takes to train for and complete an event. From the newbie to the elite, fitness level does not distinguish who is more worthy of the athlete status for everyone on the race course deals with the same conditions and must use physical and mental strength to get to the finish line.

If you are struggling to own your athlete title, I encourage you to take pride in calling yourself an athlete. If you can set a goal and follow through with the work that is needed to reach that goal, it doesn't matter what level of fitness you have or what you look like....you are an athlete. Yes, exercise is a way to maintain a healthy body composition, reduce risk for disease and destress from a busy work day but training for an event gives you a sense of purpose so that you aren't just exercising to burn calories. From the early morning wake-up alarms, the intense and exhausting training sessions and being creative to fit everything in - this is the lifestyle of an athlete.

There is no "look" of an athlete. It's a spirit, an energy, a passion and a focus that helps you prepare for an event. You don't have to be a certain size or weight to commit to training, to dig deep, to use sport nutrition to fuel and hydrate properly and to make your goals a reality. Personal bests and awesome workouts occur at every size and at every fitness level.

If you are hesitant to put yourself into an uncomfortable camp, group training or racing situation due to nerves, fear, anxiety or self-doubt for not being "good enough", I encourage you to own your athlete status. Just because someone else can go faster, further or stronger than you, it doesn't diminish what you have done or what you are capable of achieving.

Listening to the body

I had an incredibly tough past four days of training as I gear up for Ironman Wisconsin in 34 days. While no workout was "long" per Ironman-training standards (my longest bike was 3.5 hours and longest run was 1:21), I tested myself both mentally and physically with very structured workouts at a high intensity. While I shocked and impressed myself with the ability to perform my workouts as planned, Karel was unable to follow through with his scheduled training as he was feeling very fatigued and empty inside.

Rather than pushing through or training with an ego, Karel listened to his body (that was screaming "rest"). While he still trained, it was loosely structured, low volume/intensity than planned and he based it all on feel. He didn't complain or worry about his season as he knows all too well that the body is worth listening to when something feels off. 

As athletes, listening to your body can be rather difficult. For if you listened to it every time you felt tired, sore or fatigued, you probably wouldn't get much done. But if you are always ignoring the red flags that your body is telling you, all because you want to train as hard as you can, burn calories, stick to your normal routine or you fear losing fitness from a missed workout, this can be a big problem.

While we all love the rush of endorphins when training and the feeling of accomplishment when a workout is complete, I feel most athletes are unable to properly listen to the body because they can't put the ego aside. There's no award or badge of honor of continuing to train when your body is giving you warning signs that it's not in the right state of health to push through pain, fatigue or other issues. No one workout will make your season better and certainly no workout (or race) is important enough to damage your body and risk long-term health consequences. 

To reach athletic goals, it's important to push yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. We all have that voice inside of us that is telling us to quit and we must often soften that voice to keep the body moving. But it's not ok to ignore the voice inside that is telling you to adjust or slow down when something is not right with your body. It takes experience and practice to identify this voice and many times, it isn't until you make a few mistakes in ignoring this voice that you learn that this voice is actually there to help you become a stronger athlete and not a weaker athlete. 

The next time you worry about losing fitness by not sticking to your scheduled workouts because your body is telling you something important, remind yourself that there are serious consequences to not listening to the body. Injuries, burn out, hormonal issues, stress fractures, depression and other issues are not part of the training plan and are certainly not worth that "one" workout that you feel you must complete. 

Not only does your body become physically exhausted and broken down with training but so does your mind. Listening to your body is important. The more in-tune you are with your body, the stronger and wiser you become as an athlete.  You must take good care of yourself, both physically and mentally for training is demanding and we all have our limits of what is "too much."

My best advice when it comes to listening to your body is to never wait until you can't do something with your body to rest it. When the pain, exhaustion or fatigue becomes so uncomfortable that you can't train, you've gone too far. Try to stay one small step ahead of your body. This means that you can still "test" yourself to see if the voice inside your head is telling you the right information but be very aware that something may be going on. This requires a smart mindset for you must be in the moment so that you can quickly adjust in the case that the body is trying to tell you something serious.

Missing a workout or two will not derail your overall training efforts but ignoring your body will put you at risk for a major injury or health issue - which will certainly ruin your training and racing season. For the sake of your long-term health, listen to your body and give it what it needs when it needs it. No workout (or race) is worth it. 

Is your mind tricking you into feeling fat?

Have you ever noticed that on some days you feel healthy and strong and other days you feel fat? Interestingly, the feelings that you have toward your body may have very little to do with your actual body size. You may actually be at a very healthy weight, with a very healthy body composition, but feel "fat" and desire a change in body composition through dieting and/or exercise. 

When it comes to self-image (the mental image that you have for yourself), it can fluctuate a lot from day to day or even minute to minute. If you are having an awesome day or workout, your perception of your body may be really good. You don't worry about what you eat and you carry on with your day with positivity and confidence. But if you had a bad day or workout or someone said something to you that made you feel less worthy, your self-image may get stuck into a negative setting, which makes you feel fat. 

Sometimes your self-image can quickly change in an instant. For example, you may be feeling awesome, your day is going great and you feel good about your body but you browse through social media and see an athlete who looks leaner than you and your self-image suddenly shifts and suddenly feel fat and want to change how you look. You then start looking for quick or extreme methods to change how you look so that you can gain control over these uncomfortable feelings.

If only it was easy to be kind and compassionate about your body but that's incredibly hard for most people because it's quite normal and accepted to "body bash" on a daily basis. With so many messages telling you that you need to change the way that you look (ex. magazines, social media/bloggers, advertisements, TV, etc.), it's very easy to feel dissatisfied with your body image - making you feel fat.

For athletes (especially endurance athletes), it's hard to escape this idea of competitive leanness where it's assumed that the leaner you are, the more successful you will be in sport. Couple this with the need to wear revealing and tight performance-clothing, this can increase body consciousness and body dissatisfaction - which may eventually increase the risk of dieting and disordered eating. I've seen far too many athletes chase a lean image, only to end up with extreme fatigue, nutrient deficiencies, stress fractures and other serious health issues. 

When you have an "I feel fat" moment, it's important to get to the root of this misinterpreted feeling. Because it's OK to have body fat (and still succeed in sport, be happy and be healthy), it's important to consider the trigger for why you "feel fat."

What is truly going on that is making you "feel" this way about your body? Are you feeling unmotivated, stressed, depressed, anxious or out of control in certain areas of your life? Are you comparing yourself with a past version of yourself or to another athlete? Did you have a bad day/workout or are you just overall exhausted and tired?

Food is one of the easiest and most common ways for athletes (or for anyone) to gain a feeling of control. Using food for a sense of control is a common strategy to deal with stress, anxiety or low self-esteem or poor self-confidence. As an example, if you feel stressed because you can't stay consistent with your training or you feel upset that you had a bad workout or you feel pressure to look differently or you feel anxious about your upcoming race, you may also feel fat. Turning to food to gain control over your body may seem like the only logical solution to remove these uncomfortable emotions but it shouldn't be this way.

Because the mind has many ways of tricking you into feeling fat, believing these thoughts to be true may lead into unhealthy coping strategies such as underfueling, dieting, overexercising or disordered eating. As an athlete, you may feel constant pressure to look a certain way and regardless of how well your training is going or the health of your body. Your body may be strong and fine-tuned to perform, but something is making you feel otherwise about your body image. 

Recognizing that there is no perfect body image (or level of body fatness) that is required for athletic success in your sport, the way your body looks to perform at its best may not match up to the way you think you are supposed to look. And this is ok. 

It's time to crush those negative thoughts and recognize that your body fat is not the issue but rather, it's your own attitude toward your body. You have the choice to believe the thoughts telling you that you are "too fat" or you can refuse and reject those insults and negative thoughts to improve your body image and overall self-confidence. It's your decision what you choose to believe.

As an athlete, you put a lot of stress on your body to perform. Remove the added stress of feeling the need to look a certain way. Stop putting all your energy and focus on how you look. Despite what you believe, reducing body fat may not improve your happiness or performance. Once you begin to love what you see about yourself and stop wishing to change, you'll feel more adequate and comfortable in your skin. You'll then begin to make better choices with your lifestyle habits that will likely better help you succeed in sport and improve your overall healthy. Eat healthy, fuel smart and exercise (or train) because it makes you feel great physically and mentally. Focus on the internal benefits of a healthy lifestyle and as an athlete, take care of your body because you love it, you respect it and you want to be kind to it with good fuel and nutrients.

5 Lessons that travel has taught me

Home sweet home. It's so nice to be back home. While we haven't been home for more than 48 hours, we are already back to our daily routine of training, eating, working and of course, giving love to our furry crew. While our trip to Europe gave us lots of stress with our lost bikes, the trip home was not without stress. It was an exhausting 30+ hour trip home but we have our luggage and bikes and we made it home safely and in good health.

Five weeks was a long time to be in another country but it was well-worth it. We never felt home-sick or had a "bad" day but we sure did miss our furry crew. Despite the time, energy and money that is required to travel to and from another country, I have learned so much from traveling and it enriches me greatly. Meeting new people, tasting new cuisines, seeing new sights and breathing the air in a new city can teach you a lot....if you are willing to step outside of your comfort zone.

While most of us athletes love our/a routine and being on a schedule, I really try to step outside of the norm when we travel to another country. You'd think that travel would naturally take you outside of your comfort zone but it's not always that way. Many people try to stick to what's comfortable and normal and miss out on many important lessons that travel can teach you. Losing yourself in a new environment can be scary but with the right perspective, you can learn so much. 

1. Appreciate the little things - There are so many things that we take for granted when we get into the thick of our daily routine. Travel has taught me to be more conscious and appreciative of the small things in life and to not undervalue these things.
2. Expand your view - Traveling gives you a different or new perspective on certain aspects of life. It teaches you what's important and thinking beyond the societal norms that are defined to be appropriate - body image, careers, how you live your life, etc.
3. Decision making - When you travel, you have to make a lot of decisions. You become much more independent and it brings a new level of confidence - especially when you don't speak the language in a foreign country. With all the daily decisions that you have to make, every day is new and exciting.
4. Priorities - Traveling helps you organize your priorities. You learn what's worth your time, money and energy and what things or experiences make you happy. Taking a break from the monotony and stress of every day life gives you a chance to slow down and think about what's truly important to you in life and to start working toward that vision instead of settling for less.
5. Compassion - One of the best things about travel is seeing how others live - often with less. Everyone has challenges and struggles. When you think beyond what you consider is difficult in life, you learn about the many adversities faced by other people. It's normal to complain and to feel unhappy but when you travel, you learn to complain less and be more grateful. You also become more patient and compassionate. 

Challenge Prague Half Ironman - Race Report

It was the strangest feeling to not be rushed on race day morning. We set the alarm for 7:30am, even though we knew we would be up well before the alarm went off. After an ok night of sleep (we are really missing the AC!), we took our time getting out of bed as we had several hours until the race start. Around 8am we made our way downstairs to the hotel breakfast (Hotel Merlin) and enjoyed eating as much as we wanted without worrying about an upset tummy as we had plenty of time to digest our pre-race meal. I found myself eating much more than I would compared to a 7am race start which actually was a great thing as I knew that every extra bite of food was more energy for race day. I had a pastry, granola with milk, 2 hardboiled eggs with salt and a banana with peanut butter (I brought the PB which I purchased at the grocery store in Znojmo). Karel had a similar meal minus the banana w/ PB.

We went back to our room and finished getting ready for the race - filling our bottles with sport drinks, preparing our hydration flasks for the run and double-checking to make sure we had everything. We were both excited to race and felt not even an ounce of nerves. I am not sure if it was the later start time or the last race of our race-cation before returning home to our normal routine but we both felt like this was a race with no pressure/expectations and despite the unknown of how our bodies would perform just 27 days after Ironman Austria, we didn't focus on the outcome but just looked forward to the opportunity to race in an incredible race venue.

At 9:40am, we left the hotel and rode our bikes to the bike check-in (the bridge next to the Charles Bridge). It was pretty cool to be riding our bikes in Prague and this just got me even more excited to race. The weather was already really warm (nearing mid 80's before noon) so we tried to stay cool by standing in the shade whenever possible. With our helmet and bib numbers on, we walked our bikes to our position on the rack and then went to the bike and run gear bags to hang them up. There were two transitions (swim to bike was under the bridge on the island and bike to run was on the bridge - so essentially right on top of one another) with two flights of stairs to take us from the swim to the bike.

After dropping off our stuff, we made our way to the athlete area to do a short jog warm-up and then we dropped off our morning clothes bag and made our way to the swim area around 11am. It was neat to see the shorter distance athletes finishing up their race while the middle distance athletes (that's us) were getting ready for our race.

Although the weather was extremely warm on race day, the water was extremely cold. While they said the water was 17 degrees Celsius (~62 degrees) if felt much colder. We were told that we were not allowed to wear booties (even though at an Ironman branded event you are allowed when water temps are less than 65 degrees) so that made for cold hands and feet for our practice swims. Karel and I took our time getting in the water for our pre-race swim and we were grateful that the race organizer gave athletes 45 minutes for a practice swim (11-11:45am). We first sat in the water for a good 5 minutes just letting our body temp cool down. Then we spent another 5 minutes blowing bubbles with our face in the water to get even more comfortable with the cold water. Because Karel still gets a bit of a tight chest when he doesn't do a swim warm-up (and especially when the water is cold), it was really important for him to take this time to get his body acclimated to the cold water. I did the same just to prevent my body from getting so tight before my wave start. After we finally got use to the water, we did our normal swim warm-up. Our hands and feet finally warmed up (or felt less painful in the cold water) so that was reassuring.

After our warm-up we got out of the water, wished each other good luck and then I made my way back to beach to wait for my wave start at 12:05pm.

                                

1.2 Mile Swim: 
Marni - 27:42
Karel: 28:14

What an incredible experience to swim in the Vltava river! With so much history all around us, this was a swim to remember.
I lined myself up on the far right, so that the buoy was to my left. I kept my focus on the turn buoy straight ahead of us, just past the bridge. I really liked this swim course as the sections between turn buoys were long enough to get a rhythm but there was also enough to break up the course so we didn't get bored (we did an out and back under the bridge and then swam around the island). While there was a little bit of a current, I couldn't really tell which direction it was flowing as we swam all different directions throughout this swim course. When the gun went off, I found myself nearing the front of the all-female wave pretty quickly but there were a few fast girls next to me. Nearing the first sighting buoy, it was just me and another girl slightly ahead of me. The girl was sighting off the kayaker ahead of us which helped to keep us/me on course. I felt good in the water right from the start, which made me happy as I've felt good in the pool since Ironman Austria. I kept the girl in my sights for most of the swim. A few times I was next to her or right behind her but she was keeping a strong pace. We passed a few female pros who started 2 minutes ahead of us. It was really neat to swim under the bridge (our transition area) and see spectators looking down on us. I found it easy to stay on course as there were a lot of buoys out to sight off of and the sun was not in our eyes thanks to a mid day start. There were a few patches of warm water which was nice and then a few patches of freezing water. I never felt too cold and actually felt really comfortable in the water as the swim went on.
Nearing the last section as we made our way to the finish, I made my move and passed the girl who had been leading the female wave in the water. Although I had no expectations for this race, I decided that at this point, I wanted to be the first female amateur out of the water so I picked up the pace. Nearing the finish, I heard the cheers from the spectators and the announcer told the crowd that I was the first female amateur out of the water which made me happy.

Karel's wave started 20 minutes after me. He said it was really chaotic right from the gun as it was an in-the-water mass start. Compared to my all-female wave (there was less than 200 females in the race compared to over 800 males), he said it was quite brutal. Karel stayed calm and used this as good Kona practice (well - perhaps a more calm-downed version). Karel also felt good right from the first stroke and any time he found himself uncomfortable in the water, he just took a second to remind himself of this epic experience, swimming in historic Prague - in his home country. Karel had a great swim and although neither of us knew our times when we exited the water (Karel's Garmin watch is malfunctioning so it only works on the run), we were both happy with how we executed.

T2 (Swim to Bike)
Marni: 6:00
Karel: 4:24

This was the longest transition ever! First we had to run on the red carpet (on top of packed sand) all the way to under the bridge where we grabbed our red swim to bike bag. I entered the women's tent and sat down with the girl who I passed in the swim, as well as a few other girls just behind me. My transition was super slow as I took time to put on my light-weight CEP socks as I didn't want to get blisters from calf sleeves + socks on the run as I knew I'd be pouring lots of water on me to keep cool. I probably could have transitioned quicker so this is an area that I will focus on for Ironman Wisconsin. After putting on my helmet and race belt with bib number, I grabbed my cycling shoes and made my way up the two flights of stairs and then all the way to one side of the bridge to enter the transition area (how cool - our transition area was on a bridge in Prague!) and then to the other side. The bridge was 300 meters long so we did a lot of running in our barefeet just to get from swim to bike! I quickly put my shoes on in front of my bike, grabbed my bike and then ran to the mount line. I saw a few girls in front of me so I was looking forward to hopefully catching back up on the bike.

Karel had a super fast transition as he wastes no time in there (he says nothing good ever happens in transition so get in and out). Karel had his cycling shoes on his bike so that he could quickly do a flying mount.

56 mile Bike
Marni: 2:31.03
Karel: 2:18.38

Over the past ten days or so, my legs finally started to come around on the bike after recovering from Ironman Austria. I had been feeling good in my last few rides in Znojmo so I was excited to see what my body could do on this mostly flat course. While a flatter course for us, there was also one section of climbing to give us about 1500 feet of elevation on the bike. I had never done a two-loop half IM course before so I was looking forward to checking out the course for the first loop and then trying to ride it a bit better on the 2nd loop.

After passing a few girls who passed me in transition, I noticed that there was still one girl ahead of me (female amateur) but I didn't let that get to me. I found myself with a professional (number 51) and I really liked her riding style. We ended up riding the entire bike together, taking turns pulling for long segments at a time. Because of the two loop course, there were lots of officials on the course. I felt I did a good job drafting legally and so did the other girl. It was a neat experience for me to be mostly alone on the course for the first loop and to work with the other professional female. We never talked to each other but it was unspoken that we were working together. As the age group males started to catch up to us, they quickly passed us. This was kinda nice to be in the front as it really eliminated clutter on the course with female and male athletes getting mixed up together. Also with a smaller race (1000 athletes) the course only got a little busy near the end of the last loop.

The course was completely closed to traffic and we rode out and back on a highway-type road before making our way to more of a nature-filled road that was rather small. There were a few out and back sections on the course to change up the direction, which was nice since the wind was picking up. It started to get a little cloudy near the end of the bike which was heavily enjoyed as it was hot out there. I loved the climbing section of the course as it was a very steady climb and nothing steep. I did switch into my small chainring for the climb to keep a steady cadence but I didn't have to get out of the saddle for the climb as the pitch of the road wasn't too steep. The descend was fun and a nice break from pushing on the pedals. There were a few sections on the course that I needed to get out of the saddle for as I wanted to stretch my legs - I'm not use to being in the aerobars for so long!

I went through all three bottles of INFINIT on my bike and used water at every aid station (two each lap) to cool myself.

Karel also enjoyed the bike. As a stronger swimmer, it puts him in a better position on the bike. He found himself in a good group of guys but they were getting a bit too close together and Karel wasn't comfortable with that situation as he wants a fair race without drafting. So he held back a bit as they were obviously riding much stronger working together. Karel said his legs didn't feel too good on the bike which didn't surprise him too much as his cycling legs didn't recover as quickly as his running legs after Ironman Austria - strange! But some of this could be from his back/hips that have been getting really tight from all our driving and walking around. Karel managed to put together a good bike so he was happy about it but his legs just didn't feel good. He didn't let it get to him as he had no expectations or goals for this race but instead, just use it as a way to wake-up the body before we get back to our Ironman training for the rest of the season.

The bike went by super fast and I felt strong. I was really happy with how much energy I felt which was a huge difference from Ironman Austria - where I had no energy and didn't want to be racing. For this race, I wanted to be out there and I was having a lot of fun!

Nearing the last few miles of the bike, I could see the professional athletes start to run. I did see Karel on each loop of the bike and I knew he was getting closer to me. The last few miles were in the town so I was having to navigate a lot of obstacles on the road (riding through a big city isn't easy when you are racing!) which cost me a little time but also helped to loosen out my legs. I removed my feet from my cycling shoes and then dismounted my bike.

T2 (Bike to run)
Marni - 3:07
Karel: 2:50

Another long transition as we mad our way across the bridge once more. After racking my bike and seeing one female amateur bike already on the rack (all female athletes had our own side of the bridge for our bikes - nice!) I knew the girl who was biking super strong ahead of me was a ways ahead of me. So my focus now was just executed a good run on this 4- loop course. I quickly transitioned from my bike to run gear, putting on my hydration belt, visor and sunglasses and then my running shoes. I grabbed my watch and after putting my helmet back into my gear bag, I ran out of transition while fumbling to try to put on my watch. It took me several steps to get my watch on and finally I was able to settle into a rhythm. I also grabbed a small flask from my hydration belt (I had a Enervitine gel diluted with water in it) as I like to hold things when I run (it helps my form) and I knew I'd also be holding a sponge so that I could have something in both hands. I didn't plan on using the flask (as I had my calories in my two flasks on my hydration belt) but it was there if I needed it.

13.1 mile Run
Marni: 1:40.27
Karel: 1:23.33

I was really looking forward to this run course as I love loops! I also new that the terrain would be changing a lot from the sidewalk to cobblestones to the street. There was a lot to focus on with this run. I used the first loop to not only find my stride and get a good running rhythm but to also learn the course. There were some parts that were faster/slower than others which helped with my execution for the next 3 loops. I never focused on the kilometer signs as my mind/brain loves loops as I can focus on where I am in the loop instead of thinking about how far in distance I still have to run.
The first loop was super hot but I felt ok. I wasn't too hot but I made sure to take advantage of the 3 aid stations on each loop of the run (each loop was about 5K). I used water for cooling and then a sponge to keep myself cool from each aid station to aid station. After the first loop, the clouds started to thicken and there were some drops of rain. YES! What a treat! Although the overcast sky and drizzle only lasted about 1.5 loops, it was such a gift to have a change in weather - even if it was brief. Karel ended up passing me on the second loop, around mile 5, and he was flying. He looked so good running and he said he felt really good from the first step (he told me this after the race). Karel is able to run in any condition and he was really happy with how he felt on the run. It was one of his best runs off the bike in a half Ironman, which was a nice surprise just 4 weeks after Ironman Austria.

I never had any low moments on the run in terms of wanting it to be overwith as I felt that way for all 26.2 miles of Ironman Austria and I hated that feeling. I love racing and for this race, I wanted to be there racing and suffering. I wasn't able to dig deep (I blame my high hormones once again - I got my menstrual cycle that evening, just a few hours after the race) but I felt strong and in control. Certainly, I went through bad patches where it felt hard but I reminded myself that that's racing.

After finishing two loops, I told myself just one more loop and then you are on the last loop! I actually enjoyed the cobblestone section of the course more than the other part of the course that was more flat and stretched out, but the cobblestone section was incredibly hard to run on - my feet were sliding around and going all over the place! And as the course got more wet, it was harder to run on the cobblestones - especially downhill! The aid stations were also getting more packed which made it really hard to keep moving quickly through the aid stations. I grabbed coke on the last two laps which was refreshing and also finished my two flasks (one flask with 100 calories Carborocket hydration and another flask with 120 calories Osmo mango).

Nearing the last loop, I was super happy about my race. Even though I was passed by 2 girls in the last loop, I felt like I was putting together a race where I was in control the entire time and I could work my mind with my body.  Although I had no expectations for this race, I love to compete and I felt like I gave it my best - making good decisions, staying in the moment, having fun and not leaving everything out on the course. Karel reminded me that neither of us should dig too deep in this race as we need to get back into our Ironman training later this week when we return home from the states.

Because every finish line feels amazing, I really enjoyed this one. Coming from a horrible-feeling with no energy at Ironman Austria to feeling energized for most of the race (of course, the last few miles were tough as in any long distance race) at Challenge Prague, I couldn't wait to see Karel at the finish line and hear about his race and share stories about our experience. Karel was super pumped about his race. There was a mistake in the results and I was listed in the 40-44 age group and Karel was in 35-39 (they switched us) so there was a moment when Karel was first AG and then 2nd AG but then 1st again. He was shocked as he never thought he would get on the podium here so he was really happy about his day. I was also happy to be on the podium, especially for a no-pressure, just-have-fun type of race. Funny enough, it seems like these are the races where the body performs the best. Maybe there's something to say about putting too much pressure on a race performance/outcome and not being able to perform to your full abilities.

After taking a cold shower after the race (love it when races have shower trucks!) and cleaning up, we reunited with Karel's brother who took a train in to see us race and spend the next 1/2 day with us. It was great for Karel to see his older brother, who just got back from a one-month-long bike-riding trip over parts of Europe (with his wife).

It was nearing 6pm when we went back to our hotel to drop off our bikes and gear bags before heading back to the race venue for the awards. The award ceremony started at 7:30pm and was top-notch! It was an added bonus for us to each win our age-groups as we were both just so happy with this awesome race experience in Prague.

After the awards, we were ready to eat a real meal. We went to Cafe Louve for a delicious (late) dinner before a night of restless sleeping.

If you are looking for a well-run race in a historic town, as part of a race-cation, we highly recommend Challenge Prague. We would absolutely do this race again!

Karel Sumbal
Swim: 28:14
T1: 4:24
Bike: 2:18.38
T2: 2:50
Run: 1:23.33 (10th fastest run split, including pros)
Total: 4:17.22, 1st AG (40-44), 18th overall, 6th amateur

Marni
Swim: 27:42 (1st amateur female out of the water)
T1: 6:00
Bike: 2:31.03
T2: 3:07
Run: 1:40.27
Total: 4:48.21, 1st AG (35-39), 17th overall female, 4th female amateur 

2018 Trimarni Supporters and Affiliates

We would like to send a BIG thank you to our Trimarni sponsors and affiliates for supporting the Trimarni team:

• Run In - for helping us with our running gear/shoe needs
• Mg12 - for helping our muscles stay relaxed
• Clif Bar - for quality, organic ingredients in quality sport nutrition
• Carborocket - for providing a quality bike and run nutrition in tasty flavors
• Base nutrition - for making delicious bars and a variety of products to meet the needs of endurance athletes. And for being all around awesome. 
• Veronica's Health Crunch - for the most delicious hand made crunch - ever!
• Infinit - for customizable sport nutrition with safe and effective ingredients
• Levelen - for helping athletes optimize our hydration needs through sweat testing
• Hot Shot - for boosting neuromuscular performance and preventing muscle cramps
• Solestar - for maximum stability, better power transmission
• KLEAN for making quality products, tested to be clean and safe for athlete consumption.
• Boco Gear - for helping us race in style
• Canari - for the most comfortable, functional and stylish gear and for helping our athletes race in good-looking kits
• Amrita bars - for making the most delicious tasting, high-quality plant-based protein and energy bars. 
• Xterra - for the fastest, most comfortable wetsuit ever.
• Alto cycling - for engineering the fastest race wheels
• Swamp Rabbit Inn and Lodge - for keeping our campers happy with perfect lodging options
• Ventum - for designing a cool-looking bike that has been backed by research and top-notch engineering. And for supporting athletes whe

One more sleep until the Challenge Prague Middle Distance

Wow - time sure does fly! I can't believe that we raced Ironman Austria in Klagenfurt just under 4 weeks ago and now we are gearing up for a half ironman distance triathlon in Prague!! With only one more sleep until the race, here are some details if you'd like to know more about Challenge Prague.

Marni: Bib 115
Karel: Bib 641

Race information: Click HERE.
Facebook page: Click HERE.

Start time:
12:05pm CEST - Marni (Female wave)
12:25pm CEST - Karel (Male 35-45 wave)
My only race goal is to try to cross that finish line without Karel passing me on the run. 

Distance:
1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run

Course: Click HERE.
Transition area: Strelecky island (Prague)
Swim: River Vltava
Bike: 2 loops, closed course, ~2300 feet
Run: 4 loops, ~300 feet

Predicted race day weather:
High 89 degrees Fahrenheit (start time ~85 degrees)

Water temperature:
~63 degrees Fahrenheit

Results:
Live Results: Click HERE
Finisher results: Click HERE. (under the athlete tab)

Coverage: Tune into the Facebook page or watch the live broadcast on Czech TV Sport, on the website of Czech TV or through Czech TV mobile app.

INTERESTING STATS (from the event guide)

• Average age of participant of FORD CHALLENGEPRAGUE 2018: 39 years 
• The oldest male participant: Jiří Langmajer (CZE) 72 years old (relay)
• The oldest female participant: Ulla Schniewind (DEU) 62 years old (middle distance) 
• 45 nationalities will meet on the start line. Of all participants, 20% are women. 
• It is the first triathlon experience for 116 participants of FORD CHALLENGEPRAGUE 2018.
• It is the first racing experience in the Challenge Family Series for 665 participants of FORD CHALLENGEPRAGUE.