Iron(Wo)man

COEUR d’ALENE – Not all Ironmen are created equal.

In fact, some of them aren’t men at all, and for those women who struggle with the idea of competing in and completing a triathlon style race, Sheena Braulick is someone to look up to.

Braulick, 34, completed the Ironman 70.3 race this past weekend in Coeur d’Alene and finished with a time of 6 hours, 59 minutes, and 25 seconds.

The event is exactly half of that of a full Ironman race, but it still is very much an elite few who have dared to try and then completed that level of racing.

And for Braulick it was all about finishing the race.

“It was such a wonderful feeling to hear the (PA) announcer call out my name as I crossed the finish line and say, ‘Sheena Braulick, you are an Ironman,” Braulick said. “During the run (the last leg of the race), I pictured buying one of the ‘Ironman Finisher’ shirts and was counting down to myself like, in six miles you’re going to be an Ironman, in five miles you’re going to be an Ironman and all the way down to the end. But I’m so proud that I was able to finish the race.”

This wasn’t Braulick’s first attempt at an Ironman race, and it is also part of what fueled her desire to train harder and try again.

In 2013, Braulick attempted an Ironman race in New Orleans, but was disqualified due to her not being able to make the maximum time allotted for the swimming portion.

That shortcoming had essentially haunted Braulick ever since, even leading to her struggling during some of her training.

“I met with the Coeur d’Alene Tri-Team (a regional group of triathlon enthusiasts) and we met Friday morning (two days before the race) to practice what it feels like to get into the water as a group and I had a panic attack,” Braulick said. “I got in the water and swam to the buoy and I don’t know what happened, but I just fell apart. My coach swam out to me and helped me back to shore and we talked about what had just happened. Here I am thinking about all this time that I had put into training and telling everyone how I’m going to do this and I was ready to be done.”

Braulick leaned on the advice from her coach and was able to get herself back on track mentally before the big race, but it almost wasn’t enough.

“I got in the water on race morning, and it is really overwhelming with how many people are getting into the water together, and the water is splashing you from all around you, and people coming from all over the place,” Braulicks said. “I just got out there a few feet from where I couldn’t touch and I started to look for a kayak to pull me out, but then all of the sudden in my head I was like, ‘really, after all the hard work you did?’ I had to talk myself into it and pull myself together. But I did and I shaved nearly a half hour off my time from the 2013 swim.”

From there Braulick knocked out her 56 miles of biking and then finished up the half marathon before finally being able to say that she finished the race.

“There’s nothing like it,” Braulick said. “It was the ultimate runner’s high and to get to share that with my family was just so amazing.”