This season, though, the former 70.3 world champ is happier, healthier and readier than ever to prove she\u2019s still got what it takes to succeed at the very top\u2026<\/p>\n
220<\/em>: You\u2019ve lived in the U.S. for almost a decade now and you recently moved to Boulder. What prompted the move and how\u2019s life in the tri mecca?<\/strong><\/p>\n Holly Lawrence:<\/strong> We came to Boulder for a few weeks last summer and instantly enjoyed it; LA was becoming an increasingly hard place to live and train, especially after Covid. I tend to absorb the energy or stress of others.<\/p>\n Boulder is so much quieter and life just feels easier. I grew up in a rural area in the UK, so being in nature feels like home. Where we live, I can be out riding or running on trails within a few hundred metres of my front door.<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s also great to have so many people to train with, if I want to. I hate swimming on my own and have always enjoyed swimming with people faster than me. I\u2019m often in the pool with Flora Duffy<\/strong><\/a>, Rudy von Berg and ITU speedsters like Kevin Macdowell and Kirsten Kasper.<\/p>\n I usually ride and run with Sean [Jefferson, her fianc\u00e9, coach and former pro ITU racer] and link up for some of my long runs with friends who are pro runners. I\u2019m a social trainer and this gives me a good mix of training solo when I need to and being around others when I want to.<\/p>\n 220<\/em>: Where will we see you racing this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> I started the season with fourth at 70.3 Oceanside. Next up for me will be the PTO European Open in Ibiza in May<\/strong><\/a> [Holly finished 10th], then probably 70.3 Boulder in August, the PTO US Open in August<\/strong><\/a> and possibly the PTO Asian Open in Singapore, but that\u2019s only a week out from my main focus \u2013 the 70.3 Worlds in Finland at the end of August.<\/p>\n 220<\/em>: You\u2019ve already won a 70.3 world championship [in 2016<\/a>]. What motivates you to win another?<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> I want to prove it wasn\u2019t a fluke. I want to get back to the form I had before getting sick at the end of 2019, and it\u2019s the pursuit of that that really drives me. [Lawrence won five 70.3 races in 2019 after returning from a broken foot in 2018, but was then sidelined for months with pneumonia in late 2019].<\/p>\n I love that feeling of being in a race, knowing you\u2019re at your very best, executing the performance you\u2019re capable of, pushing yourself to your absolute limits. It\u2019s at those times that I can really eke everything from myself. I had that in 2019 and it felt phenomenal.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still more to come from me \u2013 I know it and my team knows it \u2013 and that\u2019s what keeps me motivated. I feel like it\u2019s taken a while to get back to where I was, but I\u2019m rediscovering that form now and that excites me.<\/p>\n The standard of racing is higher now than it\u2019s ever been, the hierarchies are always changing; I want to prove I can still be the best of the best.<\/p>\n 220<\/em>: And you have more than \u2028just the Worlds to look forward \u2028to this summer.<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> Yes, Sean and I are getting married the week after the 70.3 Worlds. We\u2019ll fly from Finland to the UK where our wedding will take place in the village where I grew up, Buckland St. Mary in Somerset. My parents are arranging it all and we have friends and family coming from all over the world.<\/p>\n Name:<\/strong> Holly Lawrence<\/p>\n Age:<\/strong> 33<\/p>\n Home:<\/strong> Boulder, Colorado (originally Buckland St. Mary, Somerset)<\/p>\n Best results to date:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> 220<\/em>: You say a happy Holly is a \u2028fast Holly. How do you get the best from yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> Consistency and routine. I love routine. I love quietly doing the work, day after day. I like to keep it fun. I like to think of every race I go to as a holiday. Even though I\u2019m doing this professionally and it\u2019s my job I still want it to feel special, I never want it to feel too serious.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why you\u2019ll always see me goofing around at the start of a race. I like to keep it like that and I like to interact with fans and age-groupers as much as possible.<\/p>\n 220<\/em>: You have a strong social media presence. How important is social media for pro athletes nowadays?<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> Incredibly important. But I always remind myself that I\u2019m an athlete first and foremost, not an influencer, and nothing is more important than training. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve struggled with because I\u2019m naturally a shy person, so it doesn\u2019t always come easily to me to share things in such a public setting.<\/p>\n Sean and I recently launched our own YouTube channel<\/strong><\/a> and I struggled with that a bit to begin with. But over the past few years it\u2019s become especially important and is typically written into every sponsorship contract now. More than anything, I want my social content to reflect me and who I am, to be authentic.<\/p>\n 220<\/em>: Do you have any plans to step up to Ironman<\/a> this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> Tentative ones, yes! I\u2019ve been considering it and it\u2019s something we will make a call on a bit later in the season. If I do one it would obviously be after the 70.3 Worlds and then it would be a case of picking a race that plays to my strengths.<\/p>\n 220<\/em>: Do you ever think about what you\u2019ll do when you retire?<\/strong><\/p>\n HL:<\/strong> I\u2019ve always said I\u2019ll keep racing for as long as I\u2019m enjoying it and I still feel I have plenty of years left yet. Sean and I would like to have a family, so that\u2019s something I\u2019ve thought about, but that obviously wouldn\u2019t have to mean the end of my racing career.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been so inspiring to see so many pro women proving that you can do both and come back to racing, particularly after Chelsea\u2019s [Sodaro<\/strong><\/a>] win in Kona last year.<\/p>\n I feel like I\u2019m someone who always enjoys the energy and excitement of racing, so when it does come time to retire I\u2019d want to stay in triathlon somehow, making the most of what I can give back to the sport.<\/p>\n Enjoy it!<\/strong> I always see people who look like they can\u2019t wait for it all to be over. I do everything I can to keep it fun during race week, whether that\u2019s my own hotel pamper session or meeting up with people who make me laugh.<\/p>\n Fuel right.<\/strong> I limit fibre and increase my carb intake for three days pre-race so I\u2019m not jamming all those carbs in the day before.<\/p>\n Train your brain.<\/strong> In the days leading up to a race I\u2019ll mentally rehearse the whole race. On race morning, I\u2019ll practise my entire transition flow so that during the race I don\u2019t even have to think about it.<\/p>\n![\""Holly\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2022\/05\/holly-lawrence-2016-ironman-70-3-world-championship-4b0b4d3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Ironman\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Holly Lawrence\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Holly\u2019s top tips for nailing your next 70.3<\/strong><\/h4>\n