Diabetes pushes Bengaluru youth to his physical limits

Bengaluru: Aditya was diagnosed with borderline diabetes when he was 19 and by 24 he had uncontrolled diabetes. But this didn't stop 30-year Aditya Mendonca to lose from joining the Ironman triathlon- a combination of swimming, running and cycling.

Currently, he is training for the half Ironman Turkey on October 31st which comprises of 9-km swim, 90-km cycling, and 21-km running race, adding up to 70.3 miles. Owing to the expensive nature of the sport, he decided to crowdfund his race and it has crossed Rs 2.6 lakh as of now.

Aditya is being coached by Vinay Basavaraj who is breaststroke champion with an unbroken record for 20 years. He trained remotely and scheduled 2 days of swimming, running and cycling coupled with gym sessions in the evening. He trains for 50-60 hours a week, with at least 4 hours a day. He wants to change the notion that diabetics must not take part in exerting activities and lead a less-fulfilling life.

"Typically, after eating food, we tend to sit somewhere and relax, But our forefathers would walk for a while after meals. This sedentary lifestyle is responsible for younger people becoming diabetic," said Aditya. He added that Mouth-watering food offers by Swiggy and Zomato are also leading to consumption of junk food and a lethargic body. Until Aditya was diagnosed, he also followed this lifestyle which is more prominent in urban cities.

When he was suddenly faced with the sudden decision to lead a healthy lifestyle, he turned to the gym like any other person. But, soon the routine of a gym began to seem dull and drab. That's when he heard about the swimming school in Ulsoor run by an Olympian. Instantly, he was hooked on to the sport. "From there I began to push my limits, I would try to do 1 km really fast," said Aditya. Pushing his limits further, he began to compete in the local lake out water swimming races outside Mysore. He signed up for the race and completed 28 out of 200 participants. This made Aditya develop competitiveness for the sport as up until then for him it was just about participating and not winning. Soon, he picked up cycling and running in 2019. Though he is not a big fan of running and is of the contention that running is a boring sport, he says that running might be exhausting but you feel good at the end of it.

In 2019, he heard about the triathlon where he could exert his body to new limits in three sports. He also heard about how several diabetics were using this platform to keep the sugar levels in check. Talking about the need to personalise your routine, he added "Once you are diagnosed with any lifestyle disease, you go to a doctor and you follow it for 90 days and then ignore it completely" said Aditya. Patients end up spending so much money on doctor consultations and medicines, it takes away life's little joys from them.

He also realised that there is not enough veritable information online and there was a need to create more awareness. He began to use the hashtag diabetic triathlon to spread the right kind of information on Type 2 diabetes.

After participating in a couple of triathlons in India, he became a triathlon junkie.

But jolting himself out of his sedentary lifestyle was not a sudden change. He began to make minor changes to his lifestyle like walking 60 mins in the morning and evening to get his body energised. He also worked with a nutritionist and began to experiment with routines that led to a healthy lifestyle. he would keep an alarm for every 45 mins and walk around. This was a bit counter-productive but it forced him to hydrate himself and get the required break from devices. " I connected with online platform Strava and began to connect with a virtual community of sports enthusiasts who encouraged him to try new challenges," said Aditya.

But this has not been an easy journey for Aditya. As a Type 2 diabetic person, he has to constantly monitor his glucose levels. He uses a unique device that allows him to wirelessly monitor his glucose levels. In addition to the cost of his expensive medicines, taking part in such sports involves spending close to 1 lakh rupees. The training for triathlon itself is painfully expensive. You are practising for three different sports and you need to use three different sports facilities as well, added Aditya. Procuring the right kind of cycle also becomes a costly deal as good cycles have to be imported. You also need wearable devices to track your time and distance in different sports which adds to the cost. Diabetic triathletes Training for a triathlon can also lead to pain in the knee and the back requiring physiotherapies keeps adding onto the variable cost.

Aditya was also a victim to and run in Bengaluru this year. As an Active Mobility Councilor, Aditya Mendoca says that cycle lanes keep cyclists safe but it is not possible to implement them everywhere. "Unlike in developed countries, cities in India are not been designed to accommodate cycle lanes in every part of the city" he added.

After Turkey, the diabetic triathlete will be competing in the Herculean Triathlon in Odisha in 2022 and Dubai Ironman in 2022.