Exclusive interview: Ashwini Deore on her journey from Ironman to Ultraman

Ashwini Deore a woman police naik from Maharashtras Nashik became the first woman cop in the state police force to complete one of the toughest competitions in the world Ironman that includes a series of longdistance triathlon races consisting of a swim bicycle ride and a marathon She is now preparing to participate in the Ultraman scheduled to be held in Florida USA next February She had also participated in the Comrade Marathon held last month in South AfricaAshwini Deore the wife of an Indian Army official has been practicing hard to complete the Ultraman and is struggling to meet her financial needs to make it to the competitionIn an exclusive conversation with midday she said I am confident I can complete the Ultraman and will make my country proud once againHer struggle to keep going is far more than what it takes to be a champion on international soilAn official said She has been still repaying the loans she had taken during her Ironman competition and the Comrade Marathon An athlete needs to concentrate on winning and its goals The burden of a financial crisis could hamper the athlete during practice sessions Ashwini is an excellent athlete and a talented person and with the governments support she can do wondersThe Ironman competition which is widely considered as one of the most difficult oneday sporting events in the world was completed by Ashiwini Deore even before the allotted time for completionShe said It has been over 23 years of service in Maharashtra Police and I am proud to be a part of one of the best police forces in the world My husband is an Indian Army official and we both think alike when it comes to serving the country My goal is to do what it takes to keep the name of the country up be it in sports or serving the nationNarrating her journey to reach the milestones Deore said I have always been a good runner coming from a family of farmers at a young age I used to assist my parents in farming Those days I had a cycle and learnt my cycling skills from those days but the cycles used by the professionals are completely different and need trainingShe said The cycle that I bought for the Ironman competition cost me around Rs 15 lakh and I had to take a loan to buy it since I did not have that much moneyIt was not at all easy being a mother of two young children and maintaining my professionalism as a cop in Maharashtra Police and keeping up the financial requirements to compete with top contenders from across the world Deore saidShe recalled When I rode the cycle for the first time I had an accident and took a while to get used to the gears and balancing the bike Though I was injured I could not stop myself from practicing daily to reach my goal My children were very young then but were very supportive and helpful throughout my journey to reach and complete the Ironman competitionDeores two sons Veer and Shaurya both school going children always listened to their mother and never let their school or studies hamper despite being home alone for hours while Deore used to be out for practice Sometimes they used to also accompany me for my practice sessionsShe told middaycom My older son was my first coach during the beginning of my journey for my first international competition He used to search on google and watch videos on YouTube to help me in practice Since I could not afford a personal trainer then he used to tell me what diet to follow and how the professionals practice Both my children always supported me during my practice sessions that required several hours of running and it kept me going even at times when I felt like quittingExplaining the initial stage of her hard work Deore who is now posted at Nashik Police headquarters said I first learnt about IPS officers Ravindra Singhal and Krishna Prakash completing the Ironman When I studied about the competition at first it seemed extremely tough but I realised that what it takes to be an Ironman I had that in me except for learning to swim since that was the only thing I did not know I needed to practice like a professional to get into the competition So I decided to learn to swim and sometime later I mastered the trick to swim faster with the help of a mentor Ingle sirShe said Those days my husband who deputed at Arunachal Pradesh was at home on leave and I discussed with him he was supportive enough to let it upto me if I could manage the duty practice and childrens care at the same time I planned a routine to continue my duty giving my children time and decided to practice at night since it would be convenient for meHowever it became very difficult for me during Covid19 it was lockdown and the duty was equally important for meShe said Those days the swimming pools were closed My duty those days was at a railway station I did not want to stop training so I would carry skipping ropes or a set of dumbbells with me and during my breaks I used to either lift dumbbells or do skipping to keep myself goingFor the competition the challenge included 38 km of swimming 180 km of biking and 42 km of running The challenge was to be completed in less than 17 hours However Deore took around 1424 hours to complete the task It was held in Kazakhstan on August 14 a day before India celebrated Independence DayThere were days when I had to do the duty as well as practice for the Ironman I could not afford to skip a days practice hence I used to choose a time for practice which would not affect my duty hours On weekdays there were times when I used to practice 45 hours and sometimes on weekends I used to practice for almost 12 hours During my practice my children never interrupted me and it helped me a lot to concentrate on my workoutsThe day the competition was to be held Deore caught fever after jumping into the pool as part of a practice session the water was extremely cold resulting in her being unwellShe said I had 102 fever when I woke up and was coughing The competition was to begin in the wee hours and I could not sleep the whole night since this was the day for two years I had been practicing I took medicine and left my hotel room for the competition I remember I was unwell but kept recalling the words of my sons Mom you have to win which gave me enough strength to keep going There were thousands of participants in the competition I jumped into the pool as part of the competition and was hit by someones leg that hurt my lip and eye However I kept going that moment was one of the toughest for meAfter completing the swimming task as part of the competition Deore began her cycling taskShe said I have loved cycling since my school days when I first bought the professional cycle I decided to name it Heerkali since I did not have a professional full time coach and I used to spend 68 hours cycling Heerkali helped me all the way to make it to the competition and to complete the Iron man way before the time allotted for the completion of the competitionAfter I realised I had completed the Ironman I broke into tears and kept weeping I was so happy that after all the struggle I had made it to being the first women from Maharashtra Police to complete the Ironman and now look forward to the Ultraman