Jonathan Brownlee wants ‘people to come out and watch’ the Ipic World Triathlon Abu Dhabi

When Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain trains, he tries to improve all three disciplines at the same time. Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images

He crossed the finish line in tandem with his brother to win last year’s race, but this time Jonathan Brownlee is flying solo. The National spoke to him about what makes a good triathlon and how to improve each discipline.

Question: How has the off-season been?

Answer: 2014 wasn't my finest year. I was a bit inconsistent. I did too much training and got a bit overtired. It's the way I am and sometimes I overtrain. Hopefully this race will show I have got it right this year and am not overtired. It's the start of the season. Other athletes may have improved and it's a short-sprint race so anything can happen in that, which makes it exciting.

Where is Alistair?

He was due to compete in this race but a few days back we were out running and he injured his ankle so had to pull out. It’s a shame that he’s not racing, but he’ll be watching it, I’m sure, or tweeting about it from his bike.

Who do you hate losing to more – Javier Gomez or your brother Alistair?

Javier, definitely. With Alistair it’s different, of course, and I root for him because he’s my brother.

If you were forced to choose to compete in only one of the three disciplines, which would you choose?

Running.

What do you think of the new course?

I actually raced here 12 months ago but it was a very, very different race then. It lasted for over three hours. Saturday’s short sprint will be fast and furious.

It’s a great venue.

For any good course, you need somewhere beautiful to swim with a nice backdrop, some nice roads to cycle on, and a nice, fast run.

Most importantly, you want people to come out and watch and be able to see their heroes. I raced in London in the 2012 Olympics and it was incredible to be a part of, with half a million people watching and then later seeing kids going back to cycle.

It was incredible.

Will conditions here – the generally higher temperatures – make a difference to the race?

I left Britain in snow on Sunday, so it is very different now. But we’re looking to race just after five [in the evening] and finishing around six so that makes a big difference. Hopefully it shouldn’t be too hot.

As a triathlete, do you focus your training on the skill that needs improving or the one you are best at?

The triathlon can be a very hard sport to train for.

You see all the time when people try to improve, like their swim for example, they train really hard for two to three weeks and then when they go back to normal training, the swim goes back to where it was before.

It is actually very difficult to do. I believe you should try to improve all three disciplines at the same time. That’s the best way of holding on to that and not losing it.

The worst thing you can do is too much training sometimes.

What is the secret to winning triathlons?

If you can answer that question, you probably can’t win because it is very difficult to answer that question properly.

None of us really know.

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