T-17 weeks: "Base 2 Week 1 - A Happy Hospital Visit"

Dear Papa, and dear Reader,

I'm back in DC. Last Monday, I spent the morning of my last day in California with my dear friend Chelsea in Rancho Santa Fe, and I even got a short interval run and some strength training in at her club before heading out to the airport. It was so wonderful to be back in California - every time I'm there I realize how much I miss it. The people, the weather, the vibe, the nature... It's simply hard to beat. Of all the places I've lived, and there were (too) many, California simply stole my heart! But it was also good to be back with Jim on Monday night and jump back into focused training. By the end of last week, I noticed myself getting a bit lazy and slow to jump into the few training sessions I had. So now, back at it! Onwards and upwards!

It was a big week! With 14:30h total, I totaled the most hours since September 2023, when we were cycling in Mallorca. That said, from here on, I will be beating the previous week's record every single week until mid May - at least if I manage to stick to the plan. All fingers crossed.

This week's totals were 3 swims with 8,500 yds / 7.750m in 2:45h, 4 rides with 115 miles / 185km in 6:15h, 4 runs with 22 miles / 35km in 3:45h, and 2 strength sessions with 1:45h. I feel great and strong! The recovery week really helped me take a breather, and I'm fully motivated to keep building endurance now. Also, I got all the workouts done by last night, so today is a much needed recovery day!

Running is still a little sketchy outside, so I did two of my three runs on the treadmill again this week. Most of the snow and ice has melted during the few days in the 40s, but there are still major patches on the trails that have the potential to trip you. My pace has been slightly down on the long runs as a result, but that's fine, I'm still easily in the required zones.

Yesterday, I did my long run together with the Speed Development Program of the Montgomery Country Road Running Club. It is so nice to do these long runs with others instead of just clocking the miles by myself. I'm very fortunate that my friend Maryam is in the exact same pace group as me, so we can do those runs together, but even if not, there are always around 100+ people on that program, all in a long line that stretches all the way through Rock Creek Park, and it just makes the time go by a lot faster. This week, the run started only 10 minutes from my home, which made it nice and easy to get to. As we start at 7:30am in the morning on Saturdays, every additional minute makes a difference, and as some of the runs are almost 30 minutes away, I gladly took advantage of a few extra minutes in bed.

I'm so happy to report that getting my swims in has been much easier lately. It's not that I'm necessarily getting much faster, but I can feel endurance building, and somehow it just feels easier to get to the pool now. I'm getting the work done, and even after long sets of continuous swimming, I feel fresh and like I have plenty of reserves. It does make a difference.

This week was another huge highlight: Jim's fourth grandchild Blair was born across the river in Northern Virginia! We took care of her sister Vera for two days, and it was a really special treat to come visit Anna, Colten, and Blair while bringing Vera so she could met her little sister for the first time! Such a cocktail of feelings! I won't lie, it felt tough to walk back into a hospital at first. The last time I left a hospital was only a half hour before you passed on March 15 of last year. It's almost as if you waited for me to leave so that you could take your last journey home without me having to watch it. For weeks on end, I had been at that hospital with you almost every day, holding your hand as we waited for life to slowly leave your body. For the longest time, I wasn't able to let go of the memories of you in that bed. This time though, even though the hospital smells and sounds felt a little triggering, we got to see new life in a new little body! It felt incredibly relieving to have a happy hospital visit instead of a grief-loaded one, a visit that welcomed life instead of letting it go. And wow, what a cute little baby girl! Life is truly a miracle!

I had vivid dreams of you last night! The whole family was there, and you were so happy and content. It was beautiful, and I held on to that feeling and that dream for as long as I could throughout the day. I found my picture of the week as I was going through our pictures with my friends Kara and Christina last weekend. I'm wearing my favorite sweater that Mama made for me (the one with the right arm being the elephant's trunk), and I'm feeding you some cake for a change. In a lot of pictures with me and us, you're still wearing your business shirt - you had probably just walked in from a long day at the office. As soon as you got home, you always dropped everything to be a full-on Papa and spent every available second with us. Thank you for always putting us first!

Next week, I have more than 15 hours of training on the schedule. It's truly starting to build now. Cross fingers that I will stay injury free, and that the weather will be a bit nicer and warmer.

I love you, Papa! Only 16 weeks until we fly back to Hamburg, and only 17 weeks until we stand at the start line, you and me. What a thrill!

Kathrin

P.S. Dear Reader, if you have comments, questions, memories, or thoughts to share, please leave a comment (and leave your name in the comment so I know who it's from). I would love to hear from you!

Go to the full list of blog posts or read more about the project Ironman for Papa