Rigor: unyielding, uncomfortable, and often unforgiving.
For James Lawrence, this was what life was like every day for over three months as he set the world record for consecutive Ironmans.
A full Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run — an effort that takes even the most elite athletes eight to 10 hours. In 2015, Lawrence completed 50 Ironman-distance triathlons in 50 days across all 50 states. Then, in 2021, he decided that wasn’t enough and went for 100. He completed 101 and survived to write Iron Hope.
What makes this book resonate beyond sport is that the principles required to train oneself, motivate a team, and organize such an undertaking are not limited to endurance racing. In Iron Hope, Lawrence doesn’t just refer to these principles or tell stories about others who have exhibited them — he embodies them, almost to the point of death and certainly to the point of blacking out. His running partners had to hold him upright as his muscles staged a revolt, entering what he describes as full-on rigor.
The principles themselves are not unique, but they are enduring. Among the most important tenets Lawrence returns to are:
- Build a team. We can do nothing alone.
- Communicate your goals. It shows vulnerability and allows others to hold you accountable.
- Be consistent. Success is built slowly by doing the small things each day that ladder up to a greater objective.
- Be grateful. Gratitude helps put things in perspective and helps you retain a sense of humility. It is not practiced nearly enough and is too often forgotten.
Lawrence has valuable insights about all four principles. For instance, in terms of gratitude, he writes about the time he was biking up Mt. Kilimanjaro (a separate feat) when his legs started giving out and he wanted to stop. But then he saw a veteran hiking up the mountain with a prosthetic leg. In that moment, Lawrence realized how grateful he was for his own legs.
Gratitude helps flush out the negativity floating through your mind and helps you control your inner voice — another key to taking your performance to the next level. If you’re grateful for an early morning run without distractions, you’re less likely to dwell on a nagging ache or an irritable colleague.
But to read Iron Hope simply as a collection of principles is to miss what makes it memorable. The lessons themselves are not new. What’s remarkable is the extent to which Lawrence lives them out — through exhaustion, injury, self-doubt, and suffering that is difficult to even read about. And yet he kept going. What emerges is not a checklist for success, but something more visceral.
It is hope.
That’s what makes the book inspiring. Not because any of us should attempt 100 Ironmans, and not because our daily challenges are directly comparable to blisters so deep they had to cut away layers of skin just to drain them. They aren’t. But reading about that level of commitment does something to your sense of possibility. It reminds you that endurance is real, that resilience is not just a nice idea, and that hope is often found on the other side of effort. Robin Williams once said, “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” A book like Iron Hope widens your appreciation for that truth. It shows what a person can carry, what a person can withstand, and what can still be accomplished in the middle of pain.
My favorite quote from the book is probably the least dramatic: “Planning might not be glamorous, but planning is glorious.” That line feels earned here. Not because it offers a neat formula, but because it points to the quiet beginning of ambitious things.
You may never attempt anything remotely close to what James Lawrence did. I know I won’t. But that’s not really the point. What Lawrence leaves us with is a larger sense of what human beings are capable of — and a little more hope about what you might be capable of, too.
President’s Picks is a book review and leadership advice column written by Tyler Griffin, president of mortgage banking at Lument. Email tyler.griffin@lument.com with any suggestions, comments, or questions.
