T-23 weeks: "It all starts TOMORROW!"
- Kathrin Peters Ferrell
- Dec 22, 2024
- 6 min read
Dear Papa, and dear Reader,
I can't believe that today is our last day in Hamburg! Only one more sleep, and we're boarding a plane that takes us back home to DC - I'm both sad to leave the fam but also somewhat eager to jump back into our life there - and into full training! Eek!!
The time here just flew by, and we had such a good time with everybody - visiting all the Christmas markets in the city and beyond, walking the beautifully decorated and lit up streets of Hamburg and Lüneburg, shopping, exploring some sites and museums, and spending time with Mama and Angela, all my brothers, their spouses, and their kids. I even got to see my stepsister Melina and her kids for a little while! It was simply wonderful to have this time with everybody, and we're leaving here tomorrow morning with our hearts full!
I also can't believe that it is TOMORROW that my official Ironman training plan starts!! Whaaaaaaaaat??! How did time pass so quickly? On the one side, I'm super eager to get started and am getting a bit anxious already. The race is less than 5 1/2 months away, and I of course feel sooooo far from being ready for it. So yes, going at it and building endurance will feel really good! On the other hand, I'm a bit nervous and, dare I say, scared of the intensity of the plan. I picked a pretty ambitious one, so the hours I'll be training, including getting ready for and after the workouts, will essentially amount to a part-time job on the side - and not a very relaxing one. It will be crazy from here. But I have Jim and my friends to do it with, and wow, it will be the adventure of a lifetime. Soooo... Next time we will be in Hamburg, it will be for the race, and I will (hopefully) be in the shape of my life!
This week, I kept moving despite all the time spent with family, and I am so proud to say that now, and this last day of my off-season, I achieved my goal of having spent 15% of all off-season workouts swimming, 48% cycling, and 37% running! This amounts to almost the exact time I spend on these disciplines in the race, while taking 2 percentage points off the cycling portion (my strongest discipline) and adding them to the time dedicated to my weakest discipline: swimming. It came down to running a lot this week: It was my 2nd largest running week this year, logging 27 miles / 43km in 4 runs and 4:30 hours. All of them were slow-paced easy runs in zone 1/2, one of them my weekly 10 mile run. All of them were in Niendorfer Gehege, on the trails that you too used to run, and some of the route we sometimes ran together. Also, I did two long swims, logging 6,700 yds / 6,1km in a little more than 1 hour. Also at your pool, Bondenwald. Tons of memories came up there, too. No cycling this week - too cold and no gear, which is why I was able to hit my percentage goal!
Two of my runs this week I did with my super-fit Mama! She was actually the one who got me out that day, so I guess I need to thank her for hitting my goal. This must've been the first run in more than 10 years that we did together, and it was so wonderful! Almost 20 years ago, we trained for her first marathon together. The previous year, I had finished my own first. Watching me finish it, she wanted to run one as well, so I agreed to do the training again with her the following year. We spent so much time running together that winter, and I remember long runs on the river Elbe from Wedel, where my then-boyfriend Christoph drove us and dropped us off, so we could run back home to Alsterdorf, through snow and mud, and with so many stories and laughs on the way. Those were good times, and it was so special crossing the marathon finish line with her later that year. It's a memory I will never forget, and like Mama said yesterday, I think you were pretty impressed and proud of us for doing that! You should've seen that coming after you finished your own first marathon only a few years earlier.
Next week is the first week of base 1. There will be 3 base training periods of 4 weeks each, including one recovery week at the end of each, followed by 2 build periods of the same length. Then 3 weeks of peak, race specific training and taper, and then... The Ironman race pm June 1! I will talk more about the plan in my next post, but for now, all you need to know is that next week will be a bit of a stretch for my body to get used to longer hours again. I've tried to maintain a minimum of 6-8 hours of workout time during off-season, but next week is about 11 hours total, which is about 2 hours and two workouts each day, including some threshold testing, as I haven't had a chance to get that done this week. And total time per week will only build from here, this is just the start...
Testing is no fun. It needs you to go as hard as you possibly can for 20 minutes to test your current fitness and determine your lactate threshold. But it is important to set all the training zones correctly so that I train at the right pace. It's Christmas week, but I don't think any of those additional calories will have a chance to linger. I will be putting them to work! Cross all your fingers that it will all go well.
Yesterday, before picking up Michel and his family from the train station, I was able to come visit you and spend some time with your tree. This time was harder for me to visit emotionally, because the weather and temperature much resembled what it felt like during your funeral there. I'm so grateful we have this tree to come to instead of a grave stone. It is so peaceful there, with the little stream in the back, and the tree will grow and grow in the coming years, receiving its strength in large parts from you. And it gives me something to hug when I can't hug you anymore. It is much more about new life than about death that way, and somehow, that gives me strength and hope. I can't wait to come visit again in late May, in the final days before the race. Boy, will I have stories to tell then, and you might have to calm my nerves down a bit.
I love and miss you so much, Papa! It is still weird to be here without you, especially in your house, but on the other side, this house has evolved to something extremely beautiful full of life and love, and I think you would really enjoy being amongst us in this new setup. Sometimes I wonder if you are happy with the way we did everything after you left us. But I think you are. We all can feel you wide-open arms and smile every time we walk in. And that is all I need to know and feel.
Have a wonderful first Heavenly Christmas, Papa! I'm sure the party will be exceptional up there!
With a big hug,
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
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