Brownlee and co head home for the World Champ Series London
This weekend sees what we all hope at Garmin HQ will be a run through of London 2012 proceedings, as Alistair Brownlee and the worlds top triathletes head to Hyde Park for the latest leg of the ITU World Champ Series. Having won every series event he's entered so far, Alistair has been hitting the headlines as the build up continues. Here's his latest blog as he prepares himself for another stellar performance.
"It’s been an amazing few months! After the Madrid WCS I had two weeks of down time before racing for my French team, Sartrouville, in the Grand Prix. It was a different weekend because it started with being bit by an Alsatian while out running the day before the race. Maybe Garmin watches should include a dog deterring function?!? After getting stitched up, I felt fine the next day and won the race. Sartrouville won the team event, putting us at the top of the league.
After a few days at home it was time to leave for Washington DC. A long day of travelling followed and I arrived on the Wednesday evening before the race and went straight out on a run the next morning to see the sights. It was great to run past the White House and Lincoln Memorial and funny when I downloaded my route later and realised what I had run straight past. After some crazy weather in the days before the race there was talk that the swim might be cancelled due to high bacteria levels in the river. Fortunately it was decided we could cope with a few microbes and the swim was reinstated and the Triathlon went ahead. I managed to avoid the logs and microbes in the river and came out in the front group of five. We worked seamlessly together and had a 90 second lead at the end of the bike. I ran hard and just managed to pull away in the last few km’s to win the race.
The next race was the most important race in the first part of the season for me. I travelled out to Holten (in Holland) optimistic of a good performance. Holten put on a fantastic weekend of triathlon with the whole town out on the streets supporting the events. The race was one of the hardest I have ever raced. Phil Graves, Aaron Harris and I had planned to race as a team. Phil came past me like a train on the first bit of the bike and pulled a group of about 10 away from the rest of the field. We worked hard for a 25 second lead and at the end of the bike and I set off on the run side by side with Javier Gomez. I knew from the start that it was going to be a tough run and I had to give everything I had to hold onto second place.
The following day I set off for St Moritz with Jonny, Hollie, Joel and Ben. It was an epic 12 hour drive through Holland, German, Lichtenstein and Switzerland but St Moritz has definitely been worth it. The training here is superb with endless paths to run on, good cycling roads with great climbs, lakes and a pool. The weather is unbelievable and you can get sunburn one day and frost bite when it snows the next.
After only a few days in St Moritz we drove to Kitzbuhel to race in the fourth round of the WCS. I felt a bit off colour leading into the race but come race day I felt great. After a false start the swim got underway and I exited in the top 10. Coming out of transition I was concentrating too hard on getting my feet into my shoes and not enough on the photographer I was about to ride into so I crashed and had to chase for the first bit of the bike. I felt great on the run and put in a big effort straight out of transition, got a gap and held on for the win.
Since Kitzbuhel I have been training in St Moritz. It has been a nice change and I’ve done some great training, including some much longer than planned routes. It’s been fantastic to ride and run up hill for what feels like a lifetime and different to train in the thinner air. I am looking forward to getting home and see if it’s made any difference. Next stop is London WCS where I hope to have another good race in a slightly more local location.
Alistair"
