Going the extra mile

Meet India's only female triathlon athlete - Anu Vaidyanathan.

Anu Vaidyanathan has always taken the road less travelled. She had a cushy job with IBM in the US, but quit to set up her own consultancy firm in Bangalore. A sports enthusiast, she decided to venture into another unknown territory, that of being a triathlon athlete.

It was when Vaidyanathan was studying in the US, that she seriously thought of taking up this sport. Vaidyanathan says she used to feel extremely cold over there during winter, so took up cycling and running to keep herself warm as well as fit. Gradually, she warmed up to the idea of the sport and it was also easier to train in the US for all the three disciplines of the triathlon — swimming, cycling and running.

 

Her parents have always been supportive of her pursuing the sport, but Vaidyanathan has found it extremely difficult to continue in India. Too much traffic, too little time and zero help from the relevant authorities, it seemed at one point that her dream had reached a dead end. “My aim is to represent the country in the Ironman Triathlon Challenge,” Vaidyanathan says. Earlier this year, when she took part in the gruelling Ultraman Canada Race, her resolve to make it big strengthened further. She was ranked a creditable 18th but the most important thing was to finish the entire event, which she managed.

Vaidyanathan was the youngest athlete to finish the gruelling three-day competition — consisting of swimming 10 km and cycling 144.8 km on day one, then cycling 273.5 km on day two and running 84.3 km on day three. For any triathlon athlete, the ultimate aim is the Olympics as well as the Ironman Race. At each event, the distances are different. For instance, at the Olympics, the parameters are: swimming for 1.5 km, cycling for 40 km and running for 10 km. In the Ironman Race —Vaidyanathan’s target for this year — athletes are expected to swim for 3.2 km, cycle for 180 km and run for 42.2 km respectively.

With sponsorship from Timex, a brand she now endorses, in the bag, she is happy and relieved. Ask her about support from the authorities and a wry smile answers the question. “Nothing at all,” she says.

Being the CEO of her own company and pursuing a hard sport which requires strenuous training is a difficult task. How does she manage it? “I don’t sleep much,” Vaidyanathan confesses. Her day begins as early as 3.30 am and four hours thereafter are spent cycling and running. During the day, she takes care of her professional commitments. The evenings are devoted to swimming. She’s always running against time and finds it tough to train in the crowded streets of Bangalore with people staring at her, specially when she is on her bicycle. But Vaidyanathan isn’t complaining too much about it, and says that it was her decision to pack her bags and come back to India three years ago.

Vaidyanathan knows that it will take a fair amount of time for her to win a big title and therefore has set herself a realistic target of five years for that to happen. She doesn’t promise to get the moon but is confident that given the right backing and support, she will deliver. “And why only me, there can be others who can do this too,” Vaidyanathan says. She spends at least 15 weeks training abroad closer to an event she is participating in. Vaidyanathan is now targeting the half Ironman Challenge which is to be held later this year in Malaysia.

It’s difficult managing her own company as well as devote so much time to training, she reiterates. But it’s a choice Vaidyanathan has made and has no regrets about it. “I know as a CEO I have to set an example so I can’t be slacking at work.” Or in her choice of sport, for that matter.

Her goal is clear: for the next five years, she plans to give the sport whatever it takes. Be it extra training or spending more time in the gym, she plans to do it all. Vaidyanathan isn’t one to take a breather over the weekend. For that’s the time of the week when she trains even harder. Going that extra mile is very often the difference between winning and losing. And who would know this better than Vaidyanathan.