Dreams Come True

Gabriella (Gabby) Lopez stretches on the soft cool grass of Hayward field in Eugene, Oregon preparing for tryouts. She looks around at the track and field athletes who warm up for their various events as they prepare to try out for this year’s Olympic Team. Some of these people will be teammates, some will be going home with their dreams crushed, but Gabby is confident she is an Olympian Triathlete. She doubts anyone has worked as long and as hard for this day as her.

12 years ago

“I don’t want to be left at the Y all day by myself, momma. What am I going to do? Why can’t you stay home like you always do?”

“Because your father left us for that hussy, Cassandra, and now I have to work cleaning hotel rooms to put a roof over your head and food in your stomach. I don’t want any more complaints from you. I rather you be there exercising than running around with the neighborhood riffraff.”

“Those are my friends, momma.”

“Please, Gabby. Friends don’t get their friends in trouble for stealing and vandalizing and tormenting smaller kids. You’re only eight and you’re already heading down the wrong path. I won’t have it young lady.”

Gabby sat sulking the rest of the car ride to the local YMCA. She stared out the window at the skyscrapers and smoke funnels that rose from the factories in the distance as they crossed the bridge. As far as she was concerned, her summer was over. No running the streets with her friends, no afternoons at the pool, no bikes. Just trapped with a bunch of geeks playing silly games at the Y. If her friends hear about this, she’s going to be a laughingstock for sure.

Gabby’s mom walked her in and introduced her to a woman named Amy Stephenson. Amy was a fitness trainer and group leader there at the Y. Amy took her on a tour of the place, telling her all about the group activities they had available. “What do you like to do, Gabby,” Amy asked as she paused outside the swimming pool area.

“I love to run, bike, and swim,” Gabby told her.

“Oh, you’re a triathlete.”

“A what?”

“A multi-talented, super-athletic person with great endurance who runs a race where they swim, bike, and run.”

“That sounds cool. I bet I could do that. Do you have a group that does that?”

“No, but if that is something you want to compete in when you are older, you can start training now. I can help you. Check this out,” Amy says as she opens the door to an Olympic sized swimming pool with swimming lanes all marked out. “This is just one thing we can use to help you train to be one of the best athletes in the world. You’ll excel at track and field, get college scholarships, maybe even go to the Olympics.”

Gabby’s eyes popped wide open, and her jaw dropped as she walked into the pool room. People of all ages were practicing diving and swimming techniques. There was even an area where people were doing exercises in the water. “This is amazing,” she said. The thought of going to the Olympics excited her the most. She remembers watching them with her dad, who was really into them. “Maybe having a daughter who is training for the Olympics will bring daddy home,” she thought.

“Big, isn’t it. We have a swim instructor that will be happy to work with you to develop a powerful stroke that will help you swim long distances with ease. Come on, I have more to show you,” Amy says as she leads Gabby out of the pool area and into the gym. “These are our exercise bikes and treadmills. Inclines can be adjusted to make it harder. That way you can build up your leg strength and endurance. If you look out here around the basketball court, you’ll see that we also have a track for running that gives you a more natural feel than the treadmills do. What do you think?”

“It sounds cool, Ms. Stephenson! I want to be in the Olympics!”

Now

Gabby is surprised that team officials decided to drive out to the ocean to hold a race instead of using the best times in a pool, but it did make sense. If the course requires the triathletes to swim in natural bodies of water, that is much different than swimming in a pool, especially the ocean. Gabby looks around her. She knows this is one sport where size doesn’t matter. Gender? Forget about it. Although men and women compete separately, she has left more boys in the dust than she can count. It’s all about conditioning the body and mind to endure pushing yourself past your physical limits. Something she has forced herself to do since she was a young child, and the ocean was no stranger. The gun fires and she is the first one into the icy, foamy waters of the Pacific.

Seven years ago

A wealthy man by the name of Benito Chavez came into Gabby's mother’s life and swept her off her feet. They quickly married. Benito took interest in Gabby’s aspirations despite moving them away from the YMCA where Gabby trained for five years. Benito had a large plot of land right off the coast. He would take Gabby a mile out in the ocean in his boat and troll back alongside her as she swam, timing her, encouraging her along the way.

“This is so much harder than swimming in a pool, Ben. I don’t know if I can do it,” Gabby says, clinging to the side of the boat as it rocked in the water.

“Are you cramping? Do you need a break?”

“The water is just so rough. I feel like it’s knocking me back a pace for every two forwards. I don’t know if I can go on like that.”

“I don’t think you have a choice, querida. To be a triathlete you must endure all that nature throws at you, whether it is the sea, or terrain, or rain, or heat. Keep pushing yourself. You will make it. I have faith in you.”

Gabby nodded and let go of the boat. She pushed herself against the waves as they bounced back off the coast and made it inland, but her time was horrible. She sat on the beach with her head between her legs feeling defeated. Benito docked the boat and went to sit beside her. He watched the setting sun for a moment and said, “Tomorrow, we try again. Then the next day. Then the day after that, querida. You are a triathlete in training. You have to expect setbacks, but you will overcome this challenge.”

Benito stuck to his word. He took her out in the boat every day after he got home from work. He pushed her and encouraged her until one day her best time was the same as her best time in a pool. By the time the Olympic tryouts came around, Gabby had far surpassed her time in a pool.

Now

Gabby emerges from the water in second place. She quickly changes from her swim gear into her biking gear and grabs her bike, the same bike she has had for five years and has never failed her. She quickly speeds into first place and gives the bike frame a pat like it’s a trusty steed doing a good job. She set into a comfortable stride after pushing uphill, having forty kilometers to go. The warm wind generated by the cycling feels cool against her wet skin. Her bike is her pride possession, and she smiles as she reflects back on the day she got it.

Five years ago

Gabby’s mom took her out to lunch and shopping for her birthday. Her mom encouraged her to get some new riding gear and some new running shoes since her old stuff was starting to look a little worn and ratty. Gabby picked out those items and a new speed rope she uses for conditioning then called it good. Mother and daughter had a good time gossiping while breaking into king crab legs at Gabby’s favorite restaurant before heading home. When they got home, Gabby opened the door to Benito and all her family and friends shouting surprise. They were all gathered around a brand new Cervelo S3 Disc street bike, a $7,500 bicycle. It was Gabby’s dream bike. She first saw it two years ago and started saving. That summer she got a job as a lifeguard at the beach to earn money to buy it. Her mother and Benito were so proud of her they decided to go ahead and buy it for her. Gabby shed tears of joy at the gesture and her mother and Benito received a big group hug.

The roads were steep and windy from their home down into town and then to the beach where Gabby worked. It gave her quite the workout getting to and from work, not to mention riding it to school no matter what the weather was like. Even after she turned sixteen, she stuck with riding her bike, saying she didn’t want to get too comfortable driving everywhere. The Cervelo became her primary mode of transportation. When she competed, she rode like the wind, and no one could touch her.

Now

Gabby holds a slim lead for first place as she completes the 40k. She drops her bike and loses her helmet, beginning the 10k run to the finish line. As much as Gabby loves her bike, this is her favorite part of the contest. This is where her lungs open up and her blood really begins to flow. She finds it the easiest, the terrain she trained on being much rougher than what she races on, being mainly smooth, flat road.

6 years ago

“Querida, my brother and I have cleared a path for you through the woods for running so you can train,” Benito tells Gabby. “It is only a three-and-a-half-mile loop, so you might have to do a few laps, but the terrain is rough with a lot of it up hill. It will condition you for whatever might come your way in the future.”

Gabby was excited to try out the new running trail. She had been running the steep roads around the house, which were great exercise, but a change of scenery sounded nice. She started up the hill of the trail that started in the back yard and realized early on that it was going to be a different kind of run. The path was littered with leaves, rocks, pinecones, and acorns, making it hard to get a footing. The turns in the path were sudden, not gradual like the road. They tested her agility. The inclines were steeper, which didn’t bode well with her lack of footing. She could tell the trail was exhausting more energy from her than the road. There was even a place where a small ravine cut across the path, requiring her to jump. Other obstacles such as fallen trees and huge boulders were left there on purpose as well to make the run more difficult. After doing one three-and-a-half-mile loop, she was far more tired than she had ever been after her normal five-mile routine.

“What do you think, querida,” Benito asked as he strolled out of the house.

“I think you’re trying to kill me.”

Benito laughed. “I thought that might be more challenging, make you use more muscles. You should do three loops a day and time yourself, always striving to beat your best time.”

Now

Gabby and her closest competitor are neck-and-neck at the final kilometer. They have both earned a spot on the team, but Gabby is highly competitive, and apparently so is this other girl. They both reach deep down inside and push as hard as they can. Gabby pulls ahead a few strides, but her competitor comes roaring back and pulls ahead. Gabby leans forward and pushes with all she has and catches her competition. The girls are now in a dead sprint, sweat dripping from every pore of their bodies, pain radiating through their legs, hearts and lungs pumping rapidly. They both cross the line at the same time.

“Who won,” the other girl asks the timekeeper.

“We have you both clocked at two hours and thirty-seven minutes. Well above average.”

The other girl approaches Gabby and puts out her hand, “Saleena Mitchel.”

Gabby, who is reclining in the grass catching her breath, shakes her hand and introduces herself. “Gabby Lopez.”

“You’re the first person to ever push me that hard, Gabby. Usually, I blow everyone away. My best time is nowhere near 2:37.”

“I’d have to say the same. How long have you been training?”

“Since I was old enough to walk,” Saleena says. “I’m second generation. My mom competed in the eighties. You?”

“Started when I was eight. I thought I would be able to bring my father back home if I became an Olympian. But on my way to becoming an Olympian, I found my true father. He supported me every inch of the way and helped me train. I don't think I'd be where I am today if it weren't for him.”