Stepping Outside the Box Adds Joy for Marni Sumbal

September 8, 2022

Marni Sumbal has been to 6 IRONMAN World Championships but while she is still very fond of triathlon, she has now found some new challenges and adventures. She just recently returned from a month long trip to Europe where she and her husband Karel among various other fun activities tackled the Haute Route Alps, We had a few words with her about racing, training, new adventures and much more.

Slowtwitch: Thank you very much for your time Marni.

Marni Sumbal: Thank you for the interview. I love the multi sport community, and forums like this one are great for connecting like-minded individuals.

ST: Glad this finds you well. Would it be fair to say that you had a very busy summer?

Marni: Yes, it has been a busy summer of traveling and racing. So far this year, my husband Karel and I have participated in a few mountain bike events, we raced Ironman St. George, IM 70.3 Chattanooga and IM 70.3 Blue Ridge all within a month, held three training camps and raced IM Lake Placid. We also just returned from a month-trip to Europe to visit my husband’s family in the Czech Republic and participated in the XTERRA European Championship and completed 7-day Haute Route Alps. We will be heading to Italy in a few weeks for Karel to race in the XTERRA World Championship.

ST: It though seems that you are busy all year long racing or adventuring with gravel and mountain bike events, triathlons and much more.

Marni: When the pandemic cancelled all our racing plans in 2020, my husband and I needed something challenging to keep us focused. We love racing, which gives our training purpose and structure. Karel was supposed to race IM St. George in 2020 and after it got cancelled, in May of 2020 he came up with the idea to do his own self-supported Ironman distance called the “Coronaman”. I was his on-course support and he created a crazy hard bike and run course in and around Greenville, SC where we live. After seeing him complete this curated event it made me curious about using my multisport fitness in ways beyond the standard triathlon. I did my version of the “mini Coronaman” a few weeks later and then we started to look into different types of adventures. I participated in a few 10-mile time trial races put on by our local cycling club, we raced 6-Gap in Georgia, we participated in a local open water swim event and later that summer, I invited a few of our friends to Greenville and we made a weekend out of combining some of our toughest climbs into a long ride. In November, we participated in the 3-day Xtreme Florida Triathlon – 3 long distance triathlons (7-9 hours per day) in three different locations, biking from one coast of Florida to the other. If it wasn’t for the cancellation of all of our triathlon events, we wouldn’t have explored all of these different events. This winter, Karel helped me safely get into mountain biking and I absolutely love it. I started racing long distance triathlons at the age of 24 and since then I’ve completed 6 IRONMAN World Championship events, 19 IRONMAN distances and many 70.3 events. I’m grateful for what my body has allowed me to accomplish over the past 16 years. Because of the pandemic, it made me re-evaluate my “why” for pursuing a multi sport lifestyle. I realized that it’s not the finishing times, overall placements or Kona qualifications that motivate me but I get excited by the pursuit of a challenge, of the unknown. I never realized how much I enjoy stretching my comfort zone and feeling like a beginner again.

ST: Tell us more about the Haute Route Alps event.

Marni: We registered for the Haute Route Alps back in 2019 and then 2020 happened. We waited until this year to use our registration since we had already planned a visit to Czech Republic to visit with Karel’s family. It feels amazing to have finally checked this off our bucket list but wow, it was really hard. Even though we do a lot of climbing where we live, we didn’t fully grasp how difficult it would be to climb for 3+ hours, as well as needing to make the strict time cut offs. We rode from Nice to Megeve, France over 7 days, totaling 537 miles, climbed over 75,000 feet and rode for around 40 hours. Each stage involved 2-3 timed climbs and covered 10,000-14,000 feet day. We completely lost track of time each day as we would be riding for 5-8+ hours a day. Stage 5 was a 10K time trial in Meribel on the Col de La Loze and included pitches over 20%. On Stage 4, the Madeleine climb was intense – 19K and a constant grade of 9-12%. It was an amazing experience to ride on so many legendary cycling roads and to meet so many people from around the world. If you love to ride your bike, especially climbing and descending, I highly recommend a Haute Route Event for the experience of a lifetime.

ST: Maybe we should learn a bit more your athletic background. Which sports did you pursue when you were younger?

Marni: I came from a swimming background. I specialized in 200 butterfly, 100 butterfly and 200 IM. I swam competitively through college at Transylvania University in my hometown of Lexington, KY. Before my senior year of college, I did my first sprint triathlon on a hybrid bike during summer break and found that my swimming background gave me a great lead, but that quickly diminished on the bike as I had no riding skills or experience. Riding a bike was very scary and unnatural for me. I participated in another triathlon (Olympic distance) after graduating college and I really enjoyed the triathlon race atmosphere. I went to graduate school in Florida, where I learned more about endurance sports like marathon running and long-distance triathlon and then I was hooked.

ST: What do you do for work?

Marni: I am a triathlon coach specializing in long-distance/endurance triathlon training/racing and I’m Board Certified Sport Dietitian with a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology. My husband Karel and I work together as coaches and he also does RETUL bike fits. We also put on bike skills and triathlon camps in Greenville, SC. We have an amazing cycling playground with bike-friendly roads here in Greenville, SC. where we live. The only downside of where we live is that nothing is flat – our miles are technical, hard and slow!

ST: I would think that some folks might be envious of your amazing playground.

Marni: We lived in Jacksonville, Florida from 2006 until 2014. Karel was managing two Trek concept stores and I was in school finishing my dietetic degree. After officially starting my business in 2012 while working as a clinical dietitian, it was in the fall of 2013 when decided that we would take the scary leap and become full-time business owners with Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition. We didn’t feel safe riding our bikes in Jacksonville and after racing IRONMAN Lake Placid in 2013 we both fell in love with the mountains. We needed a change of scenery. We heard about Greenville, SC from Trek Travel and the rep raved about the riding. George Hincapie would train in Greenville to prepare for the Tour de France. Not only does George live here but he owns Hotel Domestique and does a lot for the riding community and helping junior riders. Christian Vande Velde and Bobby Julich also live in Greenville, SC. We have very bike friendly roads with patient drivers and so many routes to choose from. We’ve lived here for almost 8 years and we are still discovering new bike routes. We can train outside year-round except for 1-2 snow days. We have climbs from 2-7+ miles and the mountain and farm life scenery is incredible. Our country roads are very technical and challenging, which is good for our bike skills and triathlon camps as our campers can learn a lot of new skills and practice terrain management. Our roads make you become a skilled and strong rider. We also have the Swamp Rabbit trail and Furman University for riding and running and there are a lot of road and gravel events around the area. Dupont State Forest is close by, which is great for hiking, trail running and mountain biking. The cost of living is really good and our downtown is incredible. If you can’t tell, we love Greenville!

ST: When did you start with triathlon and which event was it?

Marni: My first two triathlons were in 2003 and 2004 in Kentucky but it wasn’t until 2005, while I was in graduate school in Davie, Florida, that I got bit by the endurance bug. While pursuing a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology, I trained for my first marathon and qualified for the Boston Marathon. Then in 2006, I did the Boston Marathon, my first half IM (Disney) and my first Ironman (IMFL). I won the 18-24 age group at IMFL and qualified for the 2007 IRONMAN World Championship. I found success quick with endurance sports, but I was also young, naïve, stubborn and obsessed with the sport. Needless to say, I got injured training for my first Kona in 2007 and struggled with run injuries for the next several years. I ended up racing Kona injured, which was not the best first-time experience.

ST: But what about the sport made you want to do more?

Marni: After spending 10+ years of my life swimming competitively, I couldn’t imagine my life without sport, especially while in graduate school. I needed an active outlet. As a long-time athlete, daily exercise is an important part of my routine, but I also need to know that my training is purposeful so having events to train for keeps me motivated. I like having something to look forward to in my day where I can be outside, challenge myself and do something amazing with my body. I have met so many nice, fun and inspiring people and every race feels like a reunion where I can see so many of my friends. I also love seeing my coached or nutrition athletes on and off the course. I love that for one day, we are all united.

Although recently, I have enjoyed the more laid-back vibe of mountain bike and Xterra races. It’s a lot less metric focused and much more time in nature, which I appreciate.
As a former collegiate swimmer, being part of a team is something that really helped to prevent burnout. Even though it’s an individual sport, knowing that your friends will be at practice helps with accountability but also makes training fun. Several years ago, I decided that we needed to have team races. I never wanted our athletes to feel like they had to race alone – especially a 70.3 or full distance Ironman. We will often dedicate 3-4 races per year where we encourage our team to participate in the race. And now with the IRONMAN TriClub, we have more incentives to race as a team. Triathlon can feel like a solo sport so it’s really important to me that our athletes and team members feel like they are part of something special.

ST: Back to this year now. When did your season start and did you take any real break during the winter? Or generally do you take time off?

Marni: We don’t take much of an off-season, maybe a week of little to no structured activity after our last event of the season. In December we both raced in Maui, Hawaii, Karel did the XTERRA World Championship and I raced the 20K Trail Run. We usually spend 4-6 weeks in the winter with structured, higher intensity weekly workouts and then more soul-fulfilling workouts on the weekend. Karel loves gravel biking and mountain biking in the winter and I really enjoy group riding. I take part in a 10-week winter bike league that starts in December. Even if it’s 30-degrees outside, I have accountability to get out the door and ride for a few hours. Our triathlon season officially started at IRONMAN St. George in May but we took part in a few mountain bike events in the late winter/early spring.

ST: Which events or experiences were your highlights?

Marni: I qualified for the IRONMAM World Championship after winning my age group at IM Lake Placid in 2021. I turned down my slot as I have had 5 incredible experiences in Kona and wanted someone else to enjoy the race. When I heard that IM St. George would host the 2022 IRONMAN World Championship, I got really excited after reviewing the course. I love hard and hilly courses. When I received an AWA slot, I quickly accepted it. It also made sense as Karel was already registered for the event (from 2020). Racing my 6th World Championship in St. George was incredible. The Kona course doesn’t seem to suit my style of racing (mentally, I need a lot of stimulation like people, farm animals, dogs and terrain that is punchy or technical). We’ve raced in St. George many times for the 70.3 and love the area. I placed 5th in the 40-44 age group and that was certainly a highlight of the year. I then followed it up with placing 2nd AG at IM 70.3 Chattanooga 2 weeks later and then 1st AG at IM 70.3 Blue Ridge two weeks later. I’ve never raced so many times so close together, but it was exciting to try something new. We had over 15 athletes racing in Chattanooga and then in Blue Ridge. It was so fun to race with everyone. At IM 70.3 World Championship in St. George, we had over 20 athletes racing. That was such a highlight to have so many of our athletes on course.

ST: How does this year stack up to years prior?

Marni: I’m in a strange transition period right now where I am racing the 70.3 and IRONMAN distance better than I’ve ever raced before but I’m also feeling very satisfied with what I’ve accomplished over the past 16 years of long-distance triathlon training. The past few years have made me feel very successful as an athlete and I am excited to feel like a beginner again, fail, learn and try new things. It’s pretty cool that I am 40 years old and I started this sport in my 20’s and I am still improving, getting faster and stronger. Over the past few years I have had several best ever swim and bike times in half and full distance racing. I also feel very healthy. I think I’m ready to put a bookmark in my IRONMAN and 70.3 racing chapter and turn the page to start a new chapter.

ST: What is still left this year?

Marni: Currently I don’t have anything planned for the rest of 2022 except supporting our athletes at their races, but we are traveling to Italy in a few weeks for Karel to race in the Xterra World Championships. I’m looking forward to supporting him and I’ll be bringing my mountain bike and plan to make an epic train-cation out of the week. We have 8 athletes racing at the IM World Championship and over 15 athletes racing in the IM 70.3 World Championships, so we are excited to take our athletes through the rest of their season with so many exciting events happening over the next few months.

ST: Your husband Karel is also quite an amazing athlete, and it appears you tackle much together.

Marni: I’m lucky that I get to travel and race with my bike mechanic. [laughs]
Karel came to the USA in 2000 with a backpack, wanting to pursue the American dream. As small business owners, I feel so lucky that we can share our passion of travel, multisport and adventure while also having a successful coaching, bike fit and nutrition business. Karel came from a cycling background, racing Pro 1/2 and specializing in road and crit racing and he despised the TT races. In 2012, Karel decided to try a triathlon and although he panicked in his first few open water swims, he liked the idea of self-improvement and that there was always something to work on. Swimming was a frustrating journey for him, but with me as his wife, he had the accountability to swim a lot. Strangely, he was a natural at running. He’s often clocking the fastest run times in his age group. Biking on the tri bike has been tough as the TT position doesn’t seem to agree with his hips/back but he's achieved a lot – 4 IIRONMAN World Championships and 14 IRONMAN events and countless 70.3 age group wins. But like myself, he is looking forward to new adventures. He’s very happy riding a road, mountain or gravel bike – triathlon bike, not so much.

ST: Which events are still on your bucket list?

Marni: Well, after completing the Haute Route Alps, I learned that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought I could do. I’d love to do another Haute Route event (Dolomites) as well as some other epic events like Breck Epic, Best Fest Open Water Swim Festival, Inferno Triathlon, Embrun Triathlon, Canadaman and Norseman. We are currently registered for the Oregon Cascades 100 which will be our longest ever mountain bike event. I think we are also planning Breck Epic next summer.

ST: Is there anything else we should know?

Marni: As a Board Certified Sport Dietitian and triathlon coach, much of my focus is on performance. However, I am very dedicated to helping athletes excel in endurance sport without compromising mental and physical health. I feel Karel and myself have been able to stay very healthy, avoid burnout and accomplish a lot in sport by maintaining a healthy relationship with food, our bodies and training. We don’t complicate nutrition, we don’t let metrics guide our training sessions or races, we’ve never tried to reach a “race weight” and we don’t obsess over details. We love the outdoors. We are very processed driven and try to always find joy in the journey.