Interview with Trainer Randy Lawrence (1/31/08)
By Tim Crytser
Randy Lawrence has been in the motocross industry for what seems like a lifetime. A long time mechanic for big name riders like David Pingree and Jeremy McGrath, Randy is now a well respected trainer undoubtedly the driving force behind the super-quick success of Ryan Villopoto and the staying-power of Veteran Nick Wey. On New Year's day, VT called Randy for a quick update on Ryan's recovery status from a broken collar bone and wrist surgery after the MXoN's and to see if Nick was ready to get this show started at Anaheim 1 in a few days. - Virtual Trainer
Virtual Trainer: Hey Randy, how is it going? Any wild parties last night?
Randy Lawrence: No not really. Nothing too exciting. Just took the family over to a friend's house and hung out.
Yea, sounds a lot like my night. Davey [Coombs] always says that New Years Eve is amateur night and I agree. So I like to stay off the roads if I can. So, how has your off-season been going?
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Nothing like a little maintenance surgery to get you ready for next season. Maybe the collar bone was a blessing in disguise allowing him to get his wrist fixed and to take some time off that he may not have taken if he were healthy.
Yea, for sure. It's not like we would have taken the two and a half months off to get his wrist fixed if he hadn't already hurt himself. It's good that we got it fixed now so he will be ready for the bigger bikes once he moves on to the 450 class some day. So he should be better off at the start of this season than he was at the end of last season.
Well, it sounds to me like you had a pretty busy off-season dealing with Ryan's injuries and then on top of that all the fires that swept through California. Did the fires affect your training?
Yea, it definitely affected us. There was a complete week where we couldn't do anything outside. We had to go to tracks that are a little further away to ride because of all the smoke and we had to pick our days when we could road ride. The smoke was terrible. One day would be good and then the next a fire would spark up and it would get bad. For Ryan it wasn't so bad because he was injured but it affected Nick's training a little. But we got through it.
Anaheim 1 is this weekend, are you and Nick ready?
Oh yea, definitely. Nick is ready and I'm excited to get started and see where Nick is. He did really good with the KTM last year and I am expecting to do even better this year. He has had a really good off-season and is ready to go this weekend.
Currently, I know that you work with Nick and Ryan exclusively. Are there any plans to expand your stable of riders in the future?
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David Pingree is going to be one of the first guys you and Charles work with. He is going to Blog his results here on the VT website so anyone interested in your program will be able to see first hand what is involved. So that should give readers a pretty good idea of what is offered and with Ping blogging, it should be pretty entertaining.
Yea, that all started when he hurt his wrists and we talked about setting him up a program to get him back in shape. He has a certain goal that he wants to reach so we are setting him up with a program and he is going to follow it and Blog about his progress day-to-day and week-to-week. But it should be fun and he will be working some with Charles in the gym and some with me or the other guys that I know on the road bike. But a lot of it will be on his own so it will be the same type of situation that other guys across the Country would be in if they want to work with us. We don't want to be more one-on-one with him than someone else might get. So he will do the road rides, or motos at the track or strength training at the gym and report back with his heart rates, or lap times or intensity levels so that we can monitor and track his progress just like we would do for anyone else.
It seems like the whole motocross world lives in Murrieta/Temecula and everyone uses the road bike to train. Do you see other riders when you guys are out training?
Oh, heck yea, all the time. Plus, the time on the road bike isn't specific enough that I need to spend all my time with either Nick or Ryan. So usually we have 6 or 7 other guys riding with us whether they are just friends or other riders that live out here.
Now that you are working with Charles, he is really a big supporter of the MonaVie nutritional drink that we have been promoting here on Virtual Trainer. Do you know anything about the product and do you have Nick and Ryan on it?
Yes, I actually do know a little bit about it and have used it in the past. Nick has some at his house and he has used it in the past, but with the Holidays he hasn't been too consistent with it. For me, using it myself, I have seen some small affects like I seem to have more energy in the mornings. But I still use Cytomax all the time with Nick and Ryan. Cyto is by far the best product out there for energy and hydration. And products like MonaVie shouldn't be confused with what Cyto does. Those products have nothing to do with sports performance and electrolyte replacement like Ctyo.
Yes, certainly I have never touted MonaVie as a replacement for Cyto. But I do like the Glucosamine that is in the MonaVie Active. Have you tried the active before?
No, just the regular.
I was using the MonaVie regular in the beginning as well and didn't feel much affect but then I switched to the Active, which has Glucosamine in it and have had some pretty awesome results with my joints. I have some chronic pain in my left shoulder and right wrist and when I use the Active, the pain goes away.
Nick is way more open to trying new things than Ryan is. Plus he [Ryan] is so young and in such great shape that I don't think he really needs anything else. He seems to heal overnight almost. I would like for him to use it, but I have to pick my battles with Ryan. I'm sure there is going to be a time when he is going to need it and I'll have him take it then. It's something I think you need to be consistent with and right now he just wouldn't be. Nick has taken it in the past and I think he liked the results. I even read the article that you guys did with Aldon and it was pretty cool to hear his opinion and see that he was using the stuff since I had used it before. It kind-of confirmed everything I was feeling about it.
Well, that is very cool and with that I will end it. My New Years resolution for the website is to keep everything short and sweet instead of the novels I am getting known for! Thanks for taking time to chat with the Virtual Trainer readers.
No problem Tim, anytime!
That's it for now. Until next time, good luck with your training and, as always, VT can be reached anytime at crytset@comcast.net . In addition, be sure and check out the Racer X Virtual Trainer archive section , your complete one-stop information zone for motocross fitness.
