Going Long: Training for Triathlon's Ultimate Challenge

by Gordon Byrn, Joe Friel, Byrn Gordon

Book Overview

The complete training handbook for long-distance events This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934030066
• ISBN13: 9781934030066
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: VeloPress
• Length: 372 Pages
• Weight: 1.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A must for Ironman training

I had done 5 Ironman before reading this book and my time were always around 12:15. Following the principle I broke my 12hrs barrier advanced 45min from my personal best. I will recommend this book to any intermediate to advance Ironman athlete.

best triathlon book

This is the best book on triathlon that I have read. I am training for an ironman and I refer to the book almost every day. Also, I used tips and workouts from the book for a 1/2 ironman last year and improved my time from by 2 hours.

Very useful ironman survival tips

First of all, Going Long is not a rehash of Triathlete's Training Bible. TTB gives you everything you need to prepare yourself physically to get to the starting line. Going Long gives you what you need to get to the finish line.The book addresses psychological and emotional issues during races, nutrition issues specific to ironman racing, not ironman training, as TTB does, and provides a lot of other useful information, such as race strategies.Compared to the other offerings available, this is one of the few that provides long distance racers the wisdom and experience of the author's years racing, and can be put to immediate use.

change of heart

AFTER THE RACE: THIS BOOK WORKS! I offered the below review before my first "official" ironman triathlon. I followed the advice and completed an Ironman in 11:51 (not blazing, but good enough for the first time). My longest training week was a 18 hour crash week, but none of my other weeks was longer than 10 hours. I focused on key workouts, made sure they were of the highest quality, and let the rest go. My time is even better, when you consider that I was out for 9 weeks in the early summer due to a broken arm (I couldn't do any of the sports and walked about three times a week). So I put together a sub 12 hour performance in 13 weeks, with only one week being over 10 hours. Next time I will do more, and hopefully race better, but overall I am very pleased with the results this book yielded. It gave me a means for spending Sundays with my children rather than my running shoes, let me know that my swimming was not going to get much better without 10000 more yards a week, and helped me learn to be patient on the bike. If you have a life, but want to do an Ironman (yes!!! you can have both) purchase this book. ORIGNAL REVIEW: At first a lot of the information in this book seemed to be a rehash of "The Triathlete's Training Bible" as stated in my original review. But after reading the book carefully and really pondering what the authors have to say, there does appear to be a lot dedicated toward the art of completing an ironman triathlon. In all fiarness, I must change my review. And if some of the information has been printed in "The Triathlete's Training Bible," at least in this book it is all arranged with one purpose--to finish a full ironman. First, I must applaud the authors for their inclusion in the introduction. They admit that anyone can finish an Ironman triathlon if they have one thing: will. The down-to-earth tone permiates throughout the entire book. There are excellent lists for pacing on the bike, mental condition, getting the most from nutrition and the common sense notion that endurance on the bike leg is the most important portion of a successful ironman seems so simple that one does need to constantly remind oneself about it. Too often triathletes train, train, train, and then train some more. I get sick of hearing about macho-style workouts, and triathlon is just one portion of my life. If you work, have a family, practice other hobbies, actually give yourself to others, and don't spend every dime you make on triathlon, the philosophies in this book will suit your lifestyle. The authors make a very convincing argument for having three major endurance workouts a week--75 to 100 minutes for the swim, 5 to 6 hours on the bike, and 90 to 150 minutes for the run. Instead of the megablock weekend torture fests that most triathletes brag about, they suggest doing runs in the middle of the week, and the bike on the weekends. All other workouts are secondary to these three. They also suggest that

It's all here in one little package.

I've been in search of the right Ironman training book for a while. Most regular tri books devote little time to IM training, and others are so complicated they're intimidating (The Triathlete's Training Bible has great information, but I find it really complex.) This gets it right. If you're a nerd like me who likes to understand the logic behind a training program, you can get it here. You can also skim for tips or workouts if you just want to know what to do and when. Especially great is the nutrition section -- Gordo has some very logical, no-hype tips that really work.