Order of Man - 092： 50 Ironmans in 50 States in 50 Days ｜ James Lawrence

00:00:00.000 50 Ironmans in 50 states in 50 days.

00:00:02.880 This is what my guest, James Ironcowboy Lawrence, set out to do.

00:00:06.000 Everybody said it was impossible.

00:00:07.320 Nobody thought it could be done, and he disagreed.

00:00:09.500 And in 2015, James set out for the impossible,

00:00:12.480 and 50 days later completed what he set out to do

00:00:14.580 in the face of overwhelming odds, physical damage, mental exhaustion,

00:00:18.780 and obstacle after obstacle to overcome.

00:00:21.040 Today, he shares that journey.

00:00:23.140 You're a man of action.

00:00:24.480 You live life to the fullest.

00:00:25.980 Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:00:28.660 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:00:33.380 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.

00:00:38.420 This is your life.

00:00:39.540 This is who you are.

00:00:40.940 This is who you will become.

00:00:42.660 At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,

00:00:45.700 you can call yourself a man.

00:00:47.940 Men, what is going on today?

00:00:49.060 My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the host and the founder of Order of Man.

00:00:52.120 I want to welcome you today.

00:00:53.360 Whether you've been listening to this show for the last year and a half,

00:00:56.100 which sounds strange to say that we've been going on that long,

00:00:59.020 or if this is your first time visiting.

00:01:00.820 Either way, you are about to listen to the manliest podcast available.

00:01:04.720 We cover everything that you want to know about,

00:01:07.220 from discipline and fitness and nutrition, leadership, communication, psychology,

00:01:12.140 wealth building, self-defense, just about every other topic that is important to you.

00:01:16.300 Now, I've got a great one lined up for you today, as I always do.

00:01:19.140 Now, in all fairness to you, though, I wasn't completely prepared for the interview today.

00:01:24.360 I had the opportunity to interview my guest, James Iron Cowboy Lawrence, on short notice.

00:01:28.920 He came highly recommended from one of our members, so I jumped at the chance to interview him.

00:01:33.020 And when I talked to him, I didn't even know that he had completed this amazing feat that we get into today.

00:01:38.320 So I'm going to be learning about this man and his huge accomplishments the same time that you are.

00:01:43.640 So you're going to hear that in my voice.

00:01:44.660 Now, before I introduce you to him even further,

00:01:47.340 I do want to let you know that you can get the links for this show,

00:01:50.700 all the show notes, at orderofman.com slash 092.

00:01:54.280 And also, make sure you join our closed Facebook group.

00:01:56.960 Guys, I think we just hit 13,000 members in that group today,

00:02:00.600 and we are having some amazing, some incredible conversations about what it means to be a man

00:02:05.020 and how you and I can be better ones.

00:02:07.040 So you can check that out at facebook.com slash groups slash orderofman.

00:02:10.940 And third, this is the important one, guys.

00:02:12.940 Make sure that you check out our Elite Mastermind.

00:02:15.740 I just had four guys sign up yesterday.

00:02:17.780 This is called the Iron Council.

00:02:19.140 And this is a group of men who are working each and every day on becoming the better men that we talk about.

00:02:25.460 I'm going to give you some more details during the break.

00:02:27.100 But until then, I want you to know the Iron Council is all about giving you the tools,

00:02:31.960 the direction, the guidance, the discipline, everything that you need,

00:02:34.660 the accountability to achieve at high levels in your life.

00:02:37.680 So if you're interested, you can go to orderofman.com slash ironcouncil to learn more.

00:02:42.320 But in the meantime, let me introduce you to my guest today, James Iron Cowboy Lawrence.

00:02:46.060 James is an endurance athlete, a Guinness World Record holder for his amazing ability and skill in the triathlon,

00:02:51.400 and specifically Ironman races.

00:02:53.060 I've been blown away with his record-setting races.

00:02:55.180 So again, I jumped, guys, at the opportunity to interview him without knowing all that he's accomplished.

00:02:59.380 But after talking with James and learning more about him,

00:03:02.260 I can say that what he set out to do is arguably the greatest endurance feat any man has ever accomplished.

00:03:09.520 It's actually difficult to fathom for me what he even accomplished,

00:03:12.860 and I'm honored that he would come on the show to talk about it with you and me.

00:03:16.120 So sit back, listen in as I talk with the Iron Cowboy about his feat,

00:03:19.620 the mental hurdles that he's had to overcome, how to deal with negativity and criticism,

00:03:23.920 and how you can take the lessons he learned and actually apply them in your life.

00:03:27.520 James, what's going on, man? Thanks for joining me on the show today.

00:03:31.700 You betcha.

00:03:33.040 So we jump right into the show.

00:03:34.860 I want to ask you about this event that you did, which is obviously an incredible feat,

00:03:40.120 and that is the 50-50-50.

00:03:41.900 Just tell me and the listeners what this even is,

00:03:44.220 and so we can wrap our head around what we're going to talk about today.

00:03:46.900 Okay, so most people have heard or know what an Ironman is,

00:03:49.820 and an Ironman is a triathlon.

00:03:52.500 It's the longest distance in the triathlon family or the longest common distance.

00:03:58.260 So it's a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride

00:04:02.760 and then wraps up with a 26.2-marathon run.

00:04:06.960 And I set out to challenge myself to see if I could do 50 consecutive Ironmans,

00:04:15.120 one in every state.

00:04:17.140 And so, yeah, that's what the tri-50 challenge is.

00:04:19.700 Yeah, and so when you say consecutive, you've done these one every day for 50 days in a different state.

00:04:25.140 Yeah, yeah.

00:04:25.820 So you can imagine the logistics are insane.

00:04:28.280 Oh, I'm sure.

00:04:29.040 Just to travel and keep a caravan and keep the momentum going between just 50 states

00:04:36.440 and let alone to do a 12- to 14-hour physical activity

00:04:40.120 and then make everything around that work was challenging.

00:04:44.700 What did your team look like as you were doing this?

00:04:46.480 We didn't realize how chaotic and how crazy the summer was going to be.

00:04:52.160 And so we started with a much smaller group that we needed.

00:04:56.840 But it was myself, my wife, and my five kids came along with me in the motorhome.

00:05:02.060 And then we had a small film crew.

00:05:03.860 I had two wingmen, Casey and Aaron.

00:05:05.920 They were with me full time.

00:05:06.880 And then we had a doctor, my chiropractor, and a massage person that came in and out. 0.62

00:05:14.440 But our shell crew was just me, my wife, two wingmen, and a couple other helping hands.

00:05:20.400 Man, that's it.

00:05:20.920 When you say wingmen, what are you referring to?

00:05:23.600 Just two guys that I convinced to take the summer off and come basically be my right-hand men.

00:05:30.760 And they did everything.

00:05:32.580 So people don't really – people that even know the full story can't appreciate what these two guys did.

00:05:40.100 I mean they came out and their responsibility was to make sure that I had everything I needed during the day.

00:05:45.820 And then just with all the chaos and everything of planning, also their job was to drive me through the night to get me to the next state.

00:05:53.300 And so they – these two studs, they went 50 consecutive days with literally no day or no night, just naps, 15, 20, 30-minute naps whenever they could get it in.

00:06:05.020 And I mean you've probably driven – done an all-night driving thing and it gets tired and challenging.

00:06:10.840 Imagine doing that for 50 consecutive days and you can't take the next day off.

00:06:15.000 I mean you got to go to work.

00:06:16.540 How did you get these guys to do this?

00:06:17.880 Because we talk a lot about influence on the show and obviously you're somebody who's very influential.

00:06:22.200 You had to raise funds and everything else to do this event.

00:06:24.660 And then you've got these guys who have committed a month and a half of their life towards you and what you want to accomplish.

00:06:29.800 How do you convince these guys to do this with you?

00:06:32.140 Yeah.

00:06:32.400 I mean I think just the allure of adventure and very few people thought it was possible and these two guys were one that backed me 100 percent.

00:06:41.640 And they saw the value in being part of history because we ultimately did go on and complete the 50 Ironmans, which every single person, including sponsors that came on board with us, said it was impossible.

00:06:56.260 But they wanted to see just how far I could make it.

00:06:59.100 And so I mean I think it was the allure of adventure, of being part of history, being part of something special.

00:07:06.360 I mean I convinced Aaron to quit his job and Casey.

00:07:10.420 I mean he had a small family.

00:07:12.520 He's a second grade school teacher, so he had the luxury of having the summer off.

00:07:15.520 But I still had to convince them to come with me and go away from their family.

00:07:20.360 And then they really didn't get anything out of it.

00:07:23.040 I mean for me there was a big play.

00:07:24.480 There was charity.

00:07:25.860 There was pushing my mind and my body.

00:07:27.320 There was financial benefits from it.

00:07:29.680 But I mean these two guys, it was just straight up sacrifice and for the love of the sport and adventure.

00:07:35.680 Yeah, that's incredible.

00:07:36.560 So why did you set out to do this?

00:07:38.000 Because there's a lot of things that you could have done and obviously you've done things in the past that have pushed yourself.

00:07:42.500 Why this ambitious?

00:07:44.080 Why this particular event?

00:07:45.820 What was it about this that drove you and got you doing this?

00:07:48.980 You know, I coach full time and I have conversations with my athletes all the time.

00:07:53.940 And one in particular that was recent was I have an athlete that's been working towards the world championships for about five years now.

00:08:01.540 And two weeks ago in Cozumel, he finally punched that ticket and got his spot to the world championships in Kona, Hawaii.

00:08:08.000 Very cool.

00:08:08.980 Just a massive accomplishment in the sport with how competitive it's gotten.

00:08:12.800 And, you know, people kind of write that off as genetics or, you know, you just had a good race or you worked hard the last six months.

00:08:22.060 And they didn't see the five years that he sacrificed and everything to get to that point.

00:08:27.000 I mean, it's called hard work and sacrifice and discipline and all those cliche words that get thrown around but are rarely applied.

00:08:34.340 And so for me, you know, I didn't wake up and go, you know what, let's go do 50 Ironmans in 50 days.

00:08:39.760 I think I'm mentally and physically and spiritually ready to do that.

00:08:43.600 What people don't see is the decade prior to where me and my wife, my family, we really went on a journey and we did a lot of things right along the way.

00:08:53.880 And we paid attention to the smallest of details.

00:08:56.960 And in 2010, you know, I broke the world record for half Ironmans, which set me up for 2012 to break the world record for the most full Ironmans in a year.

00:09:06.500 And so the progression was, okay, let's see how far we can push consecutive Ironmans.

00:09:12.380 And the standard at the time of consecutive was five, five in a row.

00:09:17.120 And so there's a race in Hawaii called the Epic Five.

00:09:19.820 I mean, it's so impressive.

00:09:21.720 They put the word epic in front of it.

00:09:23.580 And this is what, Rich Roll did this, correct?

00:09:26.440 Rich Roll attempted this.

00:09:27.760 Oh, he attempted, okay.

00:09:28.720 And he had some logistical problems and he ended up doing the five Ironmans in seven days.

00:09:34.620 And so when I was on the Rich Roll podcast before, he was like, okay, James, craziest thing I've ever heard of.

00:09:41.880 I believe, okay, let's just say physically and mentally you can do it.

00:09:46.620 I ran into mechanical problems over five days.

00:09:49.980 You're definitely going to run into mechanical, logistical, whatever they call it, things that are outside of your control over a 50-day period.

00:09:59.140 And I almost took insult to that because people would always say, oh, if anybody can do it, it's James.

00:10:06.300 But he's going to run into something outside of his control.

00:10:09.080 And to me, that's the first excuse that people come up with to do anything.

00:10:13.740 It means they're not willing to be creative and adjust their flow towards the goal or destination.

00:10:21.460 Their mindset is far too rigid.

00:10:23.960 And so to me, it was insulting that people said, okay, it's something that's going to be outside of your control.

00:10:28.740 Nothing is truly outside of your control.

00:10:31.160 Yes, events happen to us.

00:10:33.460 And those events we can't control, but it's the huger portion of the opposite and the other side of it is how we choose to deal with that event that happened to us and how we navigate it.

00:10:45.140 And I think more often than not, people go, oh, that happened outside of my control.

00:10:48.660 I'm quitting.

00:10:49.320 Right.

00:10:49.480 Wash your hands. 0.95

00:10:50.060 I'm done.

00:10:50.380 I can't do anything about it.

00:10:51.340 I can't do anything about it.

00:10:52.560 And you can shock it up to its life.

00:10:55.020 That's just what happens.

00:10:55.880 And to me, that's just the easy excuse and way out.

00:10:59.020 No, find a reason.

00:10:59.960 And as a crew, that was so unbelievable with my wife and the two wingmen is they were geniuses in my mind on how to problem solve.

00:11:08.280 And there was never a scenario or a situation where these guys would go, oh, yep, can't figure that out.

00:11:14.320 It was like, okay, what are our top five ways to get around this?

00:11:18.140 And let's start with the one that's hopefully going to get us there the quickest.

00:11:21.520 If that doesn't work, let's go to the next one, next one, next one.

00:11:23.640 Until every single time.

00:11:25.020 And we were dealing with an obstacle.

00:11:27.580 And I'm not talking small obstacles.

00:11:29.020 We're talking like mountains to climb every single day in order to keep this moving.

00:11:33.460 And these guys found a way every single day behind the scenes.

00:11:37.660 I mean, they had to shelter me from so much.

00:11:39.260 But behind the scenes, they were doing what it took in order to make this thing keep going.

00:11:44.160 Yeah.

00:11:44.280 I mean, it just sounds unbelievable what they've done and what you have done.

00:11:48.040 What did it feel like, not necessarily leading up to the event, but as you were actually embarking, like literally I'm going to start this race.

00:11:55.940 What's going through your mind at this point?

00:11:57.540 You know, there's just so much excitement and energy built up.

00:12:01.820 Because when your mind perceives that you're ready to do a 50-day challenge, the first third of it or half of it should be a breeze.

00:12:11.560 And so, you know, we were brimming with confidence and naively so, which I think was a blessing at this point.

00:12:18.460 Because had we known the reality to it, obviously we would have never tackled something like it.

00:12:23.240 But I think we were just so excited with what the future meant.

00:12:28.360 And we knew what our goal or destination was.

00:12:30.520 And I think we were just all so open to the adventure and allowing it to unfold.

00:12:35.200 And we were up against the challenge.

00:12:36.540 There was so much hatred and negativity towards what we were trying to accomplish because it was so big that I think we kind of got together as a crew and decided, okay, look, let's channel all of our energy and focus on things that we can control.

00:12:49.740 Well, let's not go out and try to prove everybody wrong today or over this next 50 days.

00:12:54.940 Let's go out and prove ourselves right.

00:12:57.160 Interesting.

00:12:57.740 Yeah, I really like this perspective on focusing internally because like you said, that is something that you can control.

00:13:03.360 What did you do to tactically block out some of the negativity and the naysayers?

00:13:07.580 Because I'm sure when it came to sponsors and raising funds and even when you fell into situations that would have been difficult, I'm sure there might have even been to some degree people excited to see that maybe you were about to fail.

00:13:19.880 I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm curious about that perspective.

00:13:23.340 Oh, no.

00:13:24.000 I mean social media went crazy.

00:13:25.500 We just released a documentary two weeks ago and anybody that wants to see it, it's on Vimeo.

00:13:31.620 It's only I think $6, $7 to rent it and you can watch it, stream it on any of your devices.

00:13:37.860 But you'll get a real good sense of the massive attacks that we got.

00:13:43.120 And to me, the attacks, they all stemmed from jealousy.

00:13:48.680 And people are just so excited.

00:13:50.920 One, they can hide behind the keyboards and they're really big men at this point.

00:13:57.000 But they're just so – they can't fathom somebody else doing something and then they're jealous that they're not out there doing it.

00:14:05.120 And so they just try to poke holes and pick at anything you're doing.

00:14:09.940 And the reality is perception is an amazing, beautiful thing.

00:14:14.600 And you can't – one of the things that I did learn is you can't put yourself in anybody else's shoes.

00:14:20.960 Even if you try.

00:14:22.780 But people just don't even try.

00:14:24.940 And until you've experienced something or in the thick of something, you can't possibly understand the reasons behind someone's decision or why they're doing something.

00:14:34.660 And everybody is on a very unique journey.

00:14:36.880 And even somebody else in the same situation would have made a different decision.

00:14:39.940 And that doesn't mean it's a right or a wrong one.

00:14:41.960 It means it was the best decision for them in that moment.

00:14:44.720 Yeah.

00:14:45.040 Yeah.

00:14:45.280 I can imagine how that's the case.

00:14:47.080 What was some of the most difficult times for you?

00:14:49.720 Was it mentally?

00:14:50.440 Was it physically?

00:14:51.060 Was it a combination of both?

00:14:52.080 What did that actually look like?

00:14:54.080 Yeah.

00:14:54.380 I mean the – for lack of a better phrase, the struggle was real.

00:14:58.720 Yeah.

00:14:59.340 Yeah.

00:14:59.620 Both physically and emotionally.

00:15:01.880 And we were always dealing with something.

00:15:05.260 I mean there was either a mental aspect that we were working with or physical or logistical.

00:15:10.880 And so I can't say one was greater than the other because we were always dealing with one element of some kind.

00:15:19.560 And what's crazy is most people quit on something big or a giant task or a huge journey right before your mind and your body come into alignment with each other.

00:15:32.220 And a lot of times or even every time, that moment before that happens is deep into the journey.

00:15:41.360 And most people don't have enough conviction and belief in what they're doing that they quit before that harmony happens with their mind and their body.

00:15:49.000 And for me, it didn't happen until Ironman 30 to where my last 20 Ironmans became almost routine and manageable.

00:15:57.600 And a lot of it had to do with mental shifts and everything that happened prior to it.

00:16:01.620 But my mind and my body finally came into alignment.

00:16:04.360 And most people would have quit at Ironman 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.

00:16:08.600 I mean nobody has made it that far.

00:16:09.980 If they even started.

00:16:10.960 I mean –

00:16:11.460 Yeah, for sure.

00:16:12.400 I always –

00:16:13.380 You know, I do a lot of presentations to companies and stuff and I talk about you can plan yourself to a failure.

00:16:20.460 At some point in time, you have to execute and put something into action.

00:16:23.500 And the secret to success is taking the first step almost blindly because you'll never have a perfect plan to execute.

00:16:30.600 And that's the whole point about being creative and flexible along your way.

00:16:34.360 A perfect plan, nothing's ever going to go according to plan.

00:16:37.140 You're going to run into things that aren't foreseen.

00:16:40.420 And when people run into those unforeseen things, that's when they're like, oh, can't do it, can't be done.

00:16:45.960 Men, I want to invite you to join the Iron Council before the new year.

00:16:49.760 If you really want to do something about your life, regardless of the level you're at right now, finding other like-minded men will help you do just that.

00:16:57.880 So inside the Iron Council, you will join 180 plus other men who are taking action on improving their lives.

00:17:03.420 And in turn, they're improving their lives and the lives of those that they have a responsibility for.

00:17:08.060 So if you're looking to keep your marriage alive or lose that spare tire, if you want to connect with your kids, if you want to maximize your earning potential, whatever it may be, if you want to ask for a raise or get a promotion or just feel better about yourself, the Iron Council is the place for you.

00:17:23.040 Now, we've built a framework that's going to allow you to accomplish big things this year.

00:17:26.220 You're going to have the tools, the resources, the guidance, the discussions, the accountability from the other 180 guys inside the council.

00:17:32.760 If you're interested in learning more and ensuring that this year is actually different, that it's going to be different than every other year prior, join us at orderofman.com slash Iron Council.

00:17:42.740 I hope to see you inside.

00:17:43.840 Now, let me get back to my interview with James.

00:17:45.640 So this leads me to the question I wanted to ask about preparation.

00:17:50.160 I mean, did you feel like when you started that you would have had more time to prepare or at that point were you just, hey, I'm ready.

00:17:57.880 Let's just do this.

00:17:58.640 Let's get this out of the way and let's get going.

00:18:00.020 What did that look like?

00:18:01.260 Yeah.

00:18:01.460 You know, because it was so big, we couldn't get the support that we needed.

00:18:05.560 And so at a certain point in time, it was just like, okay, you know, we're doing this.

00:18:10.340 And with the logistics that were involved, we had to instill a deadline, which almost forced our hand.

00:18:16.740 And we just did everything we could to be as ready as possible to that point.

00:18:20.000 So we had a hard start date because we had to line up 50 different states.

00:18:24.680 And we were working with individuals and volunteers.

00:18:27.580 We called them state ambassadors who were wanting to help us.

00:18:30.520 And so once we picked that and announced it and started working with a nation of people, you really have to stick to that start line.

00:18:39.780 And so for us, it was kind of a good thing.

00:18:41.180 And I think people should set deadlines and then do everything in their capacity to get to that point.

00:18:45.920 Because if you don't, you just – we would have – I would still today be planning it because it's just so big.

00:18:51.820 There's so much to put into place.

00:18:53.420 And one thing evolves to another and a different idea stems and this happens and who knows if that's perfect.

00:18:57.320 And so I tell people all the time, you can plan yourself to a failure at some point in time.

00:19:01.840 You need to have a hard stop and a hard start and just stop planning and start executing.

00:19:06.700 And that's the beauty about a journey is the planning oftentimes and the best ideas come in the midst of the journey.

00:19:14.300 And when inspiration is happening and when things are flowing, you can't foresee or plan everything.

00:19:19.420 It's just like kids.

00:19:20.800 Sure, of course.

00:19:21.840 People all the time say, oh, I'm waiting until I'm this and this for a kid or this for a kid or this kid.

00:19:25.980 And hell, just have the kid and then figure it out.

00:19:27.900 I mean that's why they come out as babies.

00:19:29.120 They sleep and they poop.

00:19:29.900 You figure it out all along the way.

00:19:31.120 Right.

00:19:31.320 And then you learn and you adapt and you do what you need to do.

00:19:33.460 You'll never be ready to have a kid.

00:19:35.560 How do you suggest somebody implement self-imposed deadlines?

00:19:39.360 I guess for lack of a better term where you ran up against a deadline because it had almost an external factor.

00:19:43.620 Like it had to be this day.

00:19:44.700 Otherwise, maybe it wasn't going to happen.

00:19:46.080 How do we implement self-imposed deadlines?

00:19:49.060 That's a good question.

00:19:49.820 And just off the cuff without putting much thought into it, I would say you have to assemble a team and have somebody that holds you accountable.

00:19:57.680 And a self-imposed deadline is going to be hard because you'll always find an excuse.

00:20:02.320 But it straight up comes down to most anything in your life.

00:20:04.960 It's called discipline and sticking to deadlines and making things happen.

00:20:09.600 And you just have to give yourself hard stops and hard starts and you do your best to adhere to it.

00:20:14.600 But I would think in order to help you keep accountable, that's why people hire coaches.

00:20:17.980 That's why I work with a coach.

00:20:19.080 That's why I'm a coach.

00:20:20.500 We help people get going and start and start executing because they're never going to be ready.

00:20:26.900 I want to jump back.

00:20:27.720 You were talking about just going before maybe you're completely ready or knowing that it's not going to be the perfect plan.

00:20:32.240 How did your game plan throughout the 50 days of being on this journey change?

00:20:36.640 And how did you have to adapt?

00:20:37.700 Oh, I mean, we didn't realize the level of fatigue that was going to hit me.

00:20:43.480 And so we had all the courses planned out and we had to start changing courses on the fly and locations and because of weather and being forced inside and dealing with everything in the motorhome braking and the generator.

00:20:59.420 And we hit a deer on race number seven.

00:21:03.300 I tore my shoulder on race number six.

00:21:04.960 We got pulled over by the cops and told to stop on day one in Hawaii.

00:21:09.580 I mean, there's just a million things that happen along the way that's going to sideline you that you just can't control.

00:21:16.840 And you just have to figure it out and implement a strategy to get around them.

00:21:20.680 And it just all comes down to creativity and flow.

00:21:23.300 Yeah, no, this definitely makes sense.

00:21:26.600 And it's incredible.

00:21:27.560 What did your training leading up to this look like?

00:21:31.080 I imagine that this is almost – it's probably a full-time job for training when you're gearing up to do something like this or even more than a full-time job.

00:21:39.540 Yeah.

00:21:39.720 So life was crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy leading up to the 50 because we have five kids.

00:21:45.360 I've got four daughters and a son.

00:21:47.180 And at the time, they were all 12 and under.

00:21:48.900 And we had five kids in six and a half years.

00:21:50.660 So just that in itself was crazy.

00:21:51.940 Oh, my gosh.

00:21:52.480 Yeah.

00:21:52.660 My wife was in school full-time and she graduated a couple weeks before we left to do the 50.

00:21:58.820 We cared full-time for a lady with Alzheimer's. 0.98

00:22:02.460 And then I had to do my coaching business to bring in some money.

00:22:06.900 I had to train 30-plus hours a week.

00:22:10.000 That doesn't include therapy and stretching and fueling and all of that.

00:22:15.340 And then I had to plan the logistics of the project, which was a full-time job because I was web design, creativity, fundraising, manager, sponsorships, all of it because nobody believed it was possible.

00:22:28.040 And so I had to put on every hat.

00:22:30.460 And so I was – it was the equivalent of working three full-time jobs.

00:22:34.320 And so I laugh when somebody says I don't have enough time.

00:22:38.640 Yeah, I bet.

00:22:39.360 I don't have time to work out for 45 minutes a day.

00:22:42.140 What?

00:22:42.780 What?

00:22:43.140 I bet that's a foreign year. 1.00

00:22:44.780 I was doing eight hours a day of working out and eight hours a day of logistics working.

00:22:52.680 And I mean I ran out of hours in the day.

00:22:54.420 Like we were sleeping four or five hours a night, getting up at four and going to bed at midnight.

00:22:58.700 I mean it was just – that's what we had to do in order to get this done.

00:23:03.420 And people are just soft.

00:23:05.600 I know that a lot of guys talk about wanting to do something great but use their families and their kids as an excuse not to.

00:23:13.640 Yeah.

00:23:13.840 So I'm really curious how you justify taking time away from spending with them to pursue this and how do you reconcile the two?

00:23:21.560 Here's the beauty is we involved our kids in everything that we did and they came with us for all 50 days.

00:23:28.040 It was – we were criticized for doing it in June and July, the hottest two months of the summer, especially in the south.

00:23:33.980 And I said I'm not going to do this without my family.

00:23:36.560 And we make family a priority.

00:23:38.420 And so we did it during the summer and the kids had a blast.

00:23:41.400 They had one of the best summer vacations they've ever had.

00:23:43.820 They got to see everything super cool from, you know, Hawaii all the way to, you know, around the entire U.S.

00:23:50.500 They saw all 50 states.

00:23:52.100 And I'm – I work at a home like most kids.

00:23:54.860 The kids are in school and that's when I do the bulk of my training or my computer work.

00:23:58.980 And when they say, hey, it's time for dinner, I come to dinner.

00:24:02.960 And when they say, hey, let's go play a game, we go play a game.

00:24:05.380 And so there's always an opportunity to prioritize.

00:24:10.800 And my family comes first.

00:24:12.500 This is a job and this is a passion.

00:24:14.640 But we involve them every step of the way.

00:24:16.980 There was no sacrifice.

00:24:18.340 There was no compromise.

00:24:20.220 Yes, I was busy.

00:24:20.980 Yes, it was stressful.

00:24:22.040 And no, I'm certainly not perfect.

00:24:23.660 But I made my kids, my family a priority and they continue to be so today.

00:24:28.640 Yeah, I mean we talk about this quite a bit which is the idea and the philosophy of congruency between who you are at home and work and play and with your kids.

00:24:35.740 And I think you've nailed this is that you're overlapping everything and there is no hats.

00:24:40.340 You're just the same guy wherever you are.

00:24:41.980 And I think that makes things much more efficient.

00:24:44.200 Yep, exactly.

00:24:45.480 What was the hardest state for you?

00:24:47.160 I mean I'm sure there was a race that was probably the most difficult whether that was the course itself or something that you may have been struggling with.

00:24:53.320 What did that look like?

00:24:54.580 Yeah, I can't pinpoint one.

00:24:56.660 It was just such a compounding effect.

00:24:59.700 And for an individual to go out and just do one Ironman, I mean that's an incredibly intense, challenging day.

00:25:07.280 I mean we went through some ebb and flows of good days and bad days, absolutely.

00:25:11.560 Probably the worst stretch I went through was 16, 17, and 18.

00:25:16.680 So kind of Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi.

00:25:19.100 I was dealing with some massive foot trauma that we were trying to figure out in Oklahoma.

00:25:24.560 Was it Oklahoma?

00:25:26.260 It wasn't Oklahoma.

00:25:27.160 I bet it just starts merging all together at some point.

00:25:29.860 Yeah, they do.

00:25:30.700 And then on day 18, it was Tennessee.

00:25:34.140 And it was super, super hot outside and I lost the battle and concentration with my fatigue.

00:25:39.860 I fell asleep on the bike and I crashed, which made it very challenging because I had to figure out, okay, how do you get back on your bike?

00:25:47.000 Battered and bruised.

00:25:47.980 Bike 80 more miles.

00:25:48.860 Run the marathon that night.

00:25:49.960 Stuff yourself in the back of a Subaru.

00:25:52.000 Drive to Mississippi and then do it again the next day.

00:25:54.560 Wow.

00:25:54.920 With severe heat warnings outside.

00:25:58.360 And so we were dealt with a lot of challenges and adversity and my body was still freaking out.

00:26:03.660 We're almost 20 races into it and I'm at my complete wit's end physically and mentally.

00:26:09.040 And I've got two-thirds of the campaign left to go.

00:26:12.520 And so it's just a real daunting moment.

00:26:14.960 So, you know, if I had to pinpoint something, it's going to be, you know, race 17, 18, 19. 0.79

00:26:21.220 That range right there would be where I had to make some real choices.

00:26:25.440 So why didn't you quit at that point?

00:26:27.400 Because I told my kids I was going to do 50 Ironmans in 50 days.

00:26:30.700 Awesome, man.

00:26:31.280 I love that answer.

00:26:32.420 I love that answer.

00:26:33.620 You said you were going to do it.

00:26:35.060 Yeah.

00:26:35.740 Yeah, I remember I did the Spartan Agoge, which is nowhere near what you've done, which is a 60-hour event is what it is.

00:26:41.960 And I remember what kept me driving was my kids had made a sign that said,

00:26:46.980 Go, Dad.

00:26:47.400 We know you can do it.

00:26:48.240 And they sent me that picture right before the event was about to start.

00:26:51.480 And I remember there was a time I wanted to quit and I just visually pulled that picture up and it kept me going.

00:26:56.720 Yeah, absolutely.

00:26:57.320 What people don't know about the journey is, you know, people don't know that followed it really closely is we did this to raise money for childhood obesity and the Jamie Oliver Foundation.

00:27:06.080 And every evening we did a public 5K.

00:27:09.600 So people could have come out at any point, swim, bike, run, and join me.

00:27:12.700 But every night at 7 o'clock we did a structured 5K so the masses could come out and run with us.

00:27:17.980 And early on my 12-year-old daughter realized that, you know, Dad was struggling.

00:27:22.940 And she declared on day number four, Hey, Dad, you know, together we can do this.

00:27:28.340 And I'm going to run every 5K with you because she had run the previous three.

00:27:32.700 You know, she ended up running 55Ks in 50 days through all 50 states, which for a 12-year-old girl with limited run background is incredibly impressive.

00:27:42.080 But I knew, you know, just like the picture that your kid sent you is I had a 7 o'clock appointment with my daughter every single day where it was an opportunity for me to reconnect with my family.

00:27:53.580 And there was no way I was going to miss that and hear about their day.

00:27:56.640 And so, you know, I had an incredible why to get to 7 o'clock that night.

00:28:01.880 And then once I got through that, it was just like, okay, let's just finish off this marathon, get in the vehicle and see if we can catch three to four hours sleep tonight before we do it all again tomorrow.

00:28:10.580 Yeah.

00:28:11.000 I mean this is incredible.

00:28:12.440 Such an incredible story.

00:28:13.520 Did you start from the West Coast then and move to the East Coast?

00:28:17.060 I mean did it just move that way or how did this work?

00:28:19.920 Yeah, logistically we had to start in Hawaii.

00:28:21.600 So we went Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, then down to Oregon, California, and then we started to move our way across the bottom.

00:28:28.800 And so we kind of zigzagged down the lower half of the country all the way to the East Coast, up the East Coast, and then we came back west, zigzagging across the top states, and then dropped down into Utah, which is where I'm from.

00:28:40.740 And so we basically did a perimeter of the entire country hitting the middle states as it was logistically appropriate.

00:28:48.800 Right, right.

00:28:49.420 And this was just the best – who helped you – who consulted with you on the best logistically way to achieve this?

00:28:56.040 Nobody.

00:28:57.060 It all started with putting a big map on the wall.

00:28:59.260 My kids and I with Sharpies, we would start drawing on it, and we looked at major interstates.

00:29:03.080 And initially we were going to swim and try to swim in all YMCAs, and that didn't work out.

00:29:08.020 So we kind of had an outline of where we wanted to go, and then we did a social media call for people to help us in each state.

00:29:14.880 And then certain people would pop up in states, and they would say, oh, this is a great place to do it, and it would deviate our course.

00:29:20.660 And if we were to ever do it again, which never again, but we made a lot of mistakes as far as the route that we took.

00:29:29.440 We could have saved ourselves a lot of driving time.

00:29:32.060 And it's one of those things, hindsight's 20-20, and you don't – you can't – I wish, hey, it would be awesome if we all had a crystal ball, but we don't.

00:29:40.220 And so we made a lot of mistakes, and I could do it a lot better.

00:29:43.000 But it would have made the journey what it was.

00:29:45.480 Sure.

00:29:45.960 Yeah, it's that challenge and that struggle that I'm sure makes it worth it.

00:29:48.920 Yeah.

00:29:49.960 Why do they call you the Iron Cowboy?

00:29:51.520 I know that's what you go by.

00:29:52.800 Where does that term come from?

00:29:53.920 We've got the Iron Council, which is our mastermind group that we run, and so I've got some reasons for that.

00:29:58.100 I'm really curious about your name.

00:30:00.200 Yeah, so I'm actually from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which is known as Cowtown.

00:30:04.100 But I'm big city.

00:30:05.440 I'm the furthest thing from a cowboy.

00:30:07.080 It was just – when we're racing, Ironman is not a very spectator-friendly sport like any endurance sport.

00:30:12.860 And when the kids come out and try to support you, they get to see you for 10 seconds.

00:30:15.940 And if they miss that, then it's just kind of a letdown for the athlete and the kids.

00:30:20.140 And so I just – just on a whim, me and my buddy were like, we're going to wear cowboy hats today, and you guys are going to see us coming.

00:30:25.980 And my buddy bailed on the race, and I ended up wearing the cowboy hat during the marathon portion of the run.

00:30:31.240 And my kids got to see me, and it turned out that everybody liked it.

00:30:35.180 So all spectators really got engaged with me because I was different than everything I was doing.

00:30:40.660 And at the end of that race, my wife was like, well, I guess you're the Iron Cowboy. 1.00

00:30:44.240 It kind of just stuck.

00:30:45.740 And then during my 2012 world record, I wore a cowboy hat to be recognized because we were doing it to raise funds for charity.

00:30:53.760 And so ever since then, it's turned into a brand.

00:30:56.960 And I now have what I consider a manly beard, and so that kind of – that helps me to stick out too.

00:31:03.460 And so if you look closely at my logo, it's a cowboy hat and a beard.

00:31:07.940 Oh, I didn't recognize that.

00:31:08.740 I'll have to check that out now that you say that.

00:31:10.040 Yeah, so it's kind of a – I think it's clever.

00:31:13.420 But yeah, so it's a cowboy hat and a beard, and it's turned into a brand.

00:31:16.480 And yeah, so it's for fun.

00:31:18.300 Very cool.

00:31:19.020 How do you think you have changed over not just your career and everything that you've done,

00:31:23.120 but even just specifically this particular event or events?

00:31:26.420 I guess it's not one event.

00:31:27.700 Events.

00:31:28.640 Yeah.

00:31:29.020 You know, it was – when you tackle something this big, you learn a lot on how to manage things and manage pain

00:31:34.520 and manage, you know, all the things that come with preparing for this and discipline and sacrifice and consistency

00:31:41.360 and all those things, I mean, I learned how to do a lot of those things really well.

00:31:45.800 And I'm still learning.

00:31:46.600 I'm still growing.

00:31:47.840 But what was really cool is watching the amount of people that it took to voluntarily come out and help accomplish this goal.

00:31:54.960 It really made me, you know, want to give back and really help.

00:31:58.400 And it kind of reinstated my belief in mankind that, you know, there's still a lot of really good people out there.

00:32:04.880 Yeah.

00:32:05.160 Yeah.

00:32:05.460 I wholeheartedly agree with that.

00:32:07.120 When you finished and you actually completed what you set out to do, what did your supporters have to say and how did they react?

00:32:13.220 And then the opposite side of that is what did those who were naysayers have to say and react?

00:32:17.340 Yeah.

00:32:17.560 There wasn't a supporting camp.

00:32:19.940 So they didn't have anything to say.

00:32:21.820 Interesting.

00:32:23.000 Other than your team that you were with, right?

00:32:24.980 Right.

00:32:25.280 Exactly.

00:32:25.620 Nobody believed we could do it.

00:32:27.680 But what was really cool and interesting to watch was the haters, the naysayers, the nonbelievers to watch them.

00:32:34.500 And you can see it happen on social media.

00:32:36.500 It's super cool to watch them go from no way.

00:32:39.380 It's impossible.

00:32:40.220 He's a moron to holy crap.

00:32:42.160 I can't believe he's made it this far to, wow, I'm a fan.

00:32:44.860 Let's go.

00:32:45.280 He can do this to, yeah, I can't believe it.

00:32:47.360 You're a legend.

00:32:48.580 So to watch that massive paradigm shift was super cool.

00:32:51.740 The best example of it is I had a sponsor that came on board and said, yeah, absolutely.

00:32:55.680 We're going to put our brand on you.

00:32:58.060 We're going to give you money to help you accomplish this.

00:33:01.200 But flat out said, we don't think you can do it, but it'll be worth it to see how far you get.

00:33:05.900 And then when I crossed the finish line, he called me up the next day, the CEO of the company.

00:33:09.740 And he said, unbelievable.

00:33:11.300 I completely apologize.

00:33:13.620 The word iron cowboy now is over the main doorway in our office.

00:33:17.340 And anytime I'm struggling, I'll walk under that.

00:33:19.980 And the word iron cowboy is now my mantra for doing hard things.

00:33:23.640 And so it was really cool to go through and see people have that transition from it's impossible.

00:33:29.340 He can't do it to that's, you know, the word iron cowboy now means something and it's a mantra to me.

00:33:35.020 Man, that is so inspiring.

00:33:36.200 So what's next for you?

00:33:37.120 I mean, this is obviously a huge feat.

00:33:41.020 What's what's in store next?

00:33:42.400 Where do you go from here?

00:33:43.520 Yeah.

00:33:43.780 So as far as mentally and physically, one of the things that I wanted to achieve was to find my mental, physical limits to my my satisfaction.

00:33:50.640 And I can honestly say that I found those.

00:33:53.920 And so I don't have anything on the agenda right now as far as something big like that.

00:33:59.320 It would have to be insane.

00:34:01.600 And it would, you know, I don't know that that's worth risking me doing something like that.

00:34:05.860 And I'm not recovered mentally or physically in order to do something really, really, really big again.

00:34:11.060 Because in order to do something like that, it takes years and years of prep, both physically, mentally and logistically.

00:34:15.960 And so for me right now, I'm having a lot of fun speaking, going around, traveling the world, telling the story.

00:34:24.120 It's really having an impact on people and it's getting them engaged and active.

00:34:28.560 I mean, we're in a day and age where, I mean, depression is rampant and obesity is a problem and activity is an issue.

00:34:33.880 And so if there's a way that I can have just the smallest impact on individuals, then that's so satisfying and a huge reason why we did it.

00:34:42.200 But the documentary just came out, like I said, on Vimeo.

00:34:46.100 You can pre-order our book right now on Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

00:34:50.640 It's just called The Iron Cowboy.

00:34:52.220 It comes out on March 27th.

00:34:54.600 We run an entire coaching team, Team Iron Cowboy.

00:34:58.000 If you want to do anything from a 5K to an Ironman, we walk you through the entire process.

00:35:02.440 It would be the physical component only side to your Iron Council.

00:35:09.100 It's a members area and we walk you through.

00:35:10.780 We've got five coaches in there.

00:35:12.420 But it's for those individuals that want to do an Ironman or a 5K or something physical.

00:35:17.780 And that's at TeamIronCowboy.com.

00:35:19.860 And like I said, yeah, we're just having a lot of fun and building the brand and just living life, man.

00:35:24.220 Very cool.

00:35:24.940 You talked about using December, even just this time in your life, as an opportunity to hit the reset button.

00:35:30.300 Talk to me a little bit about that and the importance of that in everybody else's life as well.

00:35:34.740 Yeah.

00:35:35.300 Every December, regardless of what I'm doing, I try to shut everything down.

00:35:39.380 And it's kind of my mental, physical, corporate, whatever reset button.

00:35:45.100 And it allows me to almost sit down and reflect on what we accomplished in the year and plan on what we have to come in the new year.

00:35:54.320 And I think everybody has to take a physical and mental break.

00:35:57.520 I mean, that's why people get burnt out.

00:35:58.980 And with how intense we train and with how intense we coach and everything that we do, I mean, it is – I mean, we give you everything of us.

00:36:08.580 And so it's just – it's demanding.

00:36:11.280 And so I try to take the whole month off.

00:36:13.080 I really give my kids some love and attention.

00:36:15.860 Growing up, Christmas was such a big, special event for us with lots of tradition.

00:36:20.960 And so I just like to share that time with my kids and we go play in the snow and do some skiing and go see the Christmas lights.

00:36:27.980 And it's just a great time to just reassess and revaluate things.

00:36:33.220 Well, James, as we wind down on time, I want to ask you a question that I do ask all of my guests.

00:36:36.800 And that question is, what does it mean to be a man?

00:36:39.900 Yeah.

00:36:40.120 You know, this is a real easy one for me and take away all my world records, take away my recent accomplishments, take away all of that.

00:36:51.000 And the best way to define that question to me is just to be a father.

00:36:57.140 And if you strip everything away from me and at the end of the day, if that's what I'm known for, then that's a win and that's my satisfaction.

00:37:05.380 Very cool, man.

00:37:06.180 I love it.

00:37:06.600 And I agree with that as well.

00:37:07.900 So if somebody wants to learn more about what you're doing, obviously watch the documentary or find out about you a little bit more in depth.

00:37:13.940 How do we do that?

00:37:15.220 Yeah.

00:37:15.600 Follow my social media is the best way that's going to be the most current and up to date.

00:37:19.040 I'm very active on Facebook.

00:37:21.000 I've got a fan page on there.

00:37:22.240 It's just forward slash Iron Cowboy.

00:37:24.240 And then on Instagram, it's slash Iron Cowboy James.

00:37:27.780 And then everything is linked through my website, which is just www.ironcowboy.com.

00:37:34.140 Awesome.

00:37:34.540 We'll make sure we link that up in the show notes.

00:37:36.320 Like I said in the beginning of the show, I didn't know a lot about your story.

00:37:39.380 I had the opportunity to connect with you and you came highly recommended.

00:37:42.100 So I did it on the fly.

00:37:43.760 This has been inspiring.

00:37:45.240 You are an inspiring man.

00:37:46.460 I'm going to go check out more of the work that you're doing.

00:37:48.300 I know the guys that are listening to this are going to do that as well.

00:37:50.120 I want to tell you I appreciate your dedication to your craft and how that's inspiring.

00:37:54.840 Not only me, but the other people who've heard your story.

00:37:56.880 So thanks for showing up in the world the way that you have.

00:37:59.720 Awesome, man.

00:38:00.260 Thanks for having me.

00:38:00.880 There it is, man.

00:38:03.160 Mr. James, Iron Cowboy Lawrence.

00:38:04.720 I hope that you're as blown away with this guy as I am.

00:38:07.300 It's incredible what he has set out to do and actually made that a reality.

00:38:10.800 And I encourage you, if you're not already doing this, to go follow him and follow his work.

00:38:15.480 Now, again, I just want to remind you about the Iron Council as we close out today.

00:38:18.820 As we talked a little bit about mental fortitude and toughness in the show today,

00:38:22.680 we talk about it in length and actually apply what we learn inside of the Iron Council.

00:38:26.780 So this is our elite mastermind.

00:38:28.440 It's designed to get you to the next level in your relationships, your finances, your health, your fitness, your life.

00:38:35.020 Everything you have starts with the mind.

00:38:37.040 And I'm sure this is something James would attest to.

00:38:39.900 And mindset is a huge component of what we talk about inside the Iron Council.

00:38:44.340 So if you want to learn more and check it out, go to orderofman.com slash ironcouncil.

00:38:48.640 But until then, I'll look forward to seeing you on Friday for our Friday Field Notes.

00:38:52.660 Remember, guys, take action and become the man you were meant to be.

00:38:56.780 Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.

00:38:59.620 If you're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be,

00:39:03.660 we invite you to join the Order at orderofman.com.

Order of Man - December 20, 2016

092： 50 Ironmans in 50 States in 50 Days ｜ James Lawrence

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