She wakes up at the only time she is available to practice: five in the morning. Taking spin cycle classes then running laps after, this 13-year understands what hard work feels like.

Besides the pain in her feet, and her legs feeling like they are made of bricks during training, this girls loves the feeling of crossing the finish line in a triathlon.

Arianna Teichman, freshman, trains to compete in triathlons. Swimming, biking, and running, she found inspiration through watching her mom.

“Before I started triathlons I was the laziest person you could ever meet,” Teichman said. “I had no motivation to exercise until I saw my mom cross her finish line of her first sprint triathlon. I saw her so happy and strong, and so right then and there I decided I wanted to do a sprint triathlon.”

A sprint triathlon is a ½ mile swim – 12 mile bike ride, and 3.2 mile run. But after training and competing with her mom – Teichman says she wanted to push herself even more.

“I thought I couldn’t do more than that, that I could only do sprints, but I proved myself wrong when I did the Chicago Triathlon, the Olympic distance [double distances of the sprint triathlon],” Teichman said. “It took me four hours to complete it. When I crossed that finish line the joy was unbelievable. To know that all my hard work paid off.”

Now making her goal to complete the Ironman, a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike, and a 26.22 mile run, Teichman says she keeps her passion for triathlons despite what others may think.

“People say I’m crazy, but exercise has transformed me,” Teichman said. “I feel better and I have more energy than when I did before. My dad ran [three] marathons in his life, it makes me happy to think I’m following in his footsteps in a way. In January I’m planning on doing my first half marathon. I’m almost halfway to one of my ultimate goals, a marathon.”

Taking after her father, David, who passed away suddenly in 2008, Teichman keeps up her hard work, while also finding a way to become close to her dad through exercise and running, Teichman said.

Teichman’s mother, Lesley Teichman, believes she too feels close to her husband when exercising, and finds peace in doing triathlons.

“My husband completed three marathons before he died,” Lesley said. “I know he would be unbelievably proud of Arianna. I think about my husband every time Arianna and I do a triathlon together. I know he’d be at the finish line every time cheering us on.”

The first triathlon Arianna competed in was in Muncie, Indiana. It was 44 degrees with 50mph winds creating 3 feet high waves that Teichman said she swallowed every time she wanted to take a breath.

“The most clear memory I had is thinking, how many people went to the bathroom in this lake? I am not joking, that’s what made me survive that and not die,” Teichman said. “But when I crossed the finish line I felt this huge relief. From not running anymore and the joy of thinking, I did the impossible. It is a high that can’t be replicated, and every time it gets better.”

To reach this feeling, she said, Teichman keeps putting one foot in front of the other so all her hard work does not go to waste.

“You not only have to be physically strong to do triathlons, you also have to be mentally strong. Triathletes have a saying that you have to learn to embrace the sick,” Lesley said. “It’s a crude way of saying that you have to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think that learning to work hard when the going is tough is the best recipe for success in life.”