Hey there! I’m Komal, an engineering manager in a renowned company and I’ve got a story to share – it’s about passion, challenges, and a whole lot of determination.
Initially I used to be all about running, but life threw me a curveball with shin stress fracture in 2021, keeping me away from running for a year and a half. That’s when I discovered triathlons – a complete fitness package but wasn’t aware of the intensity of training it would need. There are several Distances formats in triathlons. There is an organization which runs these events globally. So, I decided to jump into the deep end and registered for Ironman 70.3 Goa in 2022 which was 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run in this order, even though I couldn’t even float, forget about swimming at that point!
In just six months, I transformed myself, put a lot of time in learning to swim from the scratch and finished that half Ironman in November 2022 in 7 hours, where the cut off was 8 hours 30 min. But wait, there’s more! Influenced by my coach, I set my sights on a full Ironman in Australia for December 2023. As the name describes it’s a full Ironman which means 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run in this order within 17hours. Balancing work, being a wife, and preparing for this massive event wasn’t a walk in the park.
I thought of giving up or deferring it so many times during the gruelling 25-28 hours of training every week. Waking up at 3:30 am, finishing workouts by 8:30 am, heading to the office and then back home at 7:00 pm – my body was exhausted, and I sacrificed my family time which whenever I get, became a luxury.
A week before the race, bam! I found out my spinal cord had some issues. The doctor suggested me to not to participate as the issues can get worse , but my coach’s belief and my own faith kept me going. I took that week completely off even from the taper workouts and hey, I finished my debut Ironman in Western Australia against all odds in 15 hours 15 min.
It wasn’t easy, but discipline and a strong goal kept me on track. I hope my story inspires you to push through challenges and chase your dreams, no matter how tough it gets!
