Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2012

Six-fifty…through my 2 caps and ear plugs I could hear the faint muffled words of the star spangled banner being sung and I could feel the tears beginning to well in my goggles…this was it…I was standing on the starting line of another Iron Journey and I kept repeating in my head, “No two journeys are ever the same, you get what the day gives you, believe in yourself and remember that being able to do this is a gift, not a right!”

I started my watch, with the intention of the gun going off at 7 and thus being able to simply subtract an even 10 minutes from my watch to know the running time.  For what seemed like an eternity I stood with the icy water of Lake Coeur d’Alene lapping at my toes and I looked out at the line of buoys.  Brian and I had spotted each other and had positioned ourselves next to one another…we didn’t talk, but somehow having that sense of familiarity next to me provided some comfort from the daunting task that stood between me and that finish line.

Thump, thump, thump. I could feel my heart beat and I looked down at my watch: 0:08:20…good, 1 minuet and 40 seconds or so to go.  Breathe, breathe, breathe….BOOM!!!  My mind raced and I could feel, I swear, what was all twenty-four-hundred-plus bodies pushing down on me.  “Oh $h!T!”  I yelled and ran in. 

Later, after conferring with my dad and Jess I found out that they had started us early.  I quickly adjusted my well thought out plan of subtracting “an even 10” minutes to subtracting 8 and half or so…oh well…you get what the day gives you.

It. Was. A. Blender.  No…actually a blender puts it lightly, I might describe it more as a meat grinder…I was pinned in a mass of bodies thrashing around and maybe 3 minutes in, BAM!  Everything went dark…I couldn’t see…I couldn’t breathe…my head was screaming…After what was probably only 3 or 4 seconds, yet seemed like 15 minutes, of total panic, I regained the ability to open my right eye and I realized I had gotten knocked SQUARLY in my left eye by someone’s heel.  At that moment I made an executive decision: I needed to get out of this mayhem PRONTO.  I swam perpendicular to the race course, away from the direction of the masses until I found open water.  I adjusted my goggles, took a deep breath and reiterated to myself…you get what the day gives you…knowing that this day probably just gave me my very first black eye. 

I charged on…I knew I was swimming from behind at this point, but it was ok.  I found my groove and by the time I made the turn around of the first loop I was feeling pretty good…smooth, strong, steady….swim, swim, swim. 

As I made the approach back to the beach to start the second loop I could hear the roar of the crowd and I couldn’t help but smile: this is why I love to race…I love feeding off the energy of the crowd, I love the sense of accomplishment I get as I check off the parts that are completed….I LOVE TO RACE! 

I climbed out of the water, ran across the beach and headed back out for loop number 2.  As I dove in and started swimming, I couldn’t help but think of my good friend Margaret and all the wise ways of the world she has shared with me.  In true Margaret fashion I thought, “I am half way done with the first leg…this is the last time I will ever be half way through the swim of my 5^th Ironman…this is a special moment! Take it all in!"

Heading out I felt great…smooth, strong, steady…I was catching and passing people and I couldn’t help but hope these were simply people who took it out too hard and not people that were still on their first loop.

About half way out, the temperature dropped…noticeably…and the chop started.  It seemed like for every 5 strokes I would take, a swell would push me back 2.  I would turn my head to breathe and take in a mouth of water…where the HELL was the red turn buoy???!!!  I picked up my kick to anchor myself and I just kept repeating…you get what the day gives you!

I made the turn around and headed back in.  I felt like going in I was able to “ride” the swells a bit more…maybe I was able to, or maybe it was just because the grass is always greener when you are over half way…whatever the reason, I headed in and once again I was lost in the roar of the crowd and the energy that was resonating off of them. 

I climbed out of the water, started ripping off my sleeves and just as I was making the turn to head into transition I looked up and saw my mom and my aunt jumping up and down and holding the signs they had made at the expo.  I flashed them the biggest smile I could muster and then it was onto wet suit stripping. 

I ran though the bags, grabbed mine and rounded the corner into the women’s changing tent…I saw Jess and she yelled “Sedonia!!!”  It was such a welcomed sight to see her beaming face…she knew exactly how to help.  She asked what I needed, and started handing me my things. I worked on my shoes, another lady put my bib on, Jess shoved some Thermolytes in my mouth and opened my gel, I squirted it in my mouth and took a swig of water…glasses on…helmet on…out the door!  My best T1 split yet!

I ran through transition and I saw Nick at the far end waving his hands…he had positioned himself right near my bike…so I didn’t even have to look for numbers…I grabbed my biked and headed out.

I smiled as much as I could heading out of town and took as much energy from the spectators as feasibly possible.  I felt smooth on the first leg of the bike…but it was windy…my goal was to keep my heart rate in check, fuel and find a rhythm, but it was hard to keep focus and not worry about what effect the extra head wind was playing on my pace and on my energy expenditure.  When I could sense that my mind was drifting to that dark place where the voices were telling me I needed to go faster but my heart rate was telling me to keep things in check, I found the voice of reason echoing…you get what the day gives you.

Before I knew it I was back though town…I saw my dad, he yelled out “Donie!”  I waved, grinned and headed out on the big loop of the bike.  I LOVE THE IRONMAN CROWDS!

I knew coming into the race this year that the bike would be more challenging, but combined with the wind…I did not know how much more taxing it would be. The “big loop” or the 43 mile second leg of the 56 mile loop course, combined with the wind was unrelenting.  We were either climbing or descending the entire time.  We would climb for a mile and get to the top and then get smacked in the face with a head wind.

Somewhere about half way up the first big climb I made another executive decision…shift early, shift often…no trying to “power up” anything…it was time to ride like I was going to run a marathon after…because I was running a marathon after...

I was so relieved to get to the turn around and head back, I knew I had to face all those hills again…but I also had the anticipation of riding through town and was beginning to come to terms with the fact that this day was a unique day unto itself and not one in which success was to be defined by how it compared to last year.  I define success.  Not the time clock…not my friends or family…me.  I have told others in the past and now it was my time to tell myself-every Iron Athlete has the right to define what “success” means to him/herself, MY success is not determined by whether or not I meet someone else’s expectations.

I made it back into town and headed out on loop two.  As I was passing through the crowds I saw some guy leaning off the curb with his shirt pulled up and wiggling his belly.  I’m usually a “pretty much anything goes” kinda girl when it comes to cheering, but this was a little much.  As I got closer I saw that it was Tyler and he was flashing me that “Ah ha! I got you look!” like only he knows how…I couldn’t help but smile, shake my head, laugh and off I went.

I got to special needs, refilled my fuel stash and popped some Thermolytes in my mouth.  Off I went again…over half way on the bike…no major technical issues, no major bodily issues, no major mental break downs…good to go.

I raced back through town and out on those last 43 miles…just as I passed into the “no pass” section that crossed Northwest Blvd, I heard “Is that Donie?”  I turned and it was Corrine!! I knew she’d be out here, but in that moment it was like a million memories from college and Pacific raced back to me…my recruit trip, $hit Kicker, training trips in Hawaii, winning conference…maybe it was low blood sugar…maybe it was “mid-Ironman” disillusion invading my head…but seeing her filled me with that same adrenaline rush I remember from my days of racing as a Tiger and I was ready to tackle the last section.

I continued on and all of a sudden I heard a ridiculous burst of yelling and screaming coming from across the road…I looked over and saw Dana, Phil, Nick and Jess (cartoon hands and all)…there was glitter, there was cow bell…they looked like a rush project gone awry…and I LOVED IT!  I yelled out “You guys are crazy!” and the cyclist who was passing me at the time looked over and said, “You sure got a lot of friends out here!”  I smiled, and realized just how lucky I was to have all these people here…and I replied, “Yes I do…and they are AMAZING!”

As I headed up the first big hill I could feel the fatigue in my legs…memories of IM Arizona came rushing back to me-I had pushed too hard on the bike and ended up walking a good portion of the run.   At that moment another executive decision was made: The only thing I can control is my attitude-I will stay ahead of my mind…I knew it would be very easy for me to start tracking minutes and calculating paces and splits…and I knew that was a slippery slope to repeating the mistakes I made in Arizona.  Today’s goal: Finish strong… not simply survive the run, but rather run the run.

I made it to the turn around and headed back into town.  I was feeding off the rush of knowing I was on the last leg of the bike and I was excited to get off that seat. 

I made the turn into T2 and a heard “SEDONIA!!!” I looked straight ahead and literally 2 heads above everyone else I saw Matt’s head floating above the crowd and I thought “Holy guacamole he is so tall!”  Then I spotted Wendi at his side!!!  They were jumping up and down and it was so completely awesome to see them!!

I headed through T2…not quite as smooth without my special Pea Pod Partner to be my right hand gal…but nonetheless, I got my socks and shoes on, flipped on my cap, grabbed my bottle and a pack of Pringles and headed out.

Cinder blocks…that’s really the best description I have for what my legs felt like.  I wanted desperately to high five the little kids that were stretching their arms out through the fence…but I just couldn’t…all my energy was going to getting one foot in front of the other.  I tried to smile the best I could but the fear of reliving another Arizona marathon kept creeping into my mind. 

Then the ever sage words of wisdom from Coach Dan crept into my head, “Run when you can, walk when you must but just keep moving forward!”  I reassessed, my heart rate was okay, my body (joints, muscles, bones etc.) sans fatigue, were okay…I felt like crap…but I was okay.  Just run when you can. 

I passed the Ironteam crew and I saw Jasmine…and I knew she’d missed a cut off.  My heart sank…I tilted my head to the side so as to say, “Oh no, not again!  Are you okay?” and somehow she completely read my mind, tilted her head, smiled that infectious smile of hers and gave me a reassuring nod. 

Tim and Alicia nearly scared the pants off me they were so excited…they all made me smile and I realized, once again, how truly blessed I was to have them all out there.

A few yards passed was the Team Shadow/Paul Kinney crew that I had done Louisville with and they went crazy as I passed.  Jessica yelled, “Sedonia-you look amazing!”  I shook my head, grinned back at her and yelled, “Thanks, but that’s a lie!”

Somewhere around mile 4 I began to find my legs.  When I found a groove, I ran …when things got tough, I switched to 4:1s to break it up...when all else failed, I just kept moving forward.

I stuck to my nutrition plan as best as I could.  I stayed away from the coke and the solid food they were providing and I was dumping ice and water on me at every stop.  It was defiantly warming up.

I saw many TNT friends and it was nice to be able to break out of the Ironman focus for a brief moment and exchange a few words with them.  However, all in all, the mood out on the first lap of the run was thick, and dense, there was little camaraderie and frankly…it was a little boring.  I made the turn around and headed back into town.

I passed our condo, saw my parents and aunt and Wendi and Matt…and headed into grab special needs…I didn't need much; I grabbed a gel pack and 2 Advil and was through. 

As I went and made the U-turn at transition to start the second loop, Rocky’s famous line: “I’m just gonna go run a half marathon!” ran through my head and I thought, “Yup…it’s as simple as that…just go run a half marathon!”

I headed back out, passed the Ironteam crew…where the intensity of Merla’s cheering was close to that of a cage fighter ready for battle…passed my old Louisville gang…where they were once again FAR too generous with their compliments…and I was out for the final round.

I don’t remember much from mile 16-24, but I do know I started taking coke around mile 22…not my best plan…it had not been degassed, and it, combined with the other things that were in my system did not do good things for my tummy.  By mile 24 my stomach was in complete knots.  I had reached that “just keep moving forward moment”.  

Finally, I made it back into town, as the man next to me turned to the right to start his second loop and I turned to the left to finish, he looked back at me, smiled and said, “Enjoy the view!” I made the final turn into town and despite the stomach issues…the final executive decision of the day was made: I was NOT going to walk that shoot.

I found my legs…I soaked it in and I LOVED EVERY MOMENT OF IT!  The crowd was over the top!  I saw Matt (because of his “floating head”) and Wendi, I saw my parents (finally my mom got to see me run through the shoot) and, although I didn't see them, I heard the IT crew louder than anyone else!  The last few yards were total tunnel vision…and then I heard it: “Sedonia Yoshida from Napa, California!  YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!”

As I sit here and reflect back on the day I can't help but be reminded of those same words that passed through my head as I stood on shore waiting for the cannon to go off: No two journeys are ever the same, you get what the day gives you, believe in yourself and remember that being able to do this is a gift, not a right!



June 24, 2012 was a race unlike any other Ironman I've ever done. I faced cold, choppy water, rain and wind on the bike and warm weather on the run...so did everyone else out there competing. However, I never gave up on myself, I had faith in my training and having such an amazing support crew out there was a continual reminder of just how truly blessed I am to be able to add another chapter to my Iron Journey!