Ironman ‘cowboy’ shares his life story

Ironman ‘cowboy’ James Lawrence, who holds the record of completing maximum ironman-distance triathlons in 50 consecutive days in each of the 50 American states, was in Ludhiana on Sunday to share his life story and deliver an inspirational talk for Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, Punjab.

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.22-mile marathon, raced in that order and without a break. James found his passion for triathlon racing and went on to break two world records within three years. He is married to Sunny Jo and is blessed with four daughters and one son.

During an exclusive interaction with Naina Mishra of The Tribune, James spoke about his fears, mental strength, resilience and family support in context with his journey of completing 50 marathons in 50 days and in 50 states.

‘Face your fears like a pro’

James said: “First, you have to know what your fears are and then break down the fears into small manageable tasks. You don’t wake up one day and realise that you are mentally strong. You have to practise it every single day. The biggest fear for me was letting down my family. I have five children and a wife. I never wanted to disappoint my daughters. My children did not have expectations from me, they would have loved me either way, but I wanted to set the best example of myself so that when they go through a hard time, they can look up to me and face their own fears.”

‘Triathlon to me was the best version of myself’

“To be the best version of yourself, you need to confront your fears and take these head-on. Triathlon is a lifestyle and I entered in it with my wife. Now, we get the opportunity to inspire people to become best versions of them. What drew me to the triathlon was the challenge to master three different sports,” he says.

‘Family evades self-doubt’

“There are always moments of self-doubt and your inner voice questions you why are you doing this? To counter that, you have family and teamwork. My family travelled with me for 50 days. I thought how cool would it be to return home and tell my kids that their father is in the top-5 and I biked even harder. My 12-year-old daughter kept presenting options whenever I thought of quitting. When I thought I can’t run, she asked me to crawl. That’s the way my journey became a success,” he said.

‘Mental strength shows up every day’

“To be mentally strong, you need to pick something really small that scares you and conquer that. You get better and better till the time you conquer all that scares you. This is a story of hope and showing up every single day. It is the most satisfying and difficult thing that I have done. On day 18, I fell asleep on my bike and crashed. My spirit was broken at that point. I fought through all injuries. Our mind is very powerful and we are even close to our mental capabilities,” he shares.

‘People called me a cowboy’

“I used to wear a hat, so that my children can spot me coming from a distance. That’s how people started calling me a cowboy,” James said.