Ironman Cozumel

Ironman Cozumel.

Ok so we're gonna rewind a few months here before a full race report.  I've been asked a lot how do you get ready for 30 Ironman races in a year and why do an Ironman 5 weeks before you are about to try and take on one of the hardest physical challenges of your life?  I consulted many local coaches and even ventured out of State for advice on the topic.  The typical answer I received in return was 'That's a tough one.... I've never had anyone ask me that before...'  Followed by a 'Good luck.'.  As a coach myself I didn't fully know the answer either.  Let's rewind....The purpose of Ironman Canada earlier this year was to practice my pacing for 2012.  I couldn't do this in a mock Ironman race, it had to be done in an actual event.  I needed to know how I would feel 7 days after a conservative effort in an IM event.  11 hour 45 minutes and 7 days later I felt awesome!  Like my practice pacing event needed to be in a real event, my prep needed to be for a real event - Cozumel.  My approach to 30 Ironman races was to prepare myself to do this one event to the best of my ability and forget about the 30.  In my mind if I could prepare myself for this one event at a faster pace (for me) then when I dial the intensity way back I could add in the volume of additional races, 30 of them.  Twelve months from now I will let you know if this rational still rings true.

My prep for Cozumel was perfect.  The goal of Ironman training is to improve your fitness, peak at the right time, remain injury free and stay in the good graces of your family and friends.  Success!  I feel that I managed to do all of these and at age 35 am in the best shape of my life.  I had a few of my athletes who were doing IM for their first time in Cozumel.  They continued to ask me what their goal times and expectations should be for the race?  We covered these but with a huge asterisk beside them.  ** You only get one shot to do your first IM, make sure you have fun and take a good memory with you for the rest of your life. **  I also told them that no matter how you slice it up that Ironman was a big long day and to hold back, stay under control and most important to be patient.  One of my biggest goals for this Ironman was to be patient, stick to the game plan and finish the run stronger than I started it.  I am happy to report I did all of these.

Thanks to Nick from www.TriJuice.com for the awesome picture

My times for the race were as follows:

Swim 1:07:5

Bike 5:21:41

Run 3:41:57

Total 10:19:04

TOTAL SWIM	3.8 km (1:07:56)	1:47/100m
BIKE SPLIT 1: 54 km	54 km (1:35:58)	33.76 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 2: 117 km	63 km (1:52:59)	33.46 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 3: 180 km	63 km (1:52:44)	33.53 km/h
TOTAL BIKE	180 km (5:21:41)	33.57 km/h
RUN SPLIT 1: 7.04 km	7.04 km (36:40)	5:12/km
RUN SPLIT 2: 20.96 km	13.92 km (1:13:36)	5:17/km
RUN SPLIT 3: 34.88 km	13.92 km (1:16:51)	5:31/km
RUN SPLIT 4: 42.4 km	7.52 km (34:50)	4:37/km
TOTAL RUN	42.4 km (3:41:57)	5:14/km

The reason I posted the results this way is because I wanted to illustrate that I hit my goals... not specific time goals but rather the goal of being patient and consistent.   If you notice the bike splits are very close to each other despite the winds picking up throughout the day.  The stats here that I am most happy with is my last run split in yellow and my final split in blue.  Although these are not fast run time I was very happy that my last 4.2 miles were my fastest on the day and that my average pace for the marathon was very close to my opening 4.2 miles.  Goals accomplished!

Sunny and I were both very excited for this trip and a huge thanks goes out to Grandma Lawrence and Great Grandma Lily for flying into Utah to play with our five kids in our absence.  Once the race hustle and bustle settled down Sunny and I didn't care if we just sat on the  beach in silence for a few days.  We arrived without any problems and was super happy with our choice of condo.  Right on the ocean with diving platform for our enjoyment, and boy did we ever enjoy that!  I was meeting several of my friends and athletes there but traveled and hung out with Ryan Grover for most of the week.  We found some nice local cuisine and called it a night.

Ryan Grover and Sunny Jo Mamma - it tasted as good as it looked.

 In the morning we went for a practice swim in the ocean and then met with Dan Frost to do a quick bike ride and view some of the bike course.  We checked out the swim start and transition area making sure we were familiar with the sites of the race.  The bike course seemed fast and flat.  This course could be easy or hard depending in the heat and winds.

Dan Frost "Frosty"

James Lawrence "Iron Cowboy"

Ryan Grover

We headed to race check in and located a few more of our friends.  Ironman Cozumel takes first place so far of all the races I have done for swag.  In our check in bags was a really nice cycling jacket - yes!  The day concluded at the athletes dinner that consisted of noodles, potatoes, chicken and of course Mexican tortillas!!

Fun friends relaxing pre race

Jess, James and Ryan

We did our shopping at a local mart called the MEGA.  One of the coolest features of this stores was the flat escalators.  We didn’t know why they were flat until we headed out of the store.  With the grocery portion of the store being on the seconds floor getting carts down would be a hazard unless they were MAGNETIC.  One of Sunny’s favorite moments of the day.

Look mom, no hands!

The day before Ironman should be very chill and relaxed.  All the hard work is done, bikes and transition bags are all checked in and now the waiting begins.  This was a perfect day for us as we relaxed, hit some shops and basically lounged around all afternoon.

I slept really good the night of the Ironman and woke up well rested and ready to take on the day.  We had arranged for several cab drivers to come pick us up in the morning and it is a good thing that we did cause only one of them showed up. 


There isn’t much to do Ironman morning but make sure you get your pre race nutrition right and set up any final things in transition like your tire pressure and in race nutrition on your bike.  I was very calm race morning knowing I had done the best prep I knew how. 

I wonder if we have enough water bottles - pre race check.

Sunny and James just finishing up a last minute swim.

The weather was looking perfect.  All the athletes filled into the water and waited anxiously for the swim to start.  Right before I was about to jump in the water I ran into Nick from Tri Juice (www.TriJuice.com) and he snapped a few nice picks and wished me luck on the day.  I was looking forward to the clear ocean swim and planned to sit on Keena’s feet for 2.4 miles.  She even painted her toes green for me so I could follow with ease.  As soon as the gun went off our little group was busted up amongst the chaos.  For those of you who have done a mass Ironman start you know what I am about to say.  And for those of you who have not done one, the horror stories are true (for the most part).  The gun goes off and the SH@$ storm started, it was nuts!!  I told myself I was going to have a repeat of my Canada experience and I was just going to go out nice and slow and nice and controlled.  All swim game plans went straight out the window as soon as I was elbowed in the face harder than any wrestling shot I had taken in the past.  Luckily for me the elbow landed dead square in the middle of my google lens and suctioned it all the way to my eye.  There was NO WAY I was stopping to fix this as I would have surely been trampled.  The good thing is that my goggles weren’t knocked off my face.  I battled hard and stayed in control for the first 400 meters of this swim and then just settled into a comfortable swim.  WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SWIM!!  The water was so clear you could see 100 meters in any direction.  I could see scuba divers sitting on the bottom of the ocean for the safety of the athletes.  In the last 200 meters of the swim I thought I had made it all the way through the race without being stung by any jelly fish the all of a sudden I must have swum through a small school of them cause I got stung about 20 times.  This is more annoying than anything else.

The swim start was nuts!!

"Big" John, James and Jess

A quick smooth transition sent me off onto the bike.  This ride started fast and my heart rate was low.  I thought to myself “Whoa, I could break 5 hours today.”  Then reality set in and the winds kicks up on the far side of the island.  This bike ride rivaled the swim in beauty - what a course.  I was riding staying in control when I looked up and I could see Keena just up ahead of me.  I knew she would beat me out of the water and I hoped I would catch her early in the ride.  She looked SO strong and we ended up riding most of the rest of the ride together (more on this later)  We hit the half way bags and they had lost Keena (this sucks), so I offered Keena some of my extra goodies I had on board.  A few miles down the road she accidentally dropped it.  I laughed and jokingly told she owed me $1.47.  He he.

Riding along the far side of the course .... taking on the winds.

Riding and enjoying the day with Keena

I posted very consisted splits on the 3 loop course.  I was really happy with this as the winds grew stronger as the day progressed.  I started to not feel super good and the stomach started to rumble..... so I threw up, twice.  Anyone who knows me will read this and say “yep, that’s what James does.... he throws up while racing”.  I have been in denial for a while but have come to the conclusion that this is one of the things I am pretty good at, throwing up while racing- just ask Scott Brown ;)  Sometimes my tummy gets just a little sick so I throw up and feel much better.  I know it’s gross but it works.

One or two.... or more than that are drafting off of me here....

The drafting I witnessed on this bike ride was some of the worst I have EVER seen.  I took some video and the race photographers captured some great pictures of these draft mobs.  I also witnessed one of the most horrific crashes I have seen first hand.  A female athlete clipped the tire of the guy in front of her and she proceeded to lead with her face all the way to the ground.  I don’t know how many people she took out as I caught it from the corner of my eye as I was passing the group.  I saw this girl later on the run gutting it out.... pretty impressive that she got back on her bike and finished the race, too bad she was drafting....

What's up boys.... yep that a chick (mind you a bad ass chick names Keena) you're all drafting off of.

I passed the last aid station grabbed some water and started to not feel good again.... I slowed up just a bit and threw up again - come on, no more puke!  This is where I lost Keena.  I didn’t see her the last 10 miles of the ride.  I thought she was behind me and really took her time at the aid station. 

I finished the bike course and was pretty happy with my conservative effort.  I felt I stayed in control and biked strictly off of my heart rate.  I didn’t care about speed or time.... just what my body as telling me.  I was me at T2 by athlete friend and coach David Warden who talked me through transition and cheered me on.  It is always so nice in an Ironman to see a friendly face.  Right out of transition I saw my awesome wife.  I forgot to take off my cycling short that I had over my tri shorts and stopped to talk to her and take off my shorts.  I told her that Keena was having a great race and is right behind me.  She laughed and said “Um.... Keena is ahead of you running already”  I giggled.  I must have missed her as I was throwing up for the final time on the bike. 

The weather was perfect on the bike with a nice warm sun and some good challenging winds.  The wind was blowing in all these perfect rain clouds for the run.  I’m not kidding it was perfect.  A nice rain started just a few miles into the run and rained on and off for the duration of my Ironman.  And when I say rain, I mean RAIN.  It poured for a bit. I was disappointed I had forgot my GoPro in my jersey, I would have been cool to show you the HUGE puddles of water we had to go through.  Some of the streets flooded during the run and water was up to our knees.  Most people slowed to a run but the kid came out in me and I had a blast running through these sections with high knees splashing water everywhere.  With the impossible task of keeping my feet dry I embraced the wetness and with my insoles slipping I removed them completely from my Altra shoes at around mile 5 and did the rest of the marathon without them.  That worked out great.

Loyal and dedicated wives.  Sunny Jo and Januari.  (not both my wives, just Sunny)

Rock'n the hat.

I caught Keena on the first of three laps of the run and immediately thought “Yes, a running partner”.  I knew Keena was going to be able to run it in with me and I was already getting myself ready for a sprint finish, (I was confident I could out kick her at the finish!).  After about 800 meters Keena just wasn’t feeling it and told me to enjoy the run and that she’d see me at the finish.  She ended up with a PR on the run and a new Ironman best.  Congrats to an awesome athlete, my wife’s hero!!!

My run continued at a steady pace and I felt pretty good.  I loved the 3 loop out and back course because it is an easy way to set small in race bench mark goals.  With so many friends out on the course it also allowed me to continually see so many friendly faces.  I was starting my final lap and came up on good friend and first time Ironman competitor Jess.  2 years ago he broke his back and was marked with a life of doing non athletic things.  So much for doctors being right... I just hate the limits doctors put on people.  Jess did an awesome job and finished strong just under 12 hours and 28 minutes. 

Catching Jess on the run.  Jess had a great race coming back from a broken back.

Ryan and Big John enjoyed the entire race together.  This is what your first Ironman should look like.  Congrats!

 It was awesome to see my two other good friends and athletes doing the run together with two of the biggest smiles I have ever seen.  I thought to myself,  “This is exactly how your first Ironman should be done!”  Way to go John Rose and Ryan Grover.

Going into the race one of my goals was to finish strong without the typical Ironman fade in the marathon.  As I rounded the final turn around I told myself, “Now you can go!”  It was on for the last 4.2 miles of my marathon.  I ran in with an average of 7:30 (fastest split of my marathon) and was so happy to be able to do this.  I saw my wife right before the finish and she gave me my signature cowboy hat for the finish!

With a big smile on my face I crossed the line in 10 hours 19 minutes and 4 seconds, a new personal best by 50 minutes!!  I wasn’t really hungry and blew through the finish area to go find Sunny and give her a big hug.  She was a huge support during my preparation for this race and the races to come for 2012.  She is a big part of my Ironman journey and I am happy to announce that she will become an IronWoman in St George in 2012.  I am super excited for her, she is going to kill it.

We headed to the grandstands and waited to see Keena, John, Ryan, Jess and others finish.  The finish line of an Ironman is incredible.  People have this look of pure joy and accomplishment on their faces.  Just look at the pictures below of Ryan and John, try to convince me these two guys aren’t as happy as can be!  Way to go guys!!!

The following few days were just awesome.  We just chilled and relaxed and enjoyed the island of Cozumel.  We decided to rent this scooter/car hybrid type of vehicle to travel around the island and see some of the historical sites.  Ryan named it Ricky, and it stuck!  We hit a museum that had all these really cool replicas of the ruin sites and historical landmarks from all of Mexico.  We also went to the biggest Mayan ruin site on Cozumel and walk amongst the ruins for several hours.  The rest of our time was spent swimming in the ocean, watching movies and enjoying the relaxing energy of Cozumel.

There was a snow storm in Denver and our airplane that was picking us up in Cozumel was delayed because of ice on the plane.  By the time we finally boarded the plane in Cozumel we were over an hour behind schedule.  When we landed in Denver we quickly realized that with customs we weren’t going to make our connecting flight home to SLC.  A full night in the airport was one thing I did not want to do.  To my incredible shock one of the coolest things happened.  I posted on Twitter that we were stranded and destined for a sleepless night with the night cleaners of the airport.  I received a tweet back from a stranger who offered to come and get us so we could sleep at their house!!  This quickly turned into a very difficult task with 3 big big boxes and luggage.  I was shocked with the nice offer and tried to settle in for the night.  About 20 minutes later I heard my name called over the loud speakers of the airport saying “Could James Lawrence please pick up the white courtesy phone.”  My first thought was my bike had been destroyed again but quickly realized I had my bike with me.  I picked up the phone and was told that a hotel had been booked for us and that a shuttle was waiting out front.  What an incredible act of kindness by my new friend Sonja.  We gathered our things and headed to the hotel for a great night sleep.  Thank you again!!  Oh and Sonja  is also super human.  She did the race in 10:00:33 seconds!  See you in Kona girl!!!!  You can follow her on twitter at gosonja !!

We arrived home to a houseful of smiling kids.  Thank you to all my awesome sponsors and friends who helped me get to this point of my journey.  Timp Cyclery did an awesome job getting my bike race ready - thanks Brian, Wes and Mark!! 


With only 5 weeks till my first Ironman of my journey towards 30, I am not sure what to do with myself..... James aka the Iron Cowboy!

So thankful I didn't have to try and sleep on these.  Thanks again Sonja!!!

DIRTY DASH 2011

OK OK I'M BACK FOR GOOD NOW.  We are reaching the 11th hour with the preparation for my 2012 journey of 30 full Ironman races in a single year.  The current world record is 20.... it is almost time to blow that bad boy out of the water!!  I have been training hard and recently finished Ironman Canada.  I have a video all ready to post as a race review.... coming soon (sorry for the delay).  Today I have a different video for you.... yesterday Sunny and I with a few friends tackled a fun day of racing in the mud.  Before the events Jess, Ryan, John, Heath and I rode a fun 70 miles.  This ride consisted of 5 flat tires and broken spoke, but we had a great ride!  After the ride we embarked on a muddy adventure called the DIRTY DASH!  Hope you enjoy the video as much as we did racing.  We ended up coming in 2nd place for the corporate cup as members of the XO Skins team.  This was a shock to us as all we did was play in the mud!

Boise 70.3 Race Report - 2011

Oh man this was a good one!  Since Florida 70.3 I have really taken it easy and just allowed my body to take in the training I have done to this point.  Florida and Boise were stepping stones for my bigger goals of Ironman Canada and Ironman Cozumel (my true 'A' race for the season).

Boise is always a highlight of the year as we have a ton of athletes from Utah that do this event; everywhere you turn is a friend.  We packed the car with 7 people and 6 bikes.  It took some serious skill but we got it all in there.  We went up on Thursday to have an extra day to get all checked in and just relax.

For dinner we went to a friends restaurant and ate some incredible Mediterranean food!  Thank you so much Sam!  We woke up whenever we wanted and drove the course for the new athletes in the group to preview.  This is always a great thing to do if you have time.  Previewing the course is always different then simple looking over the PDF profiles and elevation charts online.  We drove up to lucky peak (swim start) and did a quick ride to make sure all systems were a go mechanically.... and good thing I did cause my rear wheel was set too close to my frame and rubbing - not good!  I fixed the issue and checked all the bikes into the transition area.  We headed down to the water to see if it was really as cold as they said it was.... the race people said the water temp was 53 but the ranger said it was 47 degrees.  I stood in it up to my knees for 30 seconds and I couldn't tell the difference between the two, either way it was stinking cold.

It has started to become a tradition to go to a matinee after all race stuff is done.  We went straight from our pre-race bike ride to the theater and this was my first movie experience in Spandex.  We got many strange looks.... good thing I had shaved my legs!

Boise is a unique race on the circuit with a 12 noon race start.  It is always bizarre to not set an alarm for race day and just allow our bodies to wake up when they wake up.  The tricky part of a 12 noon start is getting your nutrition right leading up to the race start.  I showed up to transition and discovered that my rear tire had gone flat.  I headed over to the bike tent and did a quick tire change.  As I was pumping up the new tire I hear a loud BANG!  I looked around and asked in shock "was that my tube?"  Sure enough, I blew out the new tube; however the techs there were kind enough to give me another one.  I did a thorough inspection of the tire to see what the cause of the tube destruction was... I used some duct tape on a section where the blowouts were happening and had high hopes I would be ok on the ride.  Thanks to Sunny, she gave me her spare tube so that I would have one on my ride!

I jumped into the water and it instantly took my breath away.  It took about 2-3 hundred meters before I really settled into a rhythm.  The swim was a big triangle and the strange part was on the 2nd and final turn the water temp dropped.  A random pocket of even colder water.  Brrrrrrr.

I got out of the water stopped my watch and saw 34 flat! Yes... Then I thought, I am not out of the race yet!  My good friend David Warden came out of the water right in front of me and I remember thinking YES! I now get to do the bike ride with a buddy, its going to be a fun day!  As David excited transition he forgot he had installed a new hydration system on the back of his seat.  He attempted to do his traditional 'flying mount' and slammed his leg into his water bottle and crashed to the ground.  I ran out of transition with my bike as David gathered himself thinking to myself "What the hell is he doing",  I fully expected David to ride up behind me within the first few miles of the bike.... but nothing.  I biked hard and had a great time on this challenging course.  With this bike course the middle section had some good climbs and rolling hills.  It was fun to see all my friends and athletes on the course. 

The game plan was for me to catch one of my athletes and training partners Kyle Woodruff at mile 50 of the bike.  He started 12 minutes ahead of me with the staggered swim wave starts.  I joined the party a few miles early and made it up to Kyle at mile 48.  We chatted for a  minute and assessed how his race was going.  He was doing pretty good and was sticking to the game plan we laid out for him.  I ended up biking a 2:26. 

We came into T2 together and headed out on the run.  The race was unfolding perfect for me.  I was now going to run with my favorite training partner, the perfect guy to pace me.  Just after mile 1 we pulled off into the bushes and took some relief.  As I am wrapping things up I hear David yell, ''come on James let's go!"  Kyle and I took off to try to join David.  We were running a 6:40 pace not closing any distance on him.  David is a sprint specialist and a damn good athlete.  I turned to Kyle and said we'll get him...he can't hold that pace for 13 miles.  By mile 8 I could no longer see David and things started to go way wrong for me.  My stomach started to turn and I ended up throwing up all over the course.  Here is the good news, I am a mental giant... I managed to keep stride while throwing up and not pull off to the side of the course.  After the race my friend Scotty Brown said, "That was impressive, throwing up right in stride"! Even though I don't remember parts of the second lap I just kept my head down and was able to maintain a 7:45 average. At one point of the run I remember yelling to Kyle that I hate triathlons and my mind was trying to figure out how to get out of my 2012 world record attempt.

I remember crossing the finish line and then the rest is a blur.  Kyles 'claims' he talked to me at the finish but I just don't remember that.  I do remember being really concerned that I wasn't going to get my race finisher hat and medal... my 22 others back home just aren't enough!  They took me to medical and things got slightly worse there.  Initially they weren't going to give me an IV;  they wanted to see if I could hold down liquid orally.  I took in some liquid and within minutes threw it all up.  They called for an IV and hooked my up.  I remember John Rose coming in to make sure I was ok.  Afterwards he told me that I was completely out of it, shaking all over.  Kyle came in when I was laying face down with four people trying to straighten my legs out.  All this is super strange to me as I can not figure out what happened.  I know my nutrition, I know this distance.... it is still a mystery.  Some days our bodies just refuse to cooperate and there isn't a darn thing we can do about it.  I felt fine after about an hour and then they released me to the massage people. 

I ended up running a 1:41 (7:45 average) and finished with a finish time of 4:46!  Still a pretty good time considering the second part of my run is a complete blur.  Huge congrats to a few of our peeps who nailed their goals and reached some personal bests; 

Sunny Jo Mamma broke 6 hours for the first time!!!! 
Brad Hess broke 6 hours for the first time!!!!
Kyle Woodruff broke 5 hours for the first time!!!!
Big John Rose nailed it and hit his goal of 4:52!!!!

The most impressive performance of the day goes to David Warden in my mind.  He has literally trained his body to do sprints at an Elite level.  His longest brick was 2.5 hours back in 2006.  He decided to sign up last minute for the Boise race and KILLED it.  He ended up running a 1:29 on the run with a total finish time of 4:35.  David ran into 6th place in the division claiming the last and final world age group spot.  Last week after David "worked me" on the run in big local sprint race, I told everyone that I would "work him" if we ever toed the line in a half.  David I am sorry - you sir are a damn beast and an great athlete!  Congrats and go get em' in Vegas - I will be there to cheer you on!!!!

Even after setting the world record last year and learning all the lesson I learned.... there is still so much that goes into half Ironman and full Ironman racing.  These distances are no joke.  I love the sport and will continue to learn and grow. After the feelings I had today I wonder how am I going to do 30 full Ironman races in 2012?  Is this something I can really do....?'

Orlando Florida 70.3

It feels so good to be back racing. I haven't posted anything in a while but rest assured I have been hard at work training and putting together the logistics for my 2012 World Record breaking journey of 30 full ironman races on 6 continents and through 15 countries. QuietWay has also been hard at work fine tuning everything they are doing and really getting a pulse of what is going to be the best and most effective approach going forward. I am excited to see things unfold for 2012 both with racing and helping people in all parts of the world.

After I finished my journey in 2010 I was tired but extremely satisfied. I learned so much about myself, others and racing. I love triathlon so much! I just want to share everything I know with as many people as possible. We are in the process of putting together our new platform for 2012 and it will be www.TriDiaries.com. I chose this name because regardless of where you are on your triathlon journey we all have our different reason, motivations and experiences.

One thing that shocked me after I finished last year was a few peoples' comments when I would explain to them what I had just done. A few of them looked at my times and said "oh I could have done that." ..... but you didn't!

Yes, my times were not the fastest, but I was doing a half ironman on average every nine days... one guy said to me just last weekend that it would be easy to recover weekly from an Ironman and that 30 events in 2012 should be easy....he is wrong and I am terrified!!!

Anyway, I'll stop ranting and give you my Orlando 70.3 race review. I feel that my journey in 2010 created a base that is sufficient and that this year I will really focus on speed and try to qualify for Kona! I will do this late this year in Cozumel. In doing this, I can include the world championship in my schedule for 2012. I would take the charity spot if they offered it to me, but I really want to earn it. I got really frustrated this year when I heard that Tara from the Biggest Loser will be doing this race in 2011.. What?! Really?! She has no place at the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.... let her into a different ironman... so frustrating.. I'm ranting again sorry.

I could have chosen any 70.3 race as preparation but really enjoyed the Orlando race from last year... let's not get this race confused with Miami which was a disaster. I thought that course suited my strength (which is the bike) and also I worked really hard in my run over the winter to become more competitive.

Kyle Woodruff (one of my athletes and a stud) and I left Friday morning and had no issues with travel. We packed up our bikes a week early and sent them to our gracious home stay in Orlando via FedEx. One of the reasons I picked Orlando is due to the nice weather this time of year (I don't like to bike in the wind).

THE DAY BEFORE THE RACE-

We woke up whenever our bodies woke up and did our final workouts. This consisted of a 20 min ride and a 10 min run with a few accelerations. I am SO GLAD I did this short ride..... why you ask? Well, when I put my bike together from shipping it I FORGOT to tighten one bolt on the headset! On this ride, I nearly took myself out for the weekend! On one of the corners my bars went sideways; luckily I stayed upright and fixed the issue - whew!

Check in was smooth and the afternoon was spent off our feet in an air conditioned movie theater in Disney World. I felt really recovered and ready to go! Last year I didn't get to recover much and it was interesting for me to go through a full 2 week taper for this race. Early to bed!

RACE DAY!

Standing under the shelter trying to stay warm dry and not be electrocuted.

Men's pro start.

 It had been raining for 2 days but the trend has been clear in the mornings and then late morning showers. This would be perfect conditions for the race I thought. When we woke up I could HEAR the wind and about every 5 minutes the house would light up from the sheets of lightning. The boom of the thunder was border line scary... There is no way they are letting us in the water this morning.... or so I thought.

We arrived at Disney World and headed to the shuttles in the rain. All of a sudden BOOM! The parking lot was struck with a nice bolt and all the lights in the Disney parking lot went down, NO WAY we are swimming this morning.... or so I thought. As we were getting our gear ready in T1 the race announcer kept saying "we are still good for an on time swim start" I thought he must be blind and deaf.... the lightning was bright and the thunder and loud.

Kyle getting body marked in the rain.

They ended up delaying the start by half an hour as the WINDS pushed the storm system through the area. Sure enough we were going to swim! The water was 82 degrees so no wetsuits ;) I had been working on my swim and felt really good throughout. I KNEW when I stood up at the swim exit I was going to see 31 minutes.... alas my watch said 36... ah crap! My favorite thing to hear everyone say when looking at open water swim times... "it must have been long;)"

This right here is why we race.... lol!!

I had a bet with my friend Kyle that I would beat him in both transitions to help him get on his horse in T1 and T2... this also motivated me to bust it through... so when I got out of the water it was a dead sprint all the way up and through the massive transition area. There were over 2300 athletes, making this is a big area to corral all the bikes. When I was grabbed my bike off of the rack I snagged my transition bag and dragged it 10 or so feet. To make this as quick as possible, to beat Kyle remember, I ended up dropping my bike, grabbing my bag and throwing it back to my transition spot (this is important to remember for later on in this post).

I headed out onto the bike and felt great (mostly because I didn't swim hard). Remember the winds that blew the weather system through... well, they were still hanging around outside on the bike course. The winds for the duration of the bike were 17 miles an hour... grrr. The good news is that we all had to deal with it. Being a smart athlete, (pat myself on the back) I quickly re-adjusted my bike goal time based on current weather conditions. Trying to reach my original goal would have fried my legs and ultimately really cost me on the run.

I do love the bike part of this race... I should smile more.

One of the biggest mistakes athletes make is the inability to stick to a game plan. I guess the first mistake is that most don't create and write out a game plan. One of my biggest goals for this race was to stick to my game plan and stay within my abilities. I wanted to race myself and not the others around me.

Sure felt like I was running fast....

I broke the bike ride into sections depending on the wind and adjusted my goals throughout the ride. I stayed within my abilities and had a great ride. I have been practicing with a few different nutrition products. I really liked what my nutrition plan was for this race. I will do a follow up blog going over race day nutrition. The temperature on the bike was perfect and stayed overcast keeping the heat down. I came into transition over my original goal, but was very happy with the effort. I am thrilled to say that my bike is much stronger due to the power training I designed for myself over the winter.

I rushed through T2, keeping in mind the bet I had with Kyle... this post race meal was gonna be good and free! I arrived at my transition spot and my stuff was scattered all over due to the bag toss I did earlier in the day. I was smart and put my socks in a zip lock bag so I would have nice dry socks for the run.... the bad part is that when I threw my bad back to it's spot it tossed my socks who knows where.... with the dinner bet still on the brain I threw caution to the wind and put on my run shoes...without socks.... a decision that I regret still to this day!

I took off running and felt great. My winter prep seems to be paying off. Orlando is a three lap race (which I also really like). It allows me to break the run portion of the race into three distinct sections and also is great to see friendly smiling faces after each lap. My good friend Tyrell had made the trip to support Kyle and me, in addition was able to take some photos. I went out at a 7 min mile pace and just wanted to maintain this pace. For the first time in a race I took a race fuel belt and raced the run portion of the race with my nutrition not relying on the aid stations to dictate when I was ready to take in fuel. I really liked this and felt it helped me have a consistent run. The sun was now out and heating up.

Ride done - off to the run!

One of the many lessons I learned from last year was how to race in the heat. Salt pills are an absolute must and you need to be taking them consistently throughout the race. In most cases, people try to fix this issue when it is simply too late in the race. Many people around me were cramping up and ultimately had resorted to walking. I found out after the race that Kyle had fallen over on the race course at mile 2 due to his quads completely tightening up and cramping. He spent 20 minutes on the ground getting his legs worked on and taking in sodium and potassium. The stud manned up and finished the last 11 miles of the run, but it ultimately cost him his race! A hard but very valuable lesson for Kyle to learn.

Lap three - holding strong.

I started to feel the effects of the race starting the third lap of the run but stayed mentally tough pulling from my past experiences and tough training days. I managed to negative split the race finishing with a personal best time on the run and overall for the race.

Is anyone else hot.....?

I was most proud of the fact that I STUCK to my game plan and despite a hard bike ride was strong enough to execute a great run. Despite my best efforts I missed qualifying for the 70.3 world championships. The competition is fierce and I will just have to work hard. I managed a top 3% finish overall! I am very happy with that! Ultimately my A race is later this year in Cozumel and all the races leading up to that one are to gain experience, practice in race conditions and prepare myself to qualify for Kona. I am very pleased with this race and will use it as a stepping stone. I will be racing in Boise in 2 weeks to give 70.3 worlds another shot.

One of the worst post race massages ever.

Finishing standing upright is always a great day!

James Lawrence