Everyday activities

A typical day for Soma is quite a bit different than others her age. Soma used to attend Carlmont High School, however, due to the time demands of extensive training and therapy, she has switched to homeschooling.

Now instead of starting her day with a math class, Soma heads to physical therapy (PT) at Ting Orthopedics. Next, she has tutoring which is followed by the bulk of her day, the gym. Soma is in the gym training for nearly six hours, from 12:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Around 3:00 p.m., Soma receives a small fifteen-minute snack break. Throughout the day, she works on all the different events; floor, uneven bars, vault, and balance beam.

Soma’s best event is the vault. The typical vault section of Soma’s practice lasts about 45 minutes, with only 15 of those minutes spent doing the exercise full out. The rest of the rotation is typically spent on drills and any work she needs to complete. With her injury, a significant portion of the time is dedicated to icing and injury prevention.  

“For the rest of the time [during vault], I ice my knee while trying to get as much homework done as possible,” Soma said. 

Because of the time demands of elite gymnastics, little room is left for typical teenage activities. There are no Friday night football games, school dances, and late nights with friends; the bulk of her time is spent in the gym. For Soma, this can sometimes be difficult, and she sometimes wishes that she had a bit more free time, especially to socialize, and this makes her miss school as well as hanging out with friends. 

“Honestly, I don’t have a social life. I literally don’t do anything. I just work out,” Soma said. “Sometimes I hang out with my friends on the weekend but that’s about it. Mostly I’m either at the gym, PT, or tutoring. I guess the days I’m not doing homework, I don’t want to waste my energy hanging out. I would rather rest at home.”

The few instances of normalcy soon would disappear, as Soma was given the opportunity to train in Japan as an Olympic hopeful. While it gave her a potential chance for Olympic and elite success, it did not come without its difficulties.