That could mean three 33-mile loops or one 50-mile out and back. Either way, you're going to be cycling far away from the comfort of your neighborhood and home.
More: Cycling Workouts for Triathletes
Having a buddy or two to pass away the miles, help you if you flat, motivate you when you're down, and watch out for you in traffic is far better than riding 100 miles by yourself.
Get a Marathon Training Plan
The cherry on the top of the Ironman cake is the marathon. And, unlike a stand-alone marathon, the Ironman marathon starts in the middle of the day after you've completed a 2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bike ride.
You don't need to train any differently for an Ironman marathon than a stand-alone marathon. Sure, you want to throw in a couple of brick workouts (bike and run, as in the race) when preparing for an Ironman but, in general, a marathon is a marathon no matter what time of the day you start.
More: 7 Training Tweaks to Improve Your Triathlon Run
A smart first step is to download a marathon training plan and work it into your training schedule. The tricky part is combining the long ride with the long run.
It's always smart to alternate weekends when going long on the bike and on the run. You could run 20 miles on Saturday and ride 80 on Sunday but that doesn't give your body enough time to recover, which by the way, brings up the most important going-long training tip.
Rest and Recover
When going long, type A triathletes tend to spend too much time in the pool, on the bike or on the run. Sure, your body will adapt to almost anything you can throw at it from a training point of view, but top triathlon coaches will tell you: amateur athletes always make the mistake of over training, not under training.
Heed this above all the Ironman training tips: consider rest and recovery the smartest segment of any Iron-distance training plan.
More: 10 Things to Do the Week Before Your Best Ironman
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