T-36 weeks: "The other side of the Ironman finish line"

Dear Papa, and dear Reader,

Yesterday, I did something that I'm hoping will really help me in the coming months as I mentally prepare for Ironman Hamburg: I volunteered at the finish line at Ironman Maryland, handing out medals, water, and helping escort the exhausted athletes through the chute and into the post-race food tent!

"Do you have somebody competing today?" the team captain asked me. "A friend is racing," I said, "but I won't see him during this shift. This is for me. I want to experience the other side of the Ironman finish line before I need to approach it the real way next year." She just laughed and high-fived me. An Ironman herself, she probably understood.

It was incredibly exciting! I was on the first shift, so I got to see the winner run through the finish line tape with his family celebrating right there with him. I saw some of the top age group athletes of the sport finish - some collapsing and unable to walk even only another step, some still in comparably good spirits, and one athlete unexplainably mad at someone or something, yelling at the volunteers, throwing a bottle. All emotions were present. And I was there for it.

After my shift ended, I got the chance to cheer on Upreet - a member of my triathlon team who completed his first full-distance Ironman that day, a huge stretch goal for him!

Seeing him race was incredibly inspiring to me. He was so tired when I saw him for the first time on the run, barely a few miles in - and at that point, he still had about 6.5 hours to go! Cambridge was experiencing coastal flooding that day, so parts of the run course were covered in water up to a foot deep! He persevered against all odds yesterday, and I'm so proud of him. He dug deep, finishing at 11:20pm that night, with a total of more than 16 hours of intense physical work. Wow!!

This morning, I watched the last few miles of the Women's Ironman World Championship in Nice, France. Laura Philipp from Germany absolutely killed it, such a tough and hilly course, and she came in at 8:45 hours! It's mind-boggling what these superstar athletes do. I'm hesitant to set a goal for myself for Hamburg, and this is probably an exercise for spring time next year, but it would be wonderful to come in under 14 hours if at all possible. Even only to not have to suffer any longer than that!

Only 6 more sleeps until Half Ironman New York! I can't wait for that race!! If you want, you can track me and set up notifications if you click on this link, or just find me directly on the Ironman Tracker App. The race starts at 7am EDT, and I'm assuming I'll be in the water sometime between 7:15 and 7:45am (so 13:15 to 13:45 in Europe). Next Sunday, I will write you a race recap! I'll be able to tell you bit by bit how it went! Being my last race of the season, I'm determined to both give it all I have left this year AND to enjoy the heck out of it!

My training this week was a lot less as I have started to taper for the race, but I tried to get a good amount of running in - in fact, looking at my stats now, this was my biggest running week in almost a year and certainly of this season. I only did 1.5 hours and 5,000 yds of swimming, 2.5 hours and 50 miles of cycling only with brick workouts (bike, followed immediately by a run), but a good 5 hours and more than 30 miles of running. Next week will be mostly short, race-specific bursts and bricks, practicing transitions, and getting some good swimming in so that the choppy open water won't scare me too much. And rest. A massage. Good carbs to load the tanks. And solid sleep. Because we all know, there's not much sleep to be had on race eve.

I'm excited, Papa! I started designing a jersey that I hope I will be able to wear for Ironman Hamburg next year. I'm in conversation with Ironman if I'm allowed to use their logo for it, so please cross all fingers, or do some of your magic up there in case you have new powers now. Having been CFO and managing director in life, I'm sure they've promoted you by now. Who knows what you can make happen from up there these days!

I love you, Papa! You'll be in my heart in these last preparations this week - and if there's something I should know as I get ready, be sure to whisper it to me in my dreams!

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