What Is It Like to Train for the Olympics?

It's an Olympic year! (Take two!) Any athlete knows that behind all of the medals, glory and stand out performances are years of grueling work, focus, and drive. To get to the highest level of sport and perform on the world's stage is almost incomprehensible. We're honored to have para athlete Jamie Brown on Team Zealios. He is a triathlete and on the 2021 USAT Toyota U.S. Paratriathlon National Team. Jamie has been training in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center in preparation to compete in Tokyo. He was very gracious to give us an inside look at what this entails!
Jamie Brown Para Triathlete
What's the Olympic Training Center like?
The Training center is great. I get to train not only with my teammates that are part of the USAT resident program, but with olympians from other sports. It's very inspiring to be here with everyone having a similar goal.
How do you keep yourself mentally prepared, especially in COVID times?
I really try to keep things simple and focus on things I can control. So that means staying in the moment and having focus on getting 1% better each day. I've also been practicing mindfulness exercises to really try and stay in the moment. 
How do you stay fresh after international travel before a race?
I generally try to give myself an extra day to get myself acclimated and distance myself from distractions. Staying relaxed is also important. I often see athletes get to a race after long travel and they immediately jump into these hard workouts and are burnt out by the time the race rolls around. No workout you do race week can make you faster. As they say the hay is already in the barn or it isn't. So just relax and enjoy the race. 
Jamie Brown Professional Triathlete
What does your training load look like right now?
Typically 25 up to 30ish hours. 
What's after Tokyo?!
I will continue to race just not sure in what capacity. Training and being active is a major part of my lifestyle. I do have interest in some longer triathlons, Spartan races, who knows. 
How long did it take to adjust to altitude?
I DON'T THINK YOU EVER REALLY GET USED TO IT WITH SWIMMING! Seriously though, for me with harder training sessions it took 4-6weeks. 
Has an extra year leading into the Olympics been beneficial? 
I believe it did help me. I was coming off a serious hamstring repair surgery. So at the beginning of last year I was still getting back to my normal strength with running. 
Jamie Brown Tokyo Olympics
To follow along with Jamie's journey and cheer him on, give him a follow on Instagram!