By Kimberly Elmore

Imagine swimming a quarter mile, then riding a bike for 11 miles, and finishing up by running another four miles. 25-year-old Courtney Canella didn’t just imagine it. She lived it!

“If you would have asked me five years ago if completing a triathlon was something I would have done, I would have laughed,” said Courtney. “I never would have thought I could accomplish something that takes so much training and dedication.”

Courtney didn’t initially set out to do a triathlon. She was running with a friend so they could motivate each another. They would get up at 5 a.m. to work out before their classes at a physical therapy school. Courtney then suggested they train for a half marathon.

“It was a huge goal in our eyes with our crazy schedules, but we decided it would be awesome if we could actually do it,” said Courtney.

So, Courtney and her friend trained…hard!

“After we completed our first marathon, it felt incredible! It was a huge high,” said Courtney. “Then we started doing some 5Ks, and I even won first place (female) from Montville Township in one of the races.”

Courtney surprised herself. She never thought of herself as a runner. Courtney said she was good at defense in basketball, field hockey, and lacrosse, but never thought of herself as an endurance athlete. So, after she conquered her marathons, she decided to train for a triathlon.

“I trained for about two and a half months. For the first half of my training, I performed only one sport a day. I swam, biked or ran. Some days I would work on distance and decrease the intensity,” said Courtney.

As the race got closer, Courtney would practice by putting two sports together: swimming then biking or biking then running. She chose to do it in that order because the order of the actual race is swimming, biking, and then running. Courtney wanted to simulate the actual race.

“I found the hardest transition to be the biking to running,” Courtney said. “My hamstrings became extremely tight after biking so hard, so jumping off the bike and putting full effort into running was miserable for about the first half mile. It took a while for me to get used to that, but I’m glad I practiced that numerous times before the race day.”

When it came to race day, Courtney felt she was ready, but throughout the race she had to motivate and encourage herself along.

“When I started the swim, my heart was pounding,” said Courtney. “I got kicked in the face numerous times and people practically pushed me under just to get ahead. I started to think I made a mistake trying to do the triathlon.”

To get her confidence back, Courtney took herself back to when she was training. She just kept telling her self, “You trained so hard for this. Just swim like you did for all these months.” After she gave herself a little pep talk, she started to swim faster and pass people.

“I probably got out of the water in the middle of the pack of people, which was fine by me!” said Courtney. “Especially since I thought I was going to drown at the start.”

Courtney said the bike ride portion of the race was challenging for her because she was using a mountain bike, not a road bike. She had to work harder than most people because of the type of bike she was using. Mountain bikes require more effort than road bikes because they are typically heavier with wider tires. They don’t match the speed of a road bike.

“It was 11 miles of torture!” said Courtney. “Not because I was in pain, but because I was working harder than most because I was using a mountain bike. It also made my transition to the running portion of the race harder.”

Even though Courtney’s hamstrings felt like they were tearing, she didn’t let that stop her. She ran for four miles as fast as she could! Courtney completed the triathlon.

“I felt great!” said Courtney. “It’s hard to describe. I was sort of sad that what I had been working for over the past few months was now over.”

Courtney said the most challenging part of the race was the biking, but only due to her “mountain bike handicap.” She also said that other competitors would pass comments to try to psyche her out, but she quickly just let those comments fly and just focused on herself. When asked if she would do another triathlon, she responded with a resounding, “YES!”

Courtney offers up this advice for those considering training and competing in a triathlon: “Have faith in your training. Make a plan and stick with it. When race day comes you will be incredibly nervous, but just take yourself back to your training. The goal for your first triathlon should be to just finish it.”

Courtney is currently training to compete in another triathlon. Only this time, she has a new bike!