The smile on Holly Lawrence’s face said it all as the beaming triathlete marked her return to T100 action with a stunning performance in San Francisco – just eight months after giving birth to her daughter Poppy.
Delighted, and possibly also a little surprised, the 35-year-old British athlete admitted that finishing fifth ‘feels like a win’ as she competed for the first time since the Miami T100 back in March 2024.
Her third-place podium finish that day was achieved while in the early stages of pregnancy, and it was only fitting that young Poppy and husband Sean were there at the finish line on Saturday to welcome her home in California.
Lawrence, a two-time ‘Escape From Alcatraz’ winner in the past, was right in the mix in the swim and early on the bike and then kept on strongly on the run to move up the field to fifth.
‘To come fifth feels like a win’
And with the first race now out of the way, Lawrence is determined to come back even stronger next time she steps up to the start line, with technical work at the top of her training roster.
Speaking afterwards and also writing on Instagram, she said: “I thought the best case scenario was top 10 so to come fifth feels like a win,” she said. “It was really fun, the bike I was kind of beating myself up a bit and taking the technical parts of it too gingerly but I just had an open mind on the run.
“I didn’t really expect much out of it because I’ve only done about three weeks of workouts on the run. I’ve had steady progression, but I feel strong and not fast. It just felt super steady and smooth.
“And I know it sounds super cliché but I would usually tune out all the shouts from people in the crowd, but I genuinely felt all the cheers on the run. Everyone was saying ‘welcome back’ and it was really nice. I had no expectations and felt like a total newbie again.”
Kona calling
She missed out on a podium in San Francisco, with Switzerland’s Julie Derron taking her maiden T100 win, and the USA’s Taylor Knibb and Britian’s Kate Waugh completing the top three.
While Lawrence has yet to confirm when or where she will be competing next, her recent YouTube training VLOG sees her targeting qualification for the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona on October 11th.
That’s likely to be attempted at IRONMAN Lake Placid which would be her first full-distance race and takes place on July 20th.
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