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Alistair Brownlee

I caught the end of the Hyde Park Tri on tv on Sunday and saw Alistair Brownlee out on his feet as he crossed the line.

It made me think about an article I saw in the Guardian the same day about Alistair where it mentioned that he trains every day and doesn't believe in rest days.

Is this normal for pro athletes and if not could it be a contributory factor in his collapse at the end or did he just have an off day?

Comments

  • TRIumphantTRIumphant Posts: 850
    I presume he misjudged his hydration/nutrition. It was a warm day, and I assume Gomez is more heat tolerant. But I also noticed that Jonathon took on fluids in the run, and cooled himself by pouring some over him, whereas Alistair didn't take on anything, he just hung with Gomez. Jonathon finished 2nd, Alistair, finished, in a mess, 8th, but finished.
  • graham33graham33 Posts: 265
    Awww - I was really gutted for him - like you said though I never saw him take any thing on board nutrition wise. But I thought he would be fine, I thought when Gomez put a few kicks in he would respond like he did in last years final, by matching and out running Gomez.

    I was also gutted to hear - no matter what else he does he can't win this years championship because you have to do a race out of europe and he missed them all due to injury.

    I suppose that we can wait for the 2012 Olympics! Come on GBR!!
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    Not sure what anyone else thought but I thought he looked rough all the way through the run. Really dark eyes and had a pained expression. I said to my bro - he looks like he's going to be sick.
    With all the training he's missed it's not surprising he had a shocker (by his standards!)
    A blip, I reckon.
    Fully trained I'd say he's pretty untouchable..until Jonny takes over!
  • stustu Posts: 28
    Gutted for him, but he's been injured for a long time - and probably dug into his considerable reserves in Madrid, where he probably shouldn't even have been. I guess things were just catching up on him.
    Although in saying that, how many other athletes in the race, would have been pleased with his finish position, and how many others would have dug so deep.
  • QuitterQuitter Posts: 160
    My twopenneth........
    He did a lot of work on the bike and we all were suprised how quick he took off from T2 to catch the leaders.
    Watching on the big screen we saw Alistair slow then we started to look up the course for Gomez to appear..the next guy coming was Brownlee but it was nt until he was about to cross the line someone said "its Jonathan!". We looked back up the track and then saw Frodeno...then the next guy then the next......
    When Alistair did appear never have so many people shouted and encouraged someone so much- heart wrenching but high drama.
  • willieverfinishwillieverfinish Posts: 1,381
    Nothing 500mls of IV fluid won't sort out.

    I think he was also hypoglycaemic and that took it's toll.

    Dude to the T2 cock up he was dropped to 20th of something silly so he demolished the 1st 400m in sub 55 seconds!!!!!

    That's where it all went for for him - glycogen burned + no fuel =bonk.

    Still , what an athlete he is. Amazing and I have massive respect for him and his brother. GB for gold in 2012 easily.
  • Morg007Morg007 Posts: 54
    this from his Facebook page status....
    Thanks for all the support. I have no idea what happened on Sunday in London but I gave it absolutely everything. I'm still not normal but getting there. I have had many more congrats and support messages than before, maybe performing to the best of your ability on the day is more important than the outcome!
    glad to hear he's getting better... I'm very much a believer that the true athletic greats are not so much the ones who win but are those who give everything and never quit regardless of their situation in the race. as he wasn't going to win and can't win the world series due to the fact he hasn't raced outside europe he could have stopped and seeked medical help - no one would have thought less of him. But he kept going to finish the race.
  • PC_67PC_67 Posts: 196
    Credit to Gomez surely? Wasn't it a 29:31 10k run split?

    Two superb athletes. Brownlee benefited from Gomez' injury last season, and now the situation is reversed. I can't wait to see them take each other on after they've both had an injury free early season.

    How telling was the front cover of this month's 220 mag? "I can beat my brother" by Jonny B. In fact JB's time in coming second was probably faster than any other OD time ever before Sunday (I understand Sunday was the fastest ever anyway). Brilliant stuff.
  • QuitterQuitter Posts: 160
    PC_67 wrote:
    Credit to Gomez surely? Wasn't it a 29:31 10k run split?

    Two superb athletes. Brownlee benefited from Gomez' injury last season, and now the situation is reversed. I can't wait to see them take each other on after they've both had an injury free early season.

    A fair point and if you look at the pics of Gomez crossing the line almost everyone is looking up the track for "a Brownlee".
    Sure we all wanted to see a Brit do well but I like the fact we as triathletes can acknowledge a good performance when we see one. Sub 1hr 45 was an hour quicker then me! Checking my splits even if i did nt do the run I'd still not have made the podium. Theres a lot to be said for fancy bikes and trainers I guess
  • PC_67PC_67 Posts: 196
    I was gutted for Gomez not winning gold in Beijing. He'd been the outstanding triathlete for well over a year and didn't even medal. I've a soft spot for him. I'm not from GB but I feel GB in this sport as I live here and am (very very peripherally!) part of the GB tri scene. I think the Brownlees & Gomez are brilliant ambassadors for the sport - superb athletes, consistently raising the bar and responding to the others' improvement. They seem very gracious and personable too.

    I wonder, however, is the new World Series format going to play against these guys in their Olympic quest? For the ITU series they need to be in peak condition over a prolonged period, whereas the likes of Whitfield seem to peak for the Olympics. Frodeno didn't really figue too highly in ITU events pre-Beijing, did he? Tim Don claims his goal is to peak once or twice a season (and it helps if one of those carries a $200k pay cheque!).
  • >Credit to Gomez surely? Wasn't it a 29:31 10k run split?

    After reading about Mo Farah winning gold in Barcelona in a time of 28:25 I checked the run splits from Sunday and can't believe how close they are considering Gomez had just swum 1500m and cycled 40k. It just shows what great athletes the pros are.
  • MrTimMrTim Posts: 13
    Indeed. I'm always surprised how triathletes seem to be able to do the runs just as fast as people do fresh. Round my way there's a 10km run that's on the same course an OD tri a few months later, and (I know conditions on the day play a part) this year the top four run times in the tri were faster than the winner of the single event!
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