19 - James Noriega

Everyday Ironman Podcast

In this episode, I speak to one of the few finishers of the Texas Two Step. In October 2021 Waco, TX hosted both the full and ½ distance Ironman race on the same weekend.

James is married with 3 adult children and works 60-70 hours per week as a Podiatric Surgeon. When he is not saving his patient’s feet, he is beating his own up on the racecourse. James has completed 16 full distance Ironman races and too many sprint, Olympic and half iron-distance races to count.

James and I discuss how he and his training partner signed up for both distances on the same weekend and James acknowledges that his middle son completed the 70.3 but took 10 minutes longer than he did, leaving Dad with bragging rights.

We discuss the logistic of handling all the things needed to participate in both races and recognize the incredible job by the Ironman staff and Volunteers. James and the less than 20 other athletes, who participated in both races, were given the VIP treatment that they deserved.

While I only raced the 70.3, this was a unique opportunity to breakdown the race into phases and discuss both how James' race experience on the course was different from one day to the next as well as how it was compared to my own personal experience.

I improperly acknowledge @scottflathousephoto for the awesome race photos that are posted on Instagram.

James talks about the advantage of his @diamondbikes and his positive experiences with their Customer Service and onsite race mechanic.

You can follow James @noriega1