SPEED SECRETS
HE’S MADE THE UNPRECEDENTED MOVE TO TARGET OLYMPIC AND KONA GLORY IN THE SAME YEAR. BUT HOW WILL ALISTAIR BROWNLEE PREPARE FOR HIS SEISMIC 2020? FROM HEAT ADAPTATION TO A £10K MANNEQUIN, WE FIND OUT…
What’s the perception of Ali Brownlee? If it’s not that famous shot of giving brother Jonny a shoulder to lean on in Cozumel, then it’s the image of a mud-splattered youth hacking over the fells, or a kid on a racing bike, heading home for a cup of Yorkshire tea.
Brought up on a diet of Yorkshire grit he may have been, but to reduce the double-Olympic champion to just an endurance machine with an iron will does him a disservice – it belies that Brownlee’s tactical mind, like his racing at its peak, has always been razor-sharp. “I’ve always made sure I’m on the start line with the best equipment”, he says to 220 at the Vorteq headquarters in Silverstone. “I spend too much time training to give seconds away to others.”
Embarking on his most daring season of a storied career, both the Olympic Games and the Ironman World Championship remain in the crosshairs. As we explored last issue, it’s an unprecedented ask, and while Brownlee has enjoyed one of the longest injury-free spells of his career, he’ll also be 32 by the time the key races arrive. Will he retain the footspeed to cope with the youthful swarm of ITU talent? Is he lacking the experience to combat eight hours under the Hawaiian sun?
What’s certain is that there’ll be little left to chance, whether heat acclimation or altitude, kit choice or aerodynamics. It’s the latter two that bring us to Silverstone, as the quest to find the incremental gains to deliver Brownlee’s 2020 vision begins…
AERODYNAMICS
“There are massive and very tangible benefits in terms of aerodynamics, especially over long distance,” Brownlee says. “We’re talking about 10% less drag and 5% savings in wattage. It’s enormous in terms of time on the course, but it’s more important to find the balance between this stuff and training. And remember that 90% of it is training.”
There are two main reasons why Brownlee is visiting Vorteq at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub today. The first is that it’s as slick as it gets when it comes to aero testing. “It’s not a race car wind tunnel adapted for bikes. We’ve designed this from the ground up to be a bike wind tunnel,” says Rob Lewis, the managing director of Vorteq and a specialist in computational fluid dynamics who received an OBE for his work with British Cycling. “For example, we can extend the yaw angle up to 30 degrees to simulate riding in a strong crosswind.”
The second is that Brownlee’s need to make time-consuming return trips is reduced because he’s also being digitally scanned for the 3D printing of a mannequin. Yes, yet another Brownlee to contend with, although this one a little less vocal on the bike. “One of the problems with aero testing is that the athlete moves and the results get fuzzy,” Lewis adds. “It’s better to make a solid copy that doesn’t tire. The downside being that the mannequin struggles to pedal like a real athlete.” The 3D printing takes about 30 hours, with the various body parts created individually and locked together with magnets. If you fancy your own as a conversation piece, it’ll set you back about £10k.
While still relevant in ITU racing, aerodynamics have become an increasing consideration since
“THERE ARE MASSIVE AND VERY TANGIBLE BENEFITS IN TERMS OF AERODYNAMICS, ESPECIALLY OVER LONG DISTANCE. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT 10% LESS DRAG AND 5% SAVINGS IN WATTAGE. IT’S ENORMOUS IN TERMS OF TIME ON THE COURSE”
Brownlee graduated to non-drafting formats after the Rio Olympics in 2016. With up to 90% of resistance consisting of aerodynamic drag, and over 75% of that from the rider’s body, there’s real value in tucking tight. Discussion ensues about the ability to round-in the shoulders to reduce the frontal area, Brownlee even experimenting by riding crossed-arms at one point, both significantly lowering his drag coefficient and enhancing his chances of crashing.
But while the position can be tinkered with, other considerations such as race dynamics are relevant. Take aero socks. They extend up the shin and have been shown to reduce drag by up to 4%, so seem a viable option. However… “In Ironman championship racing [with more competitive fields], there’s added importance on the time taken in the transition between swim and bike,” Brownlee explains. “If I put on socks it could cost the chance to split the race. Instead of using my initial effort to open a 30sec gap at the front on open roads, I’ll be surging to get around others to reach the front of the race.”
CLOTHING
It’s not just the athlete that benefits from time in the wind tunnel, but also the manufacturers, looking for the fastest designs and materials, from space-age helmets to where to place hydration systems on the bike. In terms of Brownlee’s tri-suit, this even extends to the seam lines and whether the sponsor logos are vinyl patches or preferably sublimated into the fabric.
For Huub founder Dean Jackson, developing a new swimskin for Hawaii is top of the agenda. Although Brownlee will have few concerns about reaching the Kona pier in the lead pack, he wants to arrive having expended as little energy as possible.
“I’ve been lucky to work with Dean for a long time,” Brownlee says. “I remember telling him that good wetsuit design was all about buoyancy, arguing that if you sit on a surfboard you paddle really fast. I’m happy to admit I was wrong, the [buoyant] suit we created was the stiffest thing ever and I couldn’t swim in it.
“Over the years, we’ve iterated and eventually came up with the Agilis wetsuit. It’s the other end of the spectrum, all about flexibility and is the wetsuit that most of the Huub-sponsored top professionals use. It shows that, as well as knowing the science, real-world situations count too.”
Jackson keeps it simple: “Alistair wants to swim fast. With the Agilis, it feels like he’s not got a suit on. We need to translate that freedom and ease into
the most efficient package in a swimskin for Kona.” It’s not just hydrodynamic qualities, but also the fit that’s of paramount importance. “It’s a question of how tight we can go,” Jackson says. “Needing to balance the smallest possible area through the water against the desire for flexibility and reach, and the ability to breathe. He will, after all, need oxygen.” There are little tricks of the trade, too. “I use Vaseline on the sleeves of my tri-suit and pull them up to increase shoulder flexibility in the swim,” Brownlee adds.
RUNNING SHOES
All triathletes can attest to it being a kit-laden sport, but where it’s normally Brownlee’s Scott bike that may take focus for performance gains, what triathletes wear on their feet for the final leg is now the hot topic. Nike, and to a lesser extent Hoka – see Matt Baird’s ‘Brand Visits’ feature in issue 374 – with evolutions of carbonplated tech and lightweight, responsive foam, have changed the game as runners the world over scythe chunks off their PBs.
At Kona 2019, only three of the top-15 male finishers didn’t run with a carbon-plated shoe, while eight were in the neon hue of Nike Vaporflys. Adidas, Brownlee’s sponsor, is developing its own carbonplated offering that’ll be available to him, with a World Athletics ruling suggesting the technology can stand, for now. But what’s Brownlee’s view?
“I want to believe that free market innovation is a great thing,” he says. “It’s driving progress and interest and giving people jobs, but there evidently needs to be some kind of rule that says there are no springs – nor motors – in shoes. Where on that continuum does the shoe tech lie? It’s so fast moving. It’s not carbon plates anymore, it’s multiple carbon plates plus air pockets… somewhere the line needs to be drawn. When the plasticised suits arrived in swimming, it made a complete mess of the sport. Hopefully World Athletics [formerly the IAAF] will be stringent in where to draw the line.”
HEAT ADAPTATION
If there’s one area of competition that looms ominously over 2020, it’s handling the climate. Equally a challenge for both Tokyo and Hawaii, Brownlee’s resilience to extreme heat and humidity has been constantly scrutinised, partly because of previous meltdowns, but perhaps more because there seems so few other chinks in the armour.
“I’ve done loads of work on heat going all the way back to pre-2008 for the Beijing Olympics, and I did a lot of experimentation last year,” Brownlee says. “Even though I wasn’t doing the Tokyo test event, I did lots before Hawaii and then again before racing [Ironman Western] Australia. It’s really easy to get wrong, but I have a fairly good protocol now. I believe in genuine acclimatisation – actually being at the location – in advance of the race, and acclimating to the exercise intensity, formats and modality of the racing. Equally, when it comes to race day, effort moderation is critical.”
For all the training in a conservatory with the heater on, or lying in a hot bath directly after an interval session, as we’ve seen with so many athletes, including the Brownlees, it can be the latter part, in the metaphorical and physical heat of triathlon competition, that can often be the hardest to get right.
NUTRITION
Another area that comes into its own over Ironman distance is the ability to fuel adequately, an area that by Brownlee’s own admission, “kicked me out of my comfort zone” when stepping up to longcourse racing. One energy gel on the bike and swilling a carb solution on the run might suffice for racing less than two hours in a standard-distance race, but when it comes to Ironman… “It’s everything. If you get it wrong it doesn’t matter who you are, you’ll be crawling along the road.”
Brownlee has had contrasting experiences in his past two Ironman races, suffering on the marathon run in Hawaii before a nearperfect 7:45:21 performance at Ironman Western Australia in December to seal a spot for a Kona return this October. He puts the difference down to dialling in a strict strategy of what he’s ingesting. “I know how many grammes of carbohydrate I needed per hour, how much salt and how much water to make a really simple equation,” he says.
Annie Simpson, performance nutritionist at Brownlee’s sponsors OTE Sports, who are based in Leeds, explains how the brand tries to facilitate this approach. “All our energy products are designed around a 20g carbohydrate modular system, making it very easy to know exactly what you’re putting in,” she says. “For example, one energy gel or half a Duo Bar equate to one 20g module. Alistair can utilise this simple system when putting together his fuelling strategy.
“A key product for ensuring optimal fuelling during an Ironman would be our high-performance Super Carbs energy drink, which supplies 80g of carbohydrates per 500ml bottle, as well as essential electrolytes. For the long-distance events, another important element is selecting sport nutrition products that are kind on the stomach. An upset stomach in a race can be as detrimental as a poor fuelling strategy.”
TRAINING
Finally, Brownlee will head from Silverstone to his Spanish training base of Polop, near Benidorm, for some winter miles. While nothing out of the ordinary during a pre-season build, there’s the novel aspect that Brownlee is starting the year
“I BELIEVE IN GENUINE ACCLIMATISATION – ACTUALLY BEING AT THE LOCATION – IN ADVANCE OF THE RACE”
“WE’RE MAKING SOME FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES TO RETURN TO BEING ABLE TO RUN A 29: 30MINS 10KM TIME OFF THE BIKE, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT HE’S AT AN AGE WHERE HE WON’T REPEAT THE EXACT SESSIONS FROM 2012”
injury-free, the litany of ankle and hip issues that dogged past preparations behind him. “We all have ups and downs, but the last year has been fantastic,” he says, noting that he won an elite race at every distance from sprint to Ironman in 2019.
With maturity comes patience, and an awareness that peak fitness isn’t yet essential, perhaps evidenced that while he’d love to be racing the Yorkshire cross-country champs, he leaves it to training partners Gordon Benson and Mark
Buckingham. “I’ve got a great bunch around me, the guys I train with and the cyclists around Yorkshire,” Brownlee says. The Leeds chain-gang that rolls out to Ilkley has been a Thursday night staple for years. “It’s a great culture of endurance sport.”
While the coaching duo of Malcolm Brown and Jack Maitland helped guide the Brownlees’ formative years, another of Brown’s mentees, the former international cross-country runner, Ian Mitchell, now provides the training sets and the sounding board. “I’ve known Ali and Jonny since they were young, so it’s not just a coach-athlete relationship, but a trust that’s built over the years,” Mitchell says.
With Kona qualification in the bag, all focus is on Tokyo and one of the step-changes in the programme sees Alistair back on an athletics track for the first time in two years, encouraged by being part of a high-calibre Tuesday night squad in Leeds with a clutch of 28:30min 10km runners, including fellow
Great Britain triathlete and Tokyo hopeful Alex Yee.
“We’re making some fundamental changes to return to being able to run 29:30mins off the bike,” Mitchell continues. “While acknowledging that he’s at an age where he won’t repeat the exact sessions from 2012, we’re looking at other ways to get near that speed, such as more 5km pace running.”
There’s an added focus on mobility and plyometric work, but Mitchell believes the longer distance training over the past two years has helped rebuild
Brownlee’s robustness. “Alistair has always been an athlete who undertakes a huge base volume of training,” Mitchell says. “At the back end of the ITU days [circa 2016], he probably took a bit of that out, but it’s returned with the longer course racing and given him a really good base to build off.”
The challenge is that Brownlee must plan for the most extended season of his career, arguably needing to peak three times – for World Series races in Bermuda and Yokohama, in July for Tokyo, and then for Hawaii in October. The one factor to rely on, which worked so brilliantly in the past and is “integral” according to Ali, is having brother Jonny to train and race alongside, again with that shared Olympic goal.
“You can see that brotherly rivalry is back, and it’s great for both of them, but it’s a case of managing that,” Mitchell says knowingly, understanding that timing is all important when it comes to unleashing that famed Brownlee competitive streak.