T-28 weeks: "What's your finish time goal?"

Dear Papa, and dear Reader,

Jim and I are currently back in Utah to see family and friends. It's been over six months that I was here last, and wow, is it cold here already - around freezing point, with a few extra degrees when the sun is out! The only thing that helps is the dry climate, so the chilly temperatures don't quite sink into your bones as much as they do in D.C. or in Hamburg. I haven't been outside much, as we only landed yesterday morning, but I'm planning to go run tomorrow. We'll see how that feels!

First things first: I received really good news last week! IRONMAN finally approved the production of my jersey for the race! It will be another 10 days until it gets delivered, but I cannot tell you how excited I am! I'm attaching a picture of the final design. This jersey will be so dear to me. I'll be wrapped in your memory for the race next year, and if that doesn't give me the strength to cross the finish line than I don't know what else will.

Today, Jim's son Jacob, who has finished multiple full Ironmans, asked me if I had a finish time goal in mind. I was surprised to realize that I hadn't really given it much thought. I feel like I'm so busy with the thought of finishing at all that I wasn't sure if setting a goal would be right. But now he has my competitive juices flowing.

I went into the IRONMAN app and looked at the results of my age group this year - wow!! There were 36 non-pro women age 40-44 who finished the event. The fastest time was 9:23, but number two was 10:09, so a large gap. But get this: Number 10 was still 11:00! That means that the top 30% of my age group held the same pace that I was going for HALF of the distance a few weeks ago! How did they do that? I'm just in awe of what these women can do! Needless to say, I likely won't be able to do that, but Jacob said he heard somewhere that a good formula is your Half Ironman time x2 + 1 hour. That would put me to 12 hours for the overall race, which is probably faster than I'm currently thinking I can go. If I add everything up, I might be able to do 1:25 for the swim, 6:15 for the bike, and 4:30 for the run. Transitions added, that would put me to about 12:30+ hours. I think anything under 13 hours will be a big win for me. But the goal is this: FINISH! Together with you!!

This week, I did a good amount of walking! I played 9 holes of golf with Jim twice, which amounted to a bit more than 5 miles, did another 5+ miles walk with Rebecca, a 4 miles walk with Kate, and a 2.5 miles walk with Jim, Heidi, and Mark. That's 17 miles / 28km - not too shabby. It actually felt good to walk instead of running, as my knee had been giving me a bit of trouble lately. For triathlon training, I got 2 workouts of each discipline in, including a long bike ride and a long run. My totals: 4,400 yds / 4km of swimming in 1:15h, 55 miles / 90km of cycling in 3h, and 13 miles / 20km of running in 2:15. It was a light week, off-season is starting to feel real good to me! A few more weeks, and a few holidays with good food and too many calories, and the engines will kick back into gear.

Yesterday, Jim and I were with our friends Chad and Amanda for the whole afternoon and evening. Both of them have lost a parent within the last few months as well. We didn't talk much about it, but I could sense that all three of us felt at peace with it as well. One of the things I'm so grateful for is that there was nothing between us that was left unsaid. Of course, there are a million things I would've loved to still talk with you about. But there's nothing I regret, nothing I wish I told you that I didn't - I can be at peace with that. And I'm so grateful for that! This snapshot here was during Opa's 90th birthday 4 years ago. I love it so much, because I remember the exact vibe of the moment we were having, both kneeling behind chairs to be part of a conversation, and giggling at each other about something funny that was said. That's how I want to remember you and us! Smiling at each other! Giggling!

I love you, Papa! Thinking of you today, especially as you were never able to visit me while I was still in Utah. I'll soak in the mountain air for the both of us today!

Talk to you again soon!

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