Triathlete Jo Lawn is headed in a new direction.
After a professional Ironman career spanning 20 years and multiple titles, Lawn retired in January. Now the 40-year-old has a new job and is expecting her first baby, and she already has a goal to return to a different kind of racing.
Lawn is enjoying a change of pace after moving from competing to coaching.
"Once you retire everyone pretty much goes into coaching, and I thought, 'Oh I don't want to be a coach,'" she says. "But I love it – really, really enjoy it. I just want to share my experiences and I hope that the girls can believe what I'm telling them."
And she has plenty of experience. Lawn has completed more than 40 Ironman races, which included a record seven New Zealand Ironman titles.
Her last race was the Auckland half Ironman in January where she finished third.
"On race day I'd turn into this other person and I just dug deep until I got to the finish line. You've seen me race so many times, and I would just to go a different place and I think in life you can only go to that same place a few times. I think I've probably done it enough times."
Now 40, Lawn retired to start a family with husband Armando Galaragga. They are expecting their first child in November.
"Everyone was like, 'You're old,' and then Ironman isn't the easiest sport, especially the way I flogged myself. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. That's what I believed. Everything has a time."
That includes her return to competition. She plans to run the Auckland marathon next year.
"I will race it," she says. "I know it's going to hurt, but it's just something to give you a goal."
"So train for it, see how it goes," says Galaragga. "I have done it the past five years and I think I can give her some tips, so really excited. I will take care of the kid."
And that's a job both of them can't wait to begin.
3 News
source: newshub archive
