Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee is relishing his return to competitive action at the Ironman 70.3 Dubai this weekend after four months out due to surgery.
A serious hamstring injury cut short his 2017 campaign, and now the aim for the Brit will be to stay fit and competitive for the new season.
Brownlee, who had struggled with an ongoing problem since the middle of last season, underwent surgery in August in a bid to be fit for the new calendar year.
Speaking to Sport360°, he said: “I knew at some point I’d need to have an operation on it. It flared up before the summer. I was told it was going to take at least six months to get over the injury.
“I sat there doing the math. I decided to have it then at the end of July to give me time to get over it and have a good run in the season.
“I was on crutches in a leg brace for four weeks. I don’t think I even got into the pool for another three weeks after it.
“I wasn’t cycling or running for another month after that. It took nearly four months in all. I still haven’t been up to full training.”
The 29-year-old was due to compete in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships last September – building on his win at the Ironman 70.3 North American Championships in May – but injury curtailed his participation.
Since his return to fitness, the Yorkshire native has been building up his preparation for the new season with training camps in Spain and UK and is excited about the prospect of taking on another stacked field at the Middle East event with several of his 13 Bahrain teammates.
“It’s a great opportunity to be on the start line. It’s been a long winter’s training so it’s nice to break it up with a race. If I was racing in January it would normally be in cross country spikes around a muddy field so it’s nice to be in Dubai. It’s a nice change and it’s good to be here,” he said.
“I’m a natural competitor. I haven’t had a chance to test the hip out yet so I’m looking forward to that. I’ve done quite a lot of training to get here but I’m confident the hip has healed.
“It’s been a long road back. It’ll be interesting to see how far I’ve come in the last few months of training.”
