Running with the Iron Cowboy

If you don't know who the Iron Cowboy is or what he is doing, you should Google him.  Check out his 50.50.50 website HERE.

What's the 50.50.50?  

Good question.  James (the Iron Cowboy) is doing 50 Ironman distance triathlons in 50 days, one in each of the 50 states.  Take THAT Dean Karnazes!  But very much like Dean, James is doing an incredible physical feat for the purpose of raising awareness for a cause, childhood obesity including nutrition and of course exercise.

What is the Iron Cowboy doing every day?

He is swimming 2.4 miles either in open water or a pool (dependent on weather and conditions), biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles.  Then it's time to pack up and head to the next state.  To be honest, the exercise is the easy part.  It's the nutrition and recovery that is tricky.

Is 50 Ironmans in 50 days even physically possible?

When he started out, a number of us debated how probable it'd be.  As he went and hit speed bumps along the way, we continued to debate what might befall James.  However, once I met him, I was convinced that this guy could do 300 in a row and keep right on ticking.  Barring any accident or incident out of his control, James has got this thing wrapped up!  At the writing of this, James is on #45 in South Dakota and I am very much looking forward to him finishing.

Why is he doing all of this?

Great question!  I'll let James answer that for himself.

How did you run with the Iron Cowboy?

While in each state, the Iron Cowboy crew is asking local athletes to come out and run a 5k with James.  Heck, they're asking athletes to come out and do just about anything they want with him - come down and do an Ironman if you want!  He'd love the company for sure!  But even for just the 5k, it's a great way to give James something to look forward to every day, an opportunity for some camaraderie, and a way to get his message out.  On July 5th, James was in CT, so a number of triathletes and I from HEAT (our local tri club) headed down to check it out.  Here's my largely pictorial recap of the event.

Driving up to the Iron Cowboy caravan and locale at Swim Seventy in Norwalk, CT.  "There's his RV!"

The Iron Cowboy RV!  This is their home for 50 days.  And there are 4 of I think 7 bikes!

The setup outside of Swim Seventy.  Free bibs to run with and t-shirts, hats, bags for sale.  James' kids were running the majority of the setup.  They've had plenty of practice over the last 30 days!

The required pictures next to the Iron Cowboy RV!  Everyone took turns!

A local tradition of "Guess whose shoe!"

And selfies!

There they come!  James had gone out to get in an hour of his run before we started.  Apparently he was not alone. 

This is what I love about James.  The very first thing he does as he gets to home base is bend over and listens to his son tell him all about his airplane.  His patience is incredible.  Yes, he could be a grouch for 50 days, but instead he has such an appreciation for being able to be out there and do what he's doing along with appreciating what his family is doing in order to support him.  Kudos!

James then addressed the crowd and gave a little speech (inserted at the top) to tell us why he's doing what he's doing.  Then we took a group photo and were off.

And we're off!

No traffic stops for us.  We have to wait at lights!

Made it to a local track to make the rounds.

Running with triathlon history in the making.

James will stop for any opportunity to encourage the kids!

Lots of great photo ops!

Thanks Test Field for the use of your track.

HEAT representing!!

The final stretch before making it back to home base.  Once we got back, there were a lot of pictures!

If you live in a state that James hasn't yet traveled to, or you can make it to one (there were some ladies we met in CT that had traveled from NY to spend the day with James!), I highly encourage it.  It is very low key, but well worth the trip.  As I said before, James has this thing in the bag and it is incredible to see him in action.

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Questions
1.  How many Ironmans do you think you could do in a row?
If you've done one, you know what the morning after feels like.  Doing another is not my first thought!  

2.  If you could do an Ironman in any state (or location for that matter), where would it be?
James said that he gets asked what state he's looking forward to most.  His response was that he loves wherever he is at that moment.  He is incredibly 'In the Moment' and loves every second of this adventure.


DREAM.  BELIEVE.  ACHIEVE.