Her first official rescue

We had been training for 9 weeks....running, paddling and mountain biking. We are Team Mighty Girl! The race coordinators were letting Scout race with me in an adults back country triathlon. They kept in contact with me, made some special preparations for us in the mountain bike portion and even made a special trophy for the youngest (by 25 years I would guess!) racer.

 

First one's there at registration!

 

Pre-race meditation on the mountain.

 

Warming up.

 

Final instruction.

 

The beautiful starting line, Flagstaff Lake.

 

Team Mighty Girl 

 

And we're off!

 

We paddle in a straight line, 1 mile to a point of land. There we are supposed to turn left and follow the shore line another 3 miles to the beach. There we will meet Team Mighty Girls support crew ( Daddy) and hop on our bikes for a 10 mile ride, followed by a 4 mile trail run.

Little did we know, nor did the race organizers realize, that this picture perfect lake would turn into the ocean as soon as we rounded the point! Just before we made the turn a bald eagle flew over us. I told Scout it was good luck...little did I know how much we would need it!

For the next 2 hours I would fight 20-30 mph head winds and 3 foot swells, trying to get us to shore and keep us from capsizing. Scout was amazing and brave. The one person with us, a race staff member sweeping the rear, capsized about 30 minutes into the ordeal. I couldn't turn around to help her. It would surely cause Scouts small boat to capsize when I turned and I was her only hope, if she didn't self rescue, in reporting her situation.

After 2 hours we made it to the rocky coast, still 2 miles from the beach where Daddy would be waiting. The capsized girl had caught up to us. She was hypothermic and frightened.

Scout and I took care of her. We fed her, retrieved her boat, kept her spirits up, kept her moving and got her back to the beach. It would be another 2 hours of walking the rocky coast, dragging a train of 3 kayaks and fighting the wind. 

No one ever did make it out to find us. Team Mighty Girl saved themselves. We didn't finish the race but we were all winners and I'm proud of my team for how they handled the situation. We have great memories of how a bad situation turned out okay through good training, preparation and a positive attitude.

  

 Life is Great!!