The Unstoppable!

Arundhati Pande - Nothing is unachievable.

Becoming a doctor might not have surprised many because I was always into books, the studious ones. But becoming a triathlete is something I am sure no one would have imagined, including myself 😊

After my second pregnancy, the stubborn weight gain triggered me to do something about it. I shared my thoughts with one dear friend of mine that I need to do something, but I have to be home by 6:30 am to get my kids ready for school. She agreed! It is not easy for everyone to wake up at 5-5:30 am to go for a walk, hence she was like a God sent to me.

So, on, 1st January 2014 my journey to fitness started. I lost 5 to 6 kgs just by walking. Then I read about Rujuta Divekar, who emphasized the importance of (Strength Training), especially for women. I decided to join a gym.

In August 2014 a 3 km of run was organized by the gym. My first even run. After completing this run, I felt smoke coming out of my eyes, ears, and nose :D :D. I told myself, I am not going to do this ever again. I am sure God must have laughed at me, coz clearly, he had a different plan for me.

In November 2014, I ran my first 10km with PRBM (Pune Running Beyond Myself), Pune. By now the running bug has bitten me and how!

In 2015, I ran my first half marathon! I didn’t know anything then about electrolytes, gel, or hydration and on top of that, I realized my periods started mid-run. Well, anyhow I just ran because by now I had just fallen in love with running.

Later I joined an academy where triathletes were trained. That’s where I first came to know about triathlon. I knew Milind Soman did it, I had read about and I was curious to know more as this is something different. I took 4 months to learn breaststroke, as I am a huge aqua phobia. It was a constant battle against my fears every day.

In 2016, there was a sprint Ironman organized, (750 m swimming, 20km cycling, and 5km running). It was at Manas Lake, Pune. However, during my first-ever open-water practice session, I panicked and asked for help as I was drowning.

This just shattered my confidence and had a huge question mark on my readiness for the actual race day. Once the race started, the moment I put my head in the water, I panicked and came back. Coach kept on motivating me and I thought, I cannot give up now. I have prepared a lot for this. So, I just focussed on my breath and did breaststroke. Forever grateful to Mr. Anand Patil, because of him, I overcame my biggest obstacles.

Since then, there has been no looking back.

In 2017, I did my first Olympic distance triathlon, did with freestyle swimming. It took me almost a year to learn freestyle.

2018 – I registered for my first Ironman. I was deterred to participate in this. In fact, the academy I was training with, decided to drop me from the training as they might have thought I might not be able to do it. Just a month before the event and I was now without a trainer which was highly demotivating.

Around the same time, I saw a Marathi movie “Hirkani”. It is a story of a mother scaling down a steep cliff in order to reach her baby back home. I thought if she can do it, so can I.

I finished with a lot of anxiety, but I finished in 9 hours 😊

I didn’t feel like going back to the coach and showing him my results. I had so much inner peace and calmness within me that I don’t have to prove anything to anyone.

Till now, I have done 5 Half Ironman and multiple long-distance cycling. I love to go cycling to Lonavala, have a good breakfast there, and come back.

I am a Podium Finisher at Kolhapur Half Ironman (2nd runner up), Samay Full Marathon (1st runner up), and Apla Cyclothon (2nd Runner up)

Have done 2 Full Marathons and about 20 Half marathons. I have done 2-3 trekking as well in the Himalayas, of max 20,000 feet.

Now my focus is to do 2 events a year, 1 triathlon and 1 running event.

The sky is the limit if you set your heart right and follow a disciplined life. You live only once and this world has a lot of good things to offer. Just embrace it 😊