The Life and Times of Sam Luna

Finally a decent race this year! So its now 4 months since I broke my collar bone, and despite some disbelief. I am starting so show some of the form I had last year. The Metroplex Du-2-Du is the longest Du on my race calendar, a 5k run, 42k bike followed by another 5k run. It is under 2 hours of racing, but it hurts. This was my third year to complete this race. I went into it hoping for a top 10 placing, and was pleasantly surprised to finish 2nd overall to duathlon power-house Dana Lyons.Race morning was pretty typical, I got to the race site at 6am and filled my tires and set up my transition area. I decided to leave my shoes off the bike and put them on in transition. I didn't want to take any chances of knocking them off the bike like I did in Austin 2 years ago. I hung around and chatted with a few of the Tri-geeks from Dallas and talked to Dana and the Woodlands group and wished everybody luck. I just wanted to have a solid race and not get tossed like the past two weeks of

I had a great time in San Marcos for the Texas State Triathlon, host of the Regional Collegiate Triathlon Championships. However, as my first Olympic Distance Triathlon, I got my ass kicked. The swim course tore me up, 1.5 - 2 ft swells in 62 degree water. I definitely need to visit Autumn for some open water training. I didn’t have the range of motion in my left arm for really handing the choppy water well and I am not used to open water swimming so breathing to the side proved to be quite difficult also. The bike course was super hilly and windy, I didn't use my disk. I had a bad stomach/intestine problem about 15 miles into the bike, I really wanted to get off and go to the bathroom, but I thought it would pass, my whole stomach was tight for the last 9 or so miles on the bike and definitely hurt my cycling. I think my body didn't like the drink mix I was using. I had really bad gas etc.. I started the run and let one rip (gas/bodily release to put it nicely) I thought it wo

I decided to go and visit Louisiana for an early season du. I needed to get back into racing and the Louisiana State Championship race fit into my schedule. The race was 2-16-2, a good short race to get back into the swing of things. The bike course was pretty windy with some winding hills along the feeder road. I pretty much lost touch with the leaders when we hit the bikes. I definitely have a way to go before I am back into top biking shape. Results. Next weekend I will head to Canyon Lake to race in the 2004 Collegiate Regional Triathlon Championships. It will be my first time to compete in an Olympic Distance Race.

Well I saw the doctor and he took some more x-rays. They were a little better than the first back in December, but he wasn't satisfied with the healing rate. I will go back in again in March for a Cat-Scan in order to get a complete view of the bone. I have started jogging again about 6 miles 3 times a week and riding outside on Sunday for 40 miles. My collar bone feels ok, but I still can't swim. The motion is to much and so I will put the pool off for another couple of weeks.

So far my new year has been pretty un-eventful. I started school this past Tuesday and am looking forward to another great semester. The UH cycling team held the Regional cyclocross race on Campus! Results and Pictures. I have been able to spin indoors four times a week. I will see the Orthopedic Surgeon again Feb. 9 so keep your fingers crossed and hopefully I will be able to run quickly there-after!

I hope every body had a Merry Christmas! My training has been suspended. On my first group ride out at Katy Mills in over two months I was taken out by a fixed gear rider with a flat. I broke my left collar bone. It will be 4-6 weeks before it heals and 2-3 months for a complete heal. I will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon next Monday. I will not be able to race until late March or early April. So I will miss the entire spring series of collegiate triathlon and road races.

I have been running only for the past two months, and I am beginning to miss the bike. After the Houston Half-Marathon, I will be happy to get back into multisport training. Two weekends ago I decided to sign up and run the Jingle Bell Run. Only the top 20 runners receive an award, a Pearl Izumi printed running shirt, a highly coveted item that brings out Houston's fastest runners. I signed up for the race with my main intent being to place in the top 20 or just to jog it if I wasn't in striking distance. *Note Lengthy Race Description Follows* I had looked at the results for the race over the past 5 years and noted that the 20th time was usually somewhere between 29 mins and 29:45. I felt confident that I was prepared to break 30 mins and to set a new PR. At the race I noted that a top female from the UT XC team was running and that she would probably run around 29:45 for the 5 mile race. The gun sounded and the runners bolted. I ran hard to stay with the large pack putting me