Jennifer Lopez proved her determination knows no limits, even just months after becoming a mom.
The Kiss of the Spider Woman star, 56, shared during the October 8 episode of the Las Culturistas podcast that she took on a triathlon only six months after giving birth to her twins, Emme and Max, now 17, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony.
While chatting with hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers about her love for musical theater, Lopez recalled performing You Are Woman, I Am Man from Funny Girl at Anthony’s 40th birthday party, and casually dropped that she had completed a triathlon earlier that same day.
“I had ran a triathlon that day,” she said with a laugh, prompting the hosts to burst out laughing at her casual tone.
Lopez went on to explain that the goal came to her while she was still pregnant.
“When I was still pregnant, I was like I’m going to do a triathlon when the kids [are born and] after I give birth to get back into shape,” she said. “I was like, I’m giving myself a goal.”
Inspired by a TV show, the On the Floor singer began researching local events and soon found one scheduled in Malibu for September 2008.
She decided to commit to it. For Lopez, the decision was about more than fitness, it was about setting an example.
She recalled looking at her 2007 American Music Award while she was pregnant and thinking about how her children could one day feel proud of her. “The triathlon was part of that,” she said. “I want them to be proud of me.”
But as she later joked, her teenage twins don’t seem too impressed, at least for now.
“Now, I’ve told them the story. They couldn’t care less. Like, ‘Okay, you ran a triathlon.’ But one day, maybe they’ll think of it and go, ‘Wow, my mom ran a triathlon six months after she had me.’”
Lopez admitted that while she was happy with her overall performance, one part of the challenge was especially intimidating.
“The swim is the crazy thing,” she said. “You go and you’re looking at the ocean for the first time and you’re like, ‘I’m going swimming to the buoy. Not the first one. The third one? I’m sure there’s sharks out there.’”
Even with her nerves, Lopez completed the race, proving once again that when she sets her mind to something, she doesn’t back down.
