Indore: Staying healthy is a combination of keeping our body, mind and environment smoothly functioning in sync with each other. Considering consequences of actions, Barodia family cycles for travelling on most days controlling their bio footprint.
With their consistent effort towards fitness, they had been preparing their body and mind to compete in Ironman Triathlon. An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organised by the World Triathlon Corporation, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile run, raced in that order and without a break.
Breaking previous records, the trio was the only complete family, with a husband, wife and child participating in the triathlon organised at Hyderabad recently.
Youngest ever Olympic triathlon participant
As the first fitness challenge of life, 14-year-old student Priyansh Barodia competed in Olympic triathlon. Being the youngest participant ever in the ten editions of the triathlon in the country, his participation became a motivation for many. “Since my parents are into fitness, I did not even know when I felt drawn to these challenges. It is like our tradition,” Priyansh said. He however confessed that the preparation was tougher. “I am a regular student at Daly College, where our school timings are from morning till evening leaving us very little time to do anything else,” Priyansh said. With little time on his hand and high goals, he not only had to discipline his body, but dictate timing in his life as well. “I utilised my winter and summer vacations extensively to strengthen my muscles in gym, swim as and when possible and cycle every Sunday with my mother,” Priyansh said. Getting special permission from the school, he used to practice swimming in the school for two days in a week. “Honestly, when I look back, none of this seems like work because I enjoyed every bit of preparation and triathlon was an adventure,” Priyansh said. He swam 1.5 km swimming, cycled 40 km and ran 10 km to complete the competition.
Only woman contender in Half Ironman Triathlon
Being an avid fitness freak and also an environmentalist, 44-year-old businesswoman Bharti Barodia became an inspiration for others, especially as a woman contender in ‘Half Ironman Triathlon’. “Though it was an achievement to participate as a family, every individual has to prepare their body all by themselves based on limitations,” Bharti said. Discussing her routine for the last 10 months of preparation, she mentioned swimming as her loose end. “I could barely swim and think, I had to swim for two kilometres, which was more than a challenge,” she said. However, “I come from a family of health conscious people so I knew the trick,” Bharti said. She explained that the trick to preparing oneself for a competition involves setting a clear target and preparing mentally with physical practise. “Roads in Hyderabad were a real challenge in the competition,” Bharti said. She explained that natural ups and down in the road was steep and troublesome for running and cycling.
Controlling self as well as pollution
Raising a bar for self fitness, 46-year-old businessman Hemant Barodia participated in ‘¾ Ironman Triathlon’ and completed the challenge. “I was clear in my mind that I have to swim 3 km and cycle 135 km among others, and that is what I reminded myself every day,” Barodia said. With reinforcement of his target, he aligned his daily activities to work towards it. “We have always been attached to environment and working towards controlling pollution in every form, especially air,” Barodia said. With another target in his mind, their picnics and travels also became opportunities. “We cycled to Mandav, Janapav Kutti and even Patalpani, and thus, we controlled pollution and also prepared ourselves for the cycling part in triathlon,” Barodia said. Discussing the benefits of participating in triathlon, Barodia said, “We are forced to balance everything in our life and discipline ourselves in every possible way especially controlling our mind.” He elaborated that their normal routine includes three hours of workout.
