THE ED MYLETT SHOW - 100 IRONMAN TRIATHLONS IN 100 DAYS! w/ James Lawrence

Episode Date: July 13, 2021

What is it that drives a man to the outer boundaries of physical and mental endurance? Is it possible to push past the human body’s PERCEIVED LIMITATIONS and do what no person has ever done before? In a word, YES! And James Lawrence, the IRON COWBOY, is the man who has done just that. I think we can all agree that completing a single IRON MAN TRIATHLON by itself is an INCREDIBLE athletic feat. However, lots of people have accomplished it, so James set a much loftier goal: 50 Ironmans, 50 states, and on 50 consecutive days. Impressive, right? Of course, it is. But that wasn’t enough for James. So earlier this year, he embarked on Conquer One Hundred -- 100 FULL-DISTANCE TRIATHLONS IN 100 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. That’s 140.6 miles a day for 14 weeks, totaling 14,060 miles. Absolutely MIIND-BOGGLING! Obviously, you need to be in PEAK PHYSICAL CONDITION to do this. Just as important, you have to have an unparalleled degree of MENTAL TOUGHNESS as well. In this episode, James and I talk about the importance of PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY, how to OVERCOME ADVERSITY, and why setbacks and hitting rock bottom are so important as you make the journey toward your goal. James also reveals his number one SECRET to mental toughness and SETTING GOALS, and how these things can apply to you. And believe it or not, the first 20 of the Ironmans were harder than the rest. That’s because James understood the need to ADAPT AND EVOLVE as he approached each day, especially after he learned he had developed a STRESS FRACTURE early on in the Conquer One Hundred project. Learning to adapt and evolve is an incredibly IMPORTANT LESSON for you to embrace as well. We also have an extended discussion about being PRESENT IN THE MOMENT and breaking large tasks down into small and focused efforts. PRO TIP: The secret to taking on 100 triathlons (or any task for that matter) is one step and one mile at a time. James also reveals why it’s essential to have COMPELLING reasons before you can succeed. He touches upon using internal motivation and channeling that into your external efforts. This is a jam-packed and EMOTIONAL discussion about how to push yourself to new limits. And as you’ll see, James Lawrence is a REMARKABLE human being on many levels.   👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈  → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ▶︎ INSTAGRAM ▶︎ FACEBOOK  ▶︎ LINKEDIN ▶︎ TWITTER ▶︎ WEBSITE

This is the Ed Milach Show. I welcome back to the show everybody. Hey, have you ever thought about like running a marathon? Because I've thought about it. I'm like, there's a there's an Iron Man in Corte de Laine where I spent my summers. Just the marathon part of it, I was like, that's bananas, 26 miles, you know?

And he ever thought about doing that or he ever watched one of these Iron Man's and go, I'm gonna do that someday. And by the way, it's like about a two and a half miles swim, 112 miles on a bike, 26 mile run. That's kind of what an iron length triathlon is. What should I imagine doing one of those? Then I want you to imagine getting up the next day

and doing it again. Can you imagine back-to-back days? Then I want you to contemplate, thinking about doing it, 30 freaking days in a row. You got that? How about 50 days in a row? How about a hundred days in a row? Get your mind around that, okay? That would be one of the great all-time athletic endurance feats in the history of the world and simultaneously, one of the great mental toughness and resiliency feats

of all time. Guess what? I got the dude here today who did it. A hundred in a row in a hundred days. His name is Iron Cowboy, James Lawrence. Welcome to the program, brother. Hey, Ed, man, I gotta tell you, I'm gonna try to keep it together as we talk.

Obviously, just came off of an insanely emotional journey, physically, mentally, spiritually. But I gotta tell you, huge, huge love, adoration and respect for you. You may be single-handedly and unknowingly got me through this quarter of a year challenge because during the 112-mile bike ride every day, I would tee you up, man. And I don't know if it was just how soothing your voice was, but like I was like, I got to the point where I got through all of it and then I would have to wait because I caught up and I'd have to wait because I caught up and I'd have to wait till, you know,

the next one dropped and I was always so excited when it did and so I just wanted to say, man, thank you so much for being part of my journey, not knowing you were part of my journey. So yeah, I just wanted to say. I did see a post from one of your daughters that had said that you were listening to the show during it, it makes me choked up to think it for two reasons.

Number one, it's an honor to have been a speck in the sand of the beach of what you did. Number two, it's as close as I'm ever going to get to doing what you did. At least I was in your ears, brother. Yeah, you were out there every day with me, brother. Hey, everybody. So we're going to talk today about all kinds of stuff. Obviously, you know, resisting quitting, overcoming fear, overcoming pain, mental toughness. Honestly, I, if you listened to that introduction, everybody, you would

sound like this is crazy, but it's not. And then also he did it for underground railroad, you know, raising money. There was a reason behind there's so many things, but I want to go back just because you would think you do this and even look at it, you look like a wrestler. I think visually when I look at you look like a wrestler, I'm thinking this dude, I'm going to, when I, you know, we've been following each other for a while, I'm going to see this guy. He's probably six three, you know, real long legs, super lean. He's probably got some athletic advantage because everybody wants a discount success, right? I probably got some. Then I start reading, I was a high school wrestler, like lost about every match is freshman year. So there was no gift there. Kind of tried to play a

little professional golf, you know, that didn't work out. But visually it's not like you have some athletic gift to be doing this, right? So what was the, what was the catalyst to get you go? I'm going to do some endurance sports. What made you do that? It's interesting. I mean, everybody has a start to their journey. Right. And like you said, I grew up wrestling. I loved it. I gravitate towards individual sports. Because like not realizing it,

but looking back on what I've done, I did wrestling and then golf and then triathlon. And they're all individual sports because I love that if I win or I lose, it's my fault. And I love that accountability of it. And man, like you said, I got, I got tooled beyond comprehension when I first started wrestling. But then I went undefeated my senior year

and went on to represent Canada, which is where I grew up. And then I got married and found my beautiful bride. And when they've got five kids, just celebrated 20 years of marriage. But back in the day, she was into running. And she was like, hey, let's go do this four mile fun run. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Nobody says fun.

And I've never seen a runner like going down the road smiling. No, it's impossible. Like, stop talking. And she was like, just come do it. It'll be fun. I'm like, it's Thanksgiving. I'm like, okay, I'll be the good husband. I'll go support my wife. And dude, I distinctly remember like I'm like my heart's pounding. My lungs feel like they're going to explode. And I look over and these beautiful women just pushing their their kids and strollers laughing and talking just blowing by me. And I'm like, what the hell is that? I'm like, I'm a physical specimen. Like what is going on that this is happening in my life right now. And so it allowed me to sit back and do kind of like a

mini audit on where I was physically in my life. And I had some situational depression and I was a new father of these two beautiful girls and I just was like trying to figure out my place. And and Sonny comes out to me. It was Thanksgiving. It looks right at me and she's like, dude, you are pathetic. And and I was just like, whoa, what are we talking about here? And she's like, I just, I just signed you up for the Salt Lake City marathon, um, figure it out. And I was like, a marathon. I'm like, what's that? How far are we talking here? And she's like, well, it's 26.2 miles. And it's in four months. And, and I, and I just like, it just rocked

me. And I went and did the marathon. I actually hated it. Funny story, the MMA fights were in town. I'm a huge MMA fan. They were in town that night. And I went to the stadium in Salt Lake City and I sat down in my chair and I'm like, I'm pissed, I had this terrible marathon experience. I'm just gonna sit here and watch the show. Well, four hours go by and I go to stand up to go home

and I can't. What? And I look down and my knees had swollen up to the size of cantaloupes and I could not stand up out of my chair. And so now picture the machoest of environments. Yeah. And I have to get wheelchared out of the city to my car and eat just the big like the entire humble pie.. I had eaten the whole thing, not a piece, the whole thing. And I got home and I was just like, F running and endurance sports, like this is so stupid. I'm like, I'm a wrestler, I'm a fighter, I'm a guy that goes to the weight room and does the weights,

I don't care. And I woke up the next morning and I went, I can do that better. Did you really? And I said, I am not going to allow that moment to define who I am. And and then I over time I learned, because you hear all the time, I don't run. I've got bad knees. And I was, I was that guy. I was like, I've got bad knees.

It's obvious I got bad knees. It must have been from other wrestling. And I'm not a runner. And then I learned over educating myself and whatnot. I don't have bad knees. It must have been from other wrestling and I'm not a runner. And then I learned over educating myself and whatnot. I don't have bad knees because of running. I have bad knees because I don't run. And I started to go down this journey of endurance and I found the love for cycling and I got into the tour to France and watching it.

And I had a friend that did Sprint Triathlon, which is the short version. And I just fell in love. I had to teach myself how to swim and buy a bike. And I just fell in love with the diversity of training. And I didn't look like everybody else, right? Like I was, I carry more muscle. Right. And I remember early on, I went to Iron Man,

Iron Man, Arizona. And I was spectating. and I have no idea what his name is, but I watched the fourth place professional. He was either fourth or third come across the line. And this dude looked like you. I mean, he was yoked and I was like, okay, you can look like an athlete and still have success in this in this game. And so then I just, because my passion is truly like lifting

and that's where I started and wrestling and fighting and all that. And so when I saw that dude, I was like, okay, I might be able to be successful in this sport. And I just fell in love with the diversity of it and the training. And then what I learned was a lot of this is mental. And going back to my roots was triath.

I mean, was wrestling. And again, if I win or I lose, it's my fault. And I loved that. And so I just started to implement the mental side of stuff and the nutrition side of stuff. And it just became this big challenge for me. And over time it just escalated and I would try one thing and again experience and I'm

Totally long story, but I we lost everything in the economy. I used to want a mortgage company and and all of this things happen and and I remember doing my first Iron Man triathlon and I just fell in love with it. And it was hard to have the perfect race. And again, it was like, I can do better. I can do better. I can do better. And you just keep going back to the drawing board, trying to do better.

And I started working for a charity. And it was a charity in Africa. And we ended up breaking the world record for the most half Iron Man's done in a year. And it was so cool because it was the hardest thing I could think of. It totally pushed me physically and mentally. And as you know, the number one question that a lot of people get, that a lot of people ask or want to note in today's day and age is like,

how do I become more mentally tough? It's like how do, and I'm like, well, you have to show up. And it's only through experience that you can become more mentally tough. It's like how do and I'm like, well, you have to show up. And it's only through experience that you can become more mentally tough. And what I've experienced over my career is like when you're when you set a goal, it should be the most intimidating, scary, but exciting goal that you've ever set for yourself. And as you work towards it, and then when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself, this is the hardest thing I have ever done. And then you accomplish it and you're like,

ah, yes, I did that. And now I have knowledge and experience, and you look back at what was the hardest thing, and you say, I can do better. Yeah. And now you've gained confidence and knowledge because you decided to show up and not quit. And only then can you now conceptualize the next big goal. Yeah.

Because I didn't wake up and just go, you know what? Life is hard and I don't have much experience, but I'm going to go do conquer 100. Yeah. Right? You don't go from there to there. And if you do, I guarantee you you're going to fail. Right. Because one, you don't respect the goal and you haven't endured the process to where you gain knowledge and experience. And so the half Iron Man led me to the full Iron Man world record that

led me to the consecutive to where I then believed that I was capable physically and mentally to do a quarter of a year of a hundred consecutive full distance tries, which is, 100 real sports sports endurance history. I want to unpack that for a minute. So I want to want to catch this because you've got a dream, maybe you want to, maybe like, maybe you're sitting there going, look, I don't know what my big thing is yet. What you just unpacked two things are because he said them, you know, in one bunch, one, this is a guy who runs, struggles through

his first four mile deal, right? It's wheeled out of the damn arena, right? Which is incredible. Like that's after the first, the first big one you did, then to think that this is really, this came on the heels of Cassastrophe in your life, which was your mortgage business failing, right? I mean, I wonder if you understand this. Through one of the most difficult times in this in your life, which was your mortgage business failing, right? I mean, I wonder if you understand this through one of the most difficult times in this man's life was really born this new adventure slash challenge in his life. This did not come like in, you know, spring season of his life. It came in winter time. And can you go back that just for a minute?

I mean, were you, did this give you some kind of like a release? Like, hey, this is something maybe I can prove myself in again? Like you said, I loved it. Did you love the actual sweating in the, your gasp by the end of it, or did you love the challenge of the whole thing? Because you had kind of had this business set back. Yeah, I love the challenge of the whole thing.

And I want to congratulate anybody right now that is at rock bottom. that is at rock bottom. Because if you choose to get up and fight, your life is going to be so spectacular. And to me, the best place that I could have ever been was rock bottom. Because it gave me an opportunity to claw back and fight and take back what was mine and prove who I was.

And so I just want to like look, I'm going to be like, was rock bottom because it gave me an opportunity to claw back and fight and take back what was mine and prove who I was. And so I just want to like look, if you're struggling right now and you feel like there's no way out, you're exactly where you need to be. And if you can wake up and say, look, I'm just going to win today. And you don't, you don't gotta get all the way there, but if you just show up and have intent with what you're doing, dude, I'm so excited for you because that's where I was. And I'm telling you, I'm living the life of my dreams right now. And I have the relationship of my dreams. I've got five kids of my dreams.

And none of it would have happened without the lessons and the destruction and everything that I experienced. And so I just want to congratulate anybody listening that if you're in the thick of it and you feel like there's no way out, congratulations, because if you choose to show up with intent every single day, you're going to take your life back and you can because I did and I'm nobody. You know, bro, that's one of those things. It's sitting. I want to baste in that for a minute.

It made me think, by the way, you could tell. He's obviously one of the best speakers in the country too. And his book redefined impossible. The Iron Cowboy redefined impossible. It's really what you did. You redefined what was possible too, right? But I've sat at those Ironmans, because I lived in Cortalaine, so I've sat at an actual Ironman,

one of the trademark ones. And I don't go to watch the pros finish. I've gone, I like to go at nighttime, it's usually raining, and you're watching a 82 year old priest finish right before the end of the night, right? Or a guy with a prosthetic leg, or a lady who's just survived stage four cancer.

And what happens to you when you watch something like that, and then what you've done is some level that's just beyond comprehension almost, is that I weep and everyone's crying. And I, after about six years of doing this, my kids are like, Dad, once a year, you know, it's watching these beautiful souls make something that seemed impossible possible. And I concluded that we're all crying because we know this courage, this mental toughness, this incredible thing these people are displaying, we also have inside us and we're not utilizing. And that's why it's a tear. It's not laughter. It's a tear because I know it's tears of joy, but it's also tears of personal reflection. And when I was watching you finish this thing, I was reflecting, it's amazing you're listening to some of my stuff, but I was

I was reflecting make I just literally lost my breath saying I was reflecting like what am I capable of? You know, what what's the last massive challenge I've taken on in my life? And I'm curious for you, I want to go through it because I think there's metaphors everywhere. And I'm curious for you, I want to go through it because I think there's metaphors everywhere. So he's, by the way, the reason I start out with 30 and 50 is he's done that. And then when you did the 50 and 50, I'm like, bro, I like, you're out of your day of mind, right? And then to go do the conquer 100, but I'm reading about both, you know, both of those last two, it's inspiring, right? But this time, like day five, your shins start exploding, right? Like you time, day five, your shin start exploding. You're on day five.

Talk to us through that. Did you think of quitting then? So two really cool things happened that took me a little bit of time to realize. I went into it knowing that you can't train for 100 consecutive. You have to adapt and evolve along the way. And I knew, look, the first 15 and 20 of these are going to be hell because you've got to get to the point where you're broken physically mentally and then push through that.

That's everybody quits. And if I can push through that, my body is going to adapt and evolve and it's going to become the new normal. Hey, everybody, I want you to write this down, pull over, adapt and evolve. That's in your business, that's in your family, that's in your fitness, that's the key. Go ahead, keep going. Yeah, and so when I went into it with an ankle problem

that I didn't tell anybody about, and it immediately exploded into my shin to where we developed a stress fracture in the bone. And super long story, but a miracle happened, we ended up getting a carbon-plated shin spray brace that allowed us to offload the shin and continue on to heal that stress fracture by doing the marathon portion every single day.

It was a total miracle, but a complete testament to me that you give the body, the tools, and assets that it needs to recover. It can still do so under stress. And that was amazing to me to watch the body heal like that. Now the shin and the imbalance that created a hit problem became so painful. Some of my worst days, I don't remember them, but we have the video footage where I would be trying to move, and the pain would get to a point that I could no longer manage it, and I would black out. And my, we called them the wingman, my wingman would catch me. I'd come back to,

and he would do a 10-second count down and then say here We go and we would repeat that until I got to the emotional but until I got to the finish line that night and Again, it's just a testament to how powerful the mind is now I I was angry because I wanted to showcase how strong our team was mentally and physically and I wanted to make the hundred look easy. I believed we could do that. that I couldn't run and then I was forced to walk. And it turned out to be the biggest blessing of the entire campaign. My pain and discomfort forced me to walk.

And every single day we had people from around the country flying and locals to support us. And without fail, they said, I'm so grateful you're walking. Because I wouldn't have been able to join you if you weren't walking. I wouldn't have been able to join you if you weren't walking. And I was hard on myself because I was like, look, I'm an athlete. I wanted to destroy this.

And as I got deeper into it, I was like, I'm so grateful for this injury. I'm so grateful I'm walking, and my pain has turned into a blessing that other people can join and have an experience. And every single day, somebody did the first 10K with me or their first marathon or their first full distance or their first 100 or their first full distance or their first hungry a hundred mile bike ride and every single day I got to experience somebody else's

first. Wow. And it was humbling and it was humbling. Yeah, humbling. Wow. I mean by the end of this you guys, a couple hundred people ride the cyclists with them. And you, I actually for you, I'm grateful that it didn't look easy because I think you connected, at least with me, watching you struggle. I'm on Instagram every night watching these videos and what was happening. And like, there were literally times for me watching you, like, I'm in tears, like, not wondering the next day. Just, but the, it's one of the most, next day just but the it's one of the most I don't even like to say one of the most because when I say that then I have to think of something that I think is more it's just insanely inspiring and I can't think of something mentally or physically

I've ever seen close to this because of the adversity because of all the people that got caught up in it with you. Also, though, there's an other element of this that, you know, this idea of adapting, I'm just so glad that you said that for everybody's sake. But I'm curious of all of them, the one you time you did the 50 or this time, was there a moment where you're like, I'm out, I'm going to tell you're literally blacking out, right? So that's insane to me. But was there a time when you just consciously went, I'm in too much pain, I'm in too much, because guys, these are icy roads, snowy sometimes.

You imagine shin issues on a snowy ice, oh my gosh. Like, like, was there a point or are there lots of points where you're like, I'm out, where is there one particular bro where you're like, no, no, no, like this time I'm really out. So my team is world class. And there's the core four of us. It's my wife, Sunny Joe, and then the two wingman, Casey and Aaron. And they were, they were the four of us that can thin through the 50 and then I brought those boys back on for the 100

and they played massive roles and Sonny is obviously the head of this entire thing. And we just know from experience that it's okay to feel and it's not okay to quit. It's okay to problem solve, it's not okay to quit. It's okay to problem solve, it's not okay to quit. And it's okay to process. And I think that's what a lot of people don't do, especially men, is they don't allow themselves to feel in process before they hunker down and keep going.

At no point in time was ever any of us saying, you know, we're quit and we gotta be talk back into it. But every single one of us had moments where we just needed to cry to feel, be supported to where we said, okay, I've had my two minutes, I'm not gonna dwell on that, we're gonna quickly turn this around and we're gonna get back to work. And that's the reason the four of us

are so strong together because all four of us have that mindset. And I will tell you this, the closest that I ever came to even considering it was somewhere between 15 and 20, where we were at the peak of that pain, where I had a couple of days where I was blacking out. I don't remember portions of it. And I remember standing in the shower,

and I kind of just shrugged my shoulders at sunny, and I said, I don't know how many more days I can manage the pain at that level. Because when you've got 85 more days to go, that is so daunting. When you're broken, it's hard to conceptualize what it's like. And I'll never forget what she said. She said, you're done today. And you don't have to do anything else. And all you have to do is now trust in the team. Get out of the shower, go lay on the table

and let them take care of you. And then we will face whatever comes tomorrow together. And I think that's what a lot of people don't do is you've got this today's mentality of the people that do decide to show up that it's like, I gotta go in all the time, I gotta go all in all the time, I gotta hurt more than he does, and they don't take two seconds to reset mentally.

And I can't tell you how important that was and the valuable lesson that I learned was, you've done enough today to take two seconds and reset. And as soon as I got into that rhythm knowing, and again, it takes putting the right team together and then it takes letting go and trusting the team that you have put together to do their job, to do their part. And that's hard too, as a man, to let go do their part. And that's hard too, as a man to let go of like control of every piece of that puzzle and to go, I surrender and I trust you to do your part. And it's hard to find good people nowadays that are willing to do their part. And I have that team. And so when

Sonny said, you've done enough today. And I think that's so important because we go through life, and I think we're so hard on ourselves, we see ourselves differently, and how many times in our lives on our journeys, do we take a minute and say, you're enough. You've done enough. And I think it's so important, especially as men,

to be vulnerable and just say, I've done enough today. I'm going to take on tomorrow when tomorrow comes. I'm very surprised to hear you say it yet. It resonates with me as complete truth. Just one of the biggest bad athletes of all time going, hey man, needed to cry, needed to let it go, needed to give myself some credit. I'm enough.

I even sometimes because I'm kind of like you. We're very similar. That's why I think I'm growing to be so fond of you is that we both have pretty masculine sides to us. But we also, whatever you want to call it, there's also sort of a, you can call it a feminine side. I guess the people call it a feminine. If you show feelings, you're feminine, so to speak.

Right? I don't have any problem saying that. And sometimes people will say to me, oh, I love when you don't tell people they're enough when they're not enough. And I'm like, no, they are enough, right? And if they don't believe they're enough, they're not going to get their A effort. How much of it is about

being present though? I would think when you have a hundred days and I'm just spitballing here because you're the one who did it. But the kind of down your road, the other thing that happens when we're down or even when we're winning, we go, I'm going to have to do this 11 more times. I'm going to have to make phone calls 800 more days on my business career. I'm going to have to find 9,000 more clients. Like they start projecting further down the road and stacking this impossibility when most things are in bite-sized chunks in life.

I didn't get to wherever I am. I certainly didn't end up, you know, oceanfront or wherever it is, like because I projected forward. If you to told me everything I had to do to get here, I probably would not have started. But if you sure what I gotta do today, I'll do it today, right?

How much of it? I got to think with a hundred of these. It's like, it might never be the day, it might just be the next step. I don't know, what is it? How do you do that? Yeah, for sure, you've got to break it down into really small, mandible chunks,

or you do, you get overwhelmed. And I actually call it catastropheism. And what that is is looking into the future in an event or situation that hasn't happened yet, and then continually feeding it and giving it energy until it blows out of proportion and control. And it engulfs you, consumes you, and completely breaks you down and sidelines you.

And that's what happens to all of us. Like, guys, business or whatever it is, your to-do list is never going to end. And so like, stop trying to like worry about the pieces of the puzzle that you don't know. And that's another great point is like, you're not going to know everything when you start. And so stop worrying about it,

but just you got to start and start executing. And it was interesting. I had an experience. It was deep into the campaign. Well, two experiences. There was somebody we ran on this this this asphalt trail by my house. And early on, somebody I still don't know who it is. They wrote the words conquer 100 on the trail with spray paint. And then every single day when I would complete it, they would come out and put a hash mark. I was so pissed at this person eight days in because every single time I would go buy it

and it was a reminder that I had 92 more to go. And I was like, are you freaking kidding me? Like stop doing whatever you're doing. I cannot compartmentalize and figure out how to do 82 more of these because I'm trying to be present, stop bringing into my attention that this is happening. Now, I was grateful when there was a 90-something hash marks

and I'm like, yeah, there's 90. That each one of those represents something. And then they threw this party at 51 when we officially broke the world record and then we broke it every single day. But they were like, do your halfway there. And I'm like, F you, don't tell me I'm halfway there because that means to me, I still have halfway to go.

Don't bring that to my consciousness. And it got to the point where I had to break things down into manageable, smaller numbers to where I didn't have 14 to go, I had nine to go till five to go. Yes. And I could manage those smaller compartments. And it was interesting. I got into, I was so hyper focused on the moment, what we were doing. And some, a guy said to me, I was on 91. And he said, dude, you're so close, you have nine more to go.

And I looked at him and I said, no, I have three. And he goes, no, no, close, you have nine more to go. And I looked at him and I said, no, I have three. And he goes, no, no, no, you have nine. And I looked at him and I said, you're a moron. I have three miles to go today. And I was so focused on where I was right there in that moment. He was talking about full distance days to go. And I'm not even like, my mind wasn't even, I could not comprehend what he was saying. And I'm like, you've been with me the whole marathon. How can you not

know we only have three to go? Why do you think we have nine? He was talking about days. And I was so present right there on the moment that I could not comprehend what he was saying because I only had three miles to go to where I was enough that day. And so you've got to be on any journey that you want, whether it's lists or business or marriage or what to be there right now. I've got five kids and people I was like, Hey, you know, how do you do? How do you do family balance and and do what you do? And I'm like, it's not about 30% 30% 30% my daughters, their teenage girls, they don't want 30% of my time. They want me to be all there for four minutes. But when I'm

there in those four minutes, I better be there with them for those four minutes. And so I think James, I think you've hit on something brother because I'm going to tell I better be there with them for those four minutes. I think James, I think you've hit on something, brother, because I'm gonna tell you, the peak performers that I coach outside too, they have an ability to shrink time frame. So they have a long-term pain, like you set out, conquer 100, that's the long-term vision.

Most people can get that done. They can go, I want to be chowse, I want a dream relationship. I want 8% body fat. That the big thing, most people can get there. It's the day-to-day executing at a super high level and a hyper focused, intentional state that most people don't have. And it's because they're projecting into the future. And to some extent, that projection into the future is a cop out distracting from your lack of execution right now. And the best extent, that projection into the future is a cop out distracting from your lack of execution right now. And the best pictures aren't trying to throw a no-hitter.

They're trying to execute this slider low and away. The best, you know, it's from golf. The best golfer isn't thinking about the 16th hole on hole three. They're thinking about this nine iron to 146 five feet left to the hole. In that shot, I tell people all the time you have to have a short-term memory. You have to have short-term memory and you have to have the vision for the long-term goal but, and I'm totally gonna botch the saying,

I don't even know who said it, but like focus and intent right now today will take care of the future in the long-term goal. You don't even have to worry about it if you're executing with incredible focus and intent now. Everything else takes this care of itself. Because there's so much brilliance. I've watched some of your talks, obviously I read the book, but you talk about, I'm gonna tell you something interesting about me that I'll share. I don't know if you have this or not, but I talk about, I'm gonna tell you something interesting about me that I'll share I don't know if you have this or not, but I think if I think some people want to be surprised to know that I'm a I'm easily fearful. What I mean by that is like just because of my upbringing,

when I say fearful meaning, I can my mind will find something to worry about if I let it. And and that's why I have to work on my mental toughness because if I get mentally weak, my mental weakness for me if I get mentally weak, my mental weakness for me, manifest in different people. Mental weakness for me isn't I'm gonna quit or I can't do this. Mental weakness for me manifests itself sometimes in anger

and it manifests itself sometimes in worry or fears. What if this happens? And you talk about like isolating and attacking a fear. I forget where I saw you say or write this, but what do you mean by that and how the heck do you do it? Yeah, so to overcome, like to me, fear is no different than like fear is just an emotion. And like there's fear, there's happiness, there's sadness, they're all they're all just emotions. And we can, there's so many tools and resources out there to overcome any of those buckets, right? And the more we isolate ourselves and focus on something

and the more it magnifies and becomes real. And so what people do is they have this fear, which is an irrational thought process because of either lack of preparation or experience. And so when I said that, I meant, look, you've got to realize what your fear is and then attack it with relentless pursuit and break it down into a manageable piece that you can go and then have confidence and momentum to take on the next piece of it, right? And so it's just like we were talking about being present. Let's say our fear will compare that to the giant goal, okay? You're not just going to rush and accomplish the big goal.

You've got all of the tasks that are manageable along the way as your present to try to get there. Fear is the same thing. If fear is the big goal, you not have to break down that fear into something that is manageable and a little less scary to where you can go and take it on, head on and fight that fight. Now as you gain momentum and experience and you're getting closer to what the true root or true fear is, now you're gaining momentum and confidence in having success along the way.

By the time you get there, you've overcome it and it's no longer a fear. And that's what people need to do is they need to show up in their lives, but they need to break things down to where you gain the success, you gain the momentum, and you can ultimately, you know, by the time you get there, you're a price fighter. And you're like, let's go. I'm going to drop kick you in the face. I'm going to hall-cogon leg drop you and it's over. Somebody should be transcribing this and just turning it into a book on mental toughness and achievement. Seriously, it's what it should be. I'm sitting here going by the way I love the Hulkster. Just so you know, it's why I hate vitamins when I was a kid because of Hulk Hogan. So what about this? I want to ask you a couple of things. What's the hardest part about this? You just said, hey man, the hardest part

about conquer 100 endurance in general, the hardest part is or was what? I think truly it's believing in yourself that you can do it because it's belief in conviction. It's getting to the point where you have the belief in conviction where it's impossible for you to fail. And I listened to the recently, the podcast with Tim Grover.

And dude, stud love his stuff, but I am gonna disagree with something he said. And I believe he meant it to, once you've reached this level and you want to win at the highest level, it's no longer, I showed up and that's a success. I think for the masses, showing up needs to be celebrated because they're so lost. And this generation showing up is a problem. My daughter is the supervisor at her job. And this is gonna blow your mind.

There's this three strike policy on a no call no show. You're allowed to no call no show three times before you're fired. Can you imagine an employer when you are working and growing up and fighting and digging? You don't even, it's like they don't even warn you. One no call no show, I'm sorry, you're gone, right? The fact that in today's day and age, there is a three-strike policy on a no-call no-show completely blew my mind. And so I think I have a little bit of empathy for this. I struggle understanding it because of the massive generation

get my kids all call me a boomer. But it's crazy that I found out that category. But I do think showing up needs to be celebrated because that's where it starts. And a lot of times showing up is the hardest thing. Because you're overwhelmed, you're daunting. And people don't have the confidence yet because they don't have the experience.

Well, brother, I think one of the best. The best ability is availability, right? And the other part of it is learning to play hurt, learning to play physically hurt, obviously in your case, but learning to play mentally hurt, showing up and playing when things are a mess at home, showing up and playing when there's no money in the bank. Because I don't think that I have a lot of superpowers, but one of them it's ironic that you said is I would get my ass up and I would get to the office when I didn't eat breakfast because I had no damn money for breakfast, kind of hope.

And if I busted my butt that day, somebody at the office would take me to lunch. Right? That's the truth. And so that shows up. But you look at right now as we're recording this, the NBA playoffs are going on. It's a process of attrition. I don't think the best teams going to win this year. The best team is the layman. It's the Lakers maybe. It might have been the Nets, but they couldn't get guys to show up because

they were hurt and they couldn't play hurt. There's a difference between injured and hurt. I get that. But the point I'm saying is this year, there's probably going to be a championship held up by somebody who's not the most talented, not the most gifted, didn't have the best record during the season, because they showed up, they could get their bodies to show up. You're absolutely right about this. Can you, can you imagine if the NBA finals this year ends up being Atlanta versus Phoenix? I know.

Who would, who would have said, oh, yeah, I'm going to put all my money on Atlanta, Phoenix fine in the finals. Like everybody would be like, who do you crazy? That's like a for sure way to flush your money down the toilet. Even if one of them, even if one of them gets in, that's amazing. Insane. And here's what's interesting about this concept is I got to ask the question, hey, at what point in time during your day, do you know that you're going to finish? During your day, do you know that you're gonna finish? And I said, well, that's easy as soon as I get in the water. Wow. And to me,

that's where I think it's important to celebrate just showing up because in my world, when I show up, I know it's accomplished. I know it's done. And and and and so it triggers you to finish that's showing up triggers mean to finish and it creates that momentum going forward. So really the answer to the question is, at what point in time did you know you were gonna be successful? And I said, well, as soon as I did the first stroke and as soon as I made the decision to show up, I knew the goal was done.

Because how many of us don't show up and don't have that clear path to what we're doing. So for me, I celebrate showing up because in my mind, showing up means I've completed the goal. Yeah. And I think we both, I know exactly what you mean. And I know we both know what Tim was saying at the highest level. For sure.

Yep. Is that there's a level past that but the baseline function to get into the pool of success, you have to be there swimming even if it's with floaties on. Yep. You've got to get into the pool of success, you have to be there swimming, even if it's with floaties on. You've got to get there, even if you're in the shallow end. You want to go play in the deep end. That's another story. That's a different story. Grovers talk, most of the deepest, deepest end. But just getting in that pool, the success pool is something to be celebrated. And for you, the trigger is I'm in the pool and finishing. I'm done. And I think it's important for people to understand that you're never going to feel ready. And that's why it's important to show up because

by showing up you start to gain that knowledge and experience that you need in order to bridge that gap from where you were to where you're going. Nobody shows up and is an expert. I have this picture of me in my very first event where I was in a pool. I'm holding on to the edge of the pool, gasping for air with a nose plug on because I don't know how to swim. And I promise you, nobody would have looked at that guy and said he's going to go on and break four world records

and set sports endurance history. Nobody would, like that's just like St. Atlanta and Finair's gonna be in the finals. Nobody puts their money on that guy, but that's my point and I hope that people get from this is you need to show up when you're not ready and when you don't have the confidence because that's how you gain the confidence

to be ready to take it to another level so that you don't have to celebrate showing up like Grover saying you can now focus on winning, right? And to where you can just consciously be conscious and like a full distance for me became routine to where my body craved doing it and it became the new normal. What would have happened that I not decided to show up because I didn't feel I was ready? How many thousands of people around the world have had our family had an opportunity to impact? I can't tell you the messages that have come around the world of people.

I was out walking on the marathon. I can't remember what day it was and a guy came up to me and he said, hey, you don't know me. But before the journey started, literally the day before the journey started, I almost took my own life. And he goes, I showed up on day one and I watched you. And I just, I just wanted to see what you were doing. And then I showed up on day number two.

And by the time I hit day number 10, I saw the intense struggle that you were going. And you set the example that you just have to keep showing up and face the demons and adversity, and things can get easier. And he goes, you saved my life. Oh my gosh. And I can't tell you we have a hundred of those stories.

And I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I decided not to show up when I didn't think I was worthy or had value to show up and start my journey. Because we truly have no idea who's watching, especially as a parent. I mean, our kids, holy cow, they are watching, they hear everything, They see everything. They may tell you they hate you, but you are their hero.

And I think as adults, we need to, we have a responsibility to be the best who we are at all times because we have no idea who's watching. And I think our kids are watching even when we think we're alone. And it's the most impactful times of our lives. And I think who we are, when we think nobody's watching is who we truly are to our core and what our values truly

are. And so I think we need to do a constant self audit of who we are in those moments when nobody's watching because that's who our true character is. And I believe what our potential is. And so if we can be extra ordinary and spectacular in the dark when we think nobody's watching, imagine what you can do when the lights are on and you have thousands of people watching you. Imagine the impact that you can have on individuals if you were to show up in your life

with that type of intent every single day, the legacy that you could leave, if that's who you were on a 24 hour basis. I, you said earlier that fear is an emotion. One of these things about kids I would just add that you're saying, our kids are watching everything. And I used to think your kids are going to behave just like you behave. That's not always true.

Some do some don't. That they're going to think just like you think. Some do some don't. That they're going to think just like you think some do some don't Let me tell you what I think most kids end up mirroring as they become adults your emotions. So if they see you live with a particular set of emotions, anger, fear, worried depression, their life may go out and they may produce external results, but they'll find themselves their emotional home being those same emotions they saw you experiencing. And so, but if they see you experiencing joy, ecstasy, passion, triumph, challenge, these other emotions, they do mirror, I found that my dad's life was very different than mine. Right? You know that he had drank and you know that. But I got older. I was, I behaved a little bit like my dad, but I did sort of experience the same emotions

as him, even though our external lives are very different. Some of those emotions I wanted to have, because I loved my dad, but some of them I didn't. And I'm like, why am I not happier? Why am I down when I've got all this stuff? I learned to embody those emotions watching my dad all those years. And so you listening to this, what emotions do you carry that are your parents? And in front of your children, what emotions are they seeing you experience? Because they see you in the quiet times. They see you driving in the car.

They see you when you get home from work and it's, aww, right? They see those things. And so cup big cognizant of your emotions. Speaking of emotions, I got a thing to do something this again, but we got a couple more minutes. Thank you for today, by the way. And I mean that someone transcribed this, put it in a book, and sell the heck out of it. But what about your reasons? I say, I think big goals are awesome. But when I meet people that have deep emotional reasons

for doing this, or whatever it is they're doing, that typically overrides most pain, most fear, most adversity, when they can reflect on those reasons. What are yours and is there any time during these hundred days that you reflect on it, either during the running, swimming or biking, or when you're resting in the evening?

I think the number one reason people fail in anything that they're doing is because the reason, the benefit, the value, didn't match the sacrifice that they were doing. And I think that is the reason why most people fail is because they haven't put enough thought and time into what they're doing. And I call it a bag of wise.

And everybody says, what's your why, what's your reason? And I promise you, if you go into a journey that has meaning that is going to push you to the brink that is gonna challenge you to your very core, it's gonna back you into a corner and you're gonna experience some darkness that you've never felt. I promise you your one reason is not enough.

And you're going to have to pull all of the reasons and put them together into one big ball of purpose and reason in order to overcome that moment. Because you're going to get there and you're going to go, this is why I started. Now that I'm in the pain that I'm in and I'm back into the corner, that's not enough and I'm out. And so, so if you're on the cusp of something big and in a journey, I think it's super important to sit back and reflect and start to compile the reasons that you're doing it. And it can't be a lifetime reason, right?

Things are always going to evolve and change. When I was on the 50, we had lost everything. We were broke. I wasn't financially stable. We had lost our home. They had taken it away from me. And while I was out there, my reason was, I'm going to take my life back. I'm going to build my dream home and my I'm going to give my wife and kids the family that I believe they deserve.

Well, I had done that and going into the hundred, that can no longer be my reason. It has to change. And so you have to be thoughtful and with intent with the purpose and reason you're doing things. And to be honest with you, a huge reason for me on the hundred was because I said I would. And to me, even in the darkest of moments, my word meant so much that I could not set that ultimate example for my kids and watch them or have them watch me back out for really no good reason. Pain, discomfort, just because I'm done.

And to me, showing my kids that ultimate example of, you say you're going to do something which I think is a lost arc. And to me, showing my kids that ultimate example of, you say you're going to do something, which I think is a lost arc. To me, when I said I was gonna do it, it was my virtual handshake to anybody that was listening that I'm committing to do that. And I think the day and age of like there's gotta be

an ironclad contract and this money on the line and that might, no, I shook your hand and I said, I'm gonna go out and do the Conquer 100 project. And to me, it was, I'm going to prove to everybody but most importantly, myself and my family that I am who I said I am. And without question, it's going to take hell or high water for me not to continue on the journey and to do what I said I was going to do.

And to me, that was reason enough. And it should be reason enough for most people that our words should be our bond and integrity at the highest level should be the most important thing. If you lead with love and integrity, the cream will always rise to the top. And sometimes it's going to take a little bit longer, but if you always strive to take the higher road, you never have to look over your shoulder. You never have to worry about somebody opening up the closet. You never have to worry about somebody else's opinion of you. You never have to worry about the journey that you're on because you have built that confidence of love and integrity

and you can go forward with intense confidence that no, it doesn't matter what anybody else's opinion is because I have that love and integrity on the journey that I am and my family's here with me and nothing can trump that. Right. Right. Uh, you know, there's, there's people who say inspiring things and then there's inspiring people rarely are, is somebody both. And it's your, you're incredible.

Like I'm watching my face in the cameras. You're talking like I need to maintain my face. Because I don't, you know, I don't, I've not only have ever done that in an interview before. I got a lot of things I wanted to get to. We'll have you back because you're incredible. But I do want to go through two more things. One was the hardest part, the lack of rest. I'm just curious because there's not a ton of rest. I mean, the actual sleep, like I was reading that you actually didn't just black

out, but like you could fall asleep riding the bike, true or false? True. So let me contrast really quick, the difference between the 50 campaign where we did 50 falls and 50 days through 50 states. And then the 100 where it was in a remote location. Which you got to get more rest then, right, the second time. Correct. So, so if I was to pigeonhole or label the 50, it was logistics, it was fatigue, and it was chaos. And then the hundred would have been pain and duration. Right. And so, so the whole reason I believed that a hundred was possible was if I remove chaos, what systems in place,

can we double what everybody thought was impossible and defy logic, right? And what happened was the chaos still ensued because you just can't predict the unpredictable. And when you're doing anything for a quarter of a year, we've all heard that in order to achieve success, you've got to have, it's when preparation meets luck. And a lot of luck has to go into these types of things when you're doing it for that long. And so to compare those two, the hundred was very difficult because of how long it was.

And the, I mean, you're talking about going from 7,000 mile campaign to 14,000 miles, which is that compounding effect of that is super hard to rationalize in our minds and in our heads. And so that's how I would compare the 50 and the 100. It's just, it's even as you say it, it's just unbelievable. It's just unbelievable.

It's just, it's got to be one step in front of the next. All right, last question. By the way, thank you for today. I think goes without saying, like I already know what the response is going to be to this. I have, you know, when I do interviews, I love all of them. I won't have someone on my program anymore. We're lucky that we can get who we want typically that I'm already not friends with fast-nated buyer inspired buyer want to learn myself from.

But then there are certain ones that I'm doing the conversation. I'm in the interview, but I'm making decisions as you're talking, man. And that's when I know it's profound. And that's what I've been doing the whole time we're talking. Share with us what it's like to finish, to achieve it. So you've had a few of these. You know, we're all sitting out here like, I got my dream too, man. Mine isn't a hundred, a conquer a hundred. You know, it's not that.

My dream is X or Y. What's it feel like? Whoo! I did it. What's that feeling like if you can even begin to describe it? Yeah, this could be an entire podcast to unpack because coming off the 50, I got heavily warned. They said, look, you're going to fall into depression, you're going to have confusion, brain fog, you're not going to what's what's up. And I didn't

experience that on the 50. And so when I was coming off of the 100, I was like, it's not gonna happen. I've got this. I'm a man. I'm invincible. I just I just I just did sports history. I'm good. And and I you saw the emotion. Yeah, crossing the finish line of the 100. And it was that was good. And you saw the emotion crossing the finish line of the hundred and it was, that was raw and that was real. And what I didn't expect was the depression, the confusion, the brain fog. I don't know when it happened, but at some point in the time I transitioned into a protective state to where I was in such trauma and and turmoil that my brain was protecting me and it was not allowing me to feel and I believe I was and I it was probably around 85 that now looking back on it I was in the ultimate of flow state

Now looking back on it, I was in the ultimate of flow state. And that's when it was somebody said, the documentary asked me a question, they said, I was on the table and they said, how many could you do? And I said 200. I didn't even hesitate. I was like 200. I was in such a state of power and flow.

And then I came out of it. And I had this like my brain and our brains are so powerful Ed that it was masking every emotion that was real and that I was feeling and it's hard to explain, but I was in an ultimate protective state from trauma. And I now have a lot of empathy for people that are going through something intense that they aren't themselves because they're trying to protect themselves from the feelings or the emotions or the trauma of what they're going through. And I would have never said I was in that state until I had an opportunity to come out of it. And it's been really hard. I've

been walking around the house. I'm supposed to be recovering. I don't know what to do. That was who I was. And that's who I, that was my identity and everything. And now that gets stripped away. And then you start questioning, well, who am I? Is that my only value? Is that my only worth?

And then now you start to have this like real conversation with yourself, okay, now where, what is my place? And you start to go this through this transitional conversation with yourself. And I think there's three phases to any big journey. It's preparation, it's execution, and then it's post and recovery to whatever that looks like. And I think we have to respect all three levels

of that type of journey. And the recovery portion of it could be the most important because it's when you unpack the lessons and you try to internalize the experience so that you can evolve again and be a better person to have influence that you want to have to help other people have that same type of experience in their lives on a positive level. And so I'm again, I'm grateful for the struggle. I'm grateful for the lessons that I can learn so that I can develop empathy for others that are in that situation. And so like we talked about, I'm grateful for rock bottom. I'm grateful for the struggle. I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn those lessons so that I can be a better father and person. I'm grateful for you today. And hopefully it will dawn on you when we finish this that one of the places you belong is doing

what we just did here today. Because literally millions of people's lives are affected by this, especially on the audio side, millions of people. And there were no wasted words today. And only you are qualified to deliver these because of what you've gone through, because of what you've achieved only you. No one else could do what you did today. Because someone else has not gone down literally the road that you've gone down. It makes me emotional to say. And so it'll begin to reveal itself to you, brother, as you move forward, you're in that repair and recover stage. One of the realest answers of all time,

I've had the same sense. A lot of athletes, a lot of business people have had those things happen. Oftentimes, mothers have it when they have the dream of giving childbirth. Some of that is obviously chemical, but it is a thing that sometimes when this is this journey ends, our identity changes, the chemistry in our body isn't just right. And there's just what's next. Is there a next? What's my value? All those things you said, I can just tell you that for everyone that listened to watch this today, they would all come back and you put their arms around you, hug you, go, brother, you just did it. You just spent an hour doing it. And I can see the emotion

on your face now. And so little did you know, it's the ripple effect, you know, only you are capable of delivering the words and the messages and the insights you have because only you have gone down that road. So I'm grateful for you. And wow, like just a wow. So thank you. And I'm here to help you, by the way, you know that we've got each other's numbers, anything I can do in this transitional phase for you. Can I wrap up with one thought? 100%. Yes. Okay, so I don't know if you tuned out after day 100.

Do you know what we did the next day? No, I don't. Okay, so we did 101. Did you really? Did you really and? Really, yeah, so we went live every day during the swim and and I I think this is important because of who you are and you know your tagline of max out and

We turned on the live the following day when I would have normally been swimming every single day. And it was, and it was just me in the pool by myself doing one more. And I got asked the question a lot, why did you do one more? And I had a lot of people understand. And then I had a lot of people just, they were confused. And I, I, I hate the, because the way I feed my family is I get on stage and we tell our story, we motivate and we do coaching and whatnot. And I love talking from stage and impacting people. And I don't appreciate the speakers that are out there

trying to teach a lesson when they haven't done it. They haven't been on the battlefield in the battle. And I felt like I would be a hypocrite if I told people that you can get up and you can do one more. And the campaign day 100 was on a Tuesday. And Sunday night, I said, I just got the most intense impression, James, you need to do one more. And I was like, are you freaking kidding me? Like I am broken. Like I am mentally exhausted. I've been showing

up for a quarter of a year, why would I do one more? And I got the impression it's not for you. And I felt like our team needed to show up and do one more because on your journey, when you're broken, and when you are at your limit, I promise you, you can get up and you can do one more. And that one more might be by yourself. And I don't know how many times you're going to have to get up and do one more by yourself, but I promise you, you can get up one more. And I didn't feel like I could bring integrity to our story if I didn't go out and as a team, we did one more. And so we did one-on-one because I wanna leave

from the front and I wanna show people when you are broken and when you have reached your limit, you can do one more. James, the book I'm writing right now is called One More. You just stole the title of my next book, Ed, we're in a fight. I'm going to be out before you. And I'm adding your story to the book because I have the rights to this podcast. But I'm not exaggerating. I'm almost done. And I told you that you went on this journey. You did this. I know you did it from Ony's, but you just did it for me. And so I'm sure the books will be very different in content. But yeah, the

My book is the power of one more. And it'll be out in the fall. I am so excited for that book. I'm just blown away that you just said that that Maybe the craziest thing has ever been done on the show and it was at the end. I hope everyone's still listening because that's a That's a wow. Thank God you added that too to an unbelievable conversation. So thank you James. Everybody go find find the iron cowboy on Instagram, follow him, get his book, book him to speak. It's just he's the real deal. Like he said, like you're bringing someone who's done these things and does not struggle through the ability to articulate his thoughts and his point and his emotions. He's got an anointing with his language as well. So thank you for today, brother.

And everybody out there, share this, subscribe. If you're listening to the audio, subscribe to YouTube. If you're watching YouTube, go subscribe to Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes, or one of these platforms. Get the audio version as well. God bless you all, max out. This is the end my let's show.