| Date/Location: | July 9th, 2022 – June Lake, CA |
| Distances: | Swim 750meters – Bike 8 miles – Run 3.1miles |
| Time: | 1:20:30 (16:56 – 3:04 – 29:53 – 00:58 – 29:37) |
| Place: | 1st W10-14 (out of 2); 5th/55 Overall |
| Teammates: | HALF- FCA: Anna Soares, Robin Soares OLY – FCA: Troy Soares |
THE SWIM
Burr! I shiver as a cold breeze sweeps over me. I take a step in the water. It’s still freezing, but a little better compared to the first two times I adventured into the water. Today I’m doing the June Lake Sprint Triathlon. I say a final goodbye to dad and head out into the icy water. The race director told us that the water is 68 degrees. I think it feels more like it’s in the high 40’s. The men line up first. Anna did assure me as she ran out of the water earlier that it’s warmer in as you get farther out. I sure hope so. God, please help the water not be that cold and please keep me warm. I should be wearing a wetsuit, but instead I’m wearing a speed suit. I’m kind of regretting that decision. I wait for my start knees deep in the water. A lady walks up to me. She kindly offers me advice and assures me that I will warm up quickly. The race director sends off the men, so I walk up to the starting line. I position myself right behind the first row and then dunk myself quickly. I see dad waving at me, so I wave back. “30,” the race director starts the countdown, “20… 10, 9 8, 7,” Ahh, icy butterflies panic in my stomach. “3, 2, 1, go!” I dive into the water expecting that awful icy shock. It’s not cold! Praise God! I immediately warm up. Thank you, God!
The girls in my race pass me, there all starting off really fast. Now, I’m in the middle of the pack. I pay close attention to my surroundings, so I won’t get kicked in the face. Uh oh, I have a new problem, I’m not cold anymore, but it’s super choppy! Anna warned me, but I was not expecting this. A wave crashes over me as I take a breath. I gulp down a ton of water. I look up to see where the buoy is and check my approximate place. A wave comes at me, but I dive as it hits. God, please help calm these waves. I focus my attention on Him. The waves feel calmer! It’s no longer loud and rough. Thank you, God! He made it kind of peaceful. I look up again. The buoy is close. I notice that I’ve been passing people.
The water feels rough again. I round the buoy and the water is now even more choppy. It's hard to swim. I remember to focus on God and I focus. The water is calm again! Maybe God wants me to focus on Him and then He’ll answer my prayer. I swim and focus on God. I round the final buoy in the water and spot the buoy on the beach. I swim faster because I’m close. I remind myself again, that it’s not about the place, it’s about God. The water is shallow and it continues to get shallower. The water is so shallow, I can touch the ground! I see people walking to the beach, which it still a bit away. Finally, I get up and run. I dive back into the water and swim a bit more. The water is super shallow now, so I get up and run. I see Dad and wave. I give him a thumbs up to convey that I’m ok and not frozen. Dad informs me that I’m 5th women out of the water. Wow! Uh oh, I don’t know which button to press on my watch. I ask Dad, but he doesn’t know. I desperately press random buttons. Yeah, I found the lap button. My feet don’t feel cold, but as I sprint up into transition, I can’t feel the rocky sand below my feet.
Once in transition, I take my speed suit off and put my socks on. My hands don’t feel cold, but there hard to move. I finally put my shoes on. The bike next to me belongs to a girl my age who is part of a relay. They’re swimmer comes out of the swim and tags the biker, who takes off. It would be cool if my transition was just as fast. It takes me a bit to get ready. I grab my helmet and my bike and run out of transition.
THE BIKE
I get on my bike and bike up a hill up to the campsites. I bike out of the campground and push up a winding hill. I arrive at a turn being controlled by some police. I make a sharp right and power up a hill. I reach the top and then bike down the other side. I pass the girl’s relay biker and I say good job. The road curves and I can see the lake! I bike by the lake and I see Dad’s race, the Olympic, start. It’s cool to see Dad’s race start even if I can’t specifically see him. I power down a hill and catch some people. The downhill turns into an uphill. The people pass me back. I reach the top of the hill and see a sign that says fire danger is high today. That’s not good.
I can see the town! I bike into the town. It’s a cute little town. All the homes look like off the grid houses. I don’t see any riders though. They disappeared when I wasn’t looking. I hope I didn’t miss a turn! There are no markers, but there no parking signs. Some people in a log house cheer me on. Okay, I must be on the right track! I speed down the town streets. The town is coming to an end. I pedal out of the town. I bike around a lake. It can’t be June Lake. It’s to small and not as pretty, but I didn’t know there were more lakes. This course is like a roller coaster. Up and down and up and down. I see another hill. A young boy and two older ladies pass me. I try to stay with them. I fall back because they are going too fast, but I keep pushing up the hill. I watch them speed up the hill.
The houses are very pretty around here. Up ahead there is fancy neighborhood. Each house is huge and has a slight rustic look. I really like the designs. However, there aren’t many plants, so the neighborhood looks plain and gives me a desert feeling. Here comes another hill! I am exhausted and worried for the run.
Yeah, I made it to the top. Another hill? I pedal up it. My legs hurt. Finally, I reach the top! I have only a short downhill until a huge hill. I push the downhill to get momentum and speed up the hill. Almost there! I made it! There’s a nice long downhill. I speed down the hill, which winds back to the stop sign worked by police. I make a sharp right turn and power down the winding hill. The wind is against me, so I crouch down to be more aerodynamic. I see sprint competitors are still going out from the swim. There’s the campground! I pass the campground booth and enter it. I speed down the hill into transition. The bike dismount is close. I can see a volunteer yell at me to slow down. I slow down a little bit. Right at the sign I fly off my bike and run into transition. That is the fastest dismount I’ve even done. I sprint to my transition spot and rack my bike. I overhear the girls relay team next to me saying they have no place to put their bike, so I tell them they can move my bike as I get up to go run. I don’t know if they heard me. I fasten my race belt and run out of transition.
THE RUN
I see the two old women who passed me on the bike up ahead. I’m having trouble running because the ground is the sandy beach. I look ahead. It looks like most of the course is on the sand. I try to have good footing as I run across the beach. It takes a lot of energy because you have to push harder to make up for the small amount of grip. I pass an aid station. I run up a little hill covered by some trees and then across a dirt lot. I see a hill, but not only a hill a tall, sandy hill. I run up it. My feet keep slipping. I see people walking up ahead. This part is like one whole long hill that’s sandy. I keep running up it. The two women that passed me on the bike are walking. I pass them. It’s hard to run up the hill, but I don’t want to walk. The hill gets steeper. I walk a little bit and then run again. I walk again for a little bit and then run. Finally, I reach a flat part. It turns into a steep hill up to the road. Thankfully there are rocks. I use the rocks as grip and I push up the hill.
At the top I realize I’m now on the bike course. With the help of the volunteers, I cross the road. The road is down hill which refreshes me. I see some people already coming back. I tell them good job and smile at them. I let my body pull me down and store up energy. Another boy my age passes me. I try to stay with him, but I soon fall back. My foot feels like it’s falling asleep. That’s probably because it was numb. Ugh, this is really uncomfortable. Finally, it’s not asleep anymore. I turn onto a dirt path and keep running. I see a lot of runners I saw earlier coming back so I must be close to the turn around. I see the turn around. My watch is also close to 1.5 miles. I say good job to runners. I keep running. Finally, I reach the turn around. I turn around. One of the older ladies that had passed me on the bike starts gaining on me. She passes me. I try to stay with her. We run back on the path and see a lady. I tell her good job and she tells us to keep it up.
I turn back onto the road. I’m starting to feel very tired. I want to walk, but I feel God telling me not to because that wouldn’t be my best, so I keep running. I’m now running up the downhill I enjoyed earlier. The older lady starts to get some distance from me. I’m only half way up, but my legs are exhausted. I see a girl my age running down the hill. I tell her good job and she cheers me on too. I’m almost to the top! I’m running so slow a fast walker could probably beat me. I’m almost there. Yeah, I made it! I turn back down the sandy hill and let my momentum carry me. Ahh, I’m going pretty fast. It’s hard to stop because of the bad grip. I run on the outsides of the path to slow myself. I say good job to the runners running up the hill. Finally, I reach the dirt lot. The older lady is pretty far ahead. I start to sprint. I run down a small hill and land on the beach. I sprint across the beach, giving my last bit of energy. I sprint into the finish line. Thank you, God!! I finish! That was an amazing race thanks to God. I ended up getting first in my age group with a time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. I even got 5th women overall!