Dr. Arpita Pandya – Born and brought up in Baroda, migrated to Ahmedabad post marriage and started working as a physiotherapist with work and family being the priority.
Interestingly my sporting career began after I turned 31. As it happens with all females, post pregnancy, I had put on lot of weight. It is than that I focused on my fitness. Being a physical therapist, fitness was already at the core. And I preferred cycling to achieve my goal.
For about 3 years, I used to ride a fixie cycle.i started with 2kms and gradually reached up to 20kms. By then I had achieved my goal, losing weight remarkably from 85kg to 55kg and improving my fitness. (In fact, I had to start the same journey all over again after my 2nd pregnancy).
The turning point was my participation in Ahmedabad Cyclothone in 2016, when I rode 50kms with fixie cycle and won prize. This gave a big impetus to cycling and I started dreaming of competitive cycling. The grinding began since and I got my first road bike in Dec 2016. My 1st competitive event was The Impossible Race in Jan 2017 where I finished 4th and to my surprise missed the podium by 6 seconds. Then again Ahmedabad Cyclothone and the stone started rolling.
I won podiums at State Cycling Championship ( 2017, 2018), Khelmahakumbh ( 2017, 2018) and many more at various cycling events. In fact, I won gold at State MTB Championship 2018 and Silver in State Road Cycling Championship 2018 ad got my tickets to Nationals. At Nationals I finished in top 10 position in both National MTB Championship and National Road Cycling Championship. The goal is to improve my position at Nationals.
Cycling is the first love and I always ran away from running.
I always wondered how one can keep running for hours. My husband convinced me to take up running for cross training in middle of 2017. I used to run about 4-5 kms only. And opportunity to participate in a Duathlone which I won changed my perspective towards running. Within couple of months I increased my running mileage and trained for Half Marathon. My first Half Marathon was a trail run where I stood 1st and this victory inspired me to run my 1st Full Marathon in Nov 2017 Adani Ahmedabad Marathon where I grabbed top spot again. Just in 6 months I went on from 5kms to 42.2 kms.
I won many podiums in running since then, notably among them are 1st in B safal Full Marathon 2017 (Ahmedabad Category), 3rd in Adani Ahmedabad Marathon 2018, 1st in Vadodara International Marathon 2019 , 2020, 2023 along with podiums in many Half Marathons.
Personal Best :
Full Marathon – 3:25
Half Marathon- 1:38
10k – 45:31
5k – 22:21
Click here to view the all Achievements : [podium position at 97 events.]
The family support is of immense importance.
My Husband is also a triathlete and my daughter who is 13 years old is State level swimmer and National level cyclist… My son was National Champion in karate in his age category and he is also a swimmer. In fact without the support of my Husband and Kids, nothing could have been possible.
I am an ordinary woman determines to work extraordinarily. Women, naturally are endowed to endure and so if I can do anyone can do.
Although the good moments came only after a hard grinding. My training would start daily at 3 am in morning and on Sundays at 2:30 am. I would finish my training by 5 am on weekdays ( by 6:30 am on Sunday) and spending some time I stretching and Yogasana. My role as a wife and as a mother would start than, cooking lunch and than getting the kids ready to send them to school. After 9 am, I have to look after my Physiotherapy Clinic.
I try my best to be consistent with 3 days running, 3 days cycling and strength training regularly in the evening.
Plan your training and follow it strictly along with healthy home eating.
If we stay fit we can inspire our kids and future generations to stay fit and strong.
“DETERMINATION + DEDICATION + CONSISTENCY = VICTORY”