The Life and Times of Sam Luna

  So I completed my first Virtual Zwift Duathlon Race! Also, this is my first "Masters" multisport race! Pre-Setup, The race is 35mins on the bike, a 10 min. transition window and then a 15 min. run. I set up a bottle for the ride, a bottle for the run, recovery drink and a couple Gu's. I laid out my shoes set up with the foot pod. I don't have a treadmill so my plan was to drive up to the gym quickly after the bike and hop on the treadmill. The garage door broke that morning so I needed to jog up to the gym or attempt to run with my phone outside.. I went with jogging to the gym.  The bike: My setup was my road bike on the trainer. I warmed up the system for about 10 mins and then calibrated my trainer. Next step was to launch Zwift and get logged into the race event. I stretched soft peddled some and then went for the bike. I hurt a lot from not having been used to hard efforts on the trainer. my distance was less than what I hoped for but it hurt. I gather my gear

 Ok, so first, what is Zwift ? Great question!  Zwift is an online gaming platform for cyclists, and recently runners as well. The more you ride, the more you unlock. You can also follow other athletes; train and race together. A third party WTRL created a duathlon race series for Feb-March that I will participate in to try something new and get some early benchmarks of my fitness. To prepare for the race I set up a Zwift account, made sure all my old skool bike equipment was compatible and also ordered a Zwift footpod to run with.  Here is my first impression with Zwift: I am not in need of "virtual" motivation. I am pretty good with just hopping on the trainer and grinding out a workout or recovery ride if needed. I am using a very old faithful comptrainer. It is wheel on, not direct drive. So there is some power loss and wheel slip. I am using a laptop with Zwift and a TV for sharing a larger view or watch something else. Zwift rewards those that play the game more, faster

This post will be updated with results as the month of December goes on.  MC^3  - Bike, I did a dry run on the bike to see where my current comfortable fitness is before a full blown effort later this month. Relay-istic Winners  -  Run, On 12/1 as I thought I knocked this out asap as the first workout Tri Harder Next Time  - Swim - Just had to "GET IT DONE"! Team Results   Individual Results

Wrapping up November and heading into December with a fun Virtual Challenge from the Castelli Colletivo . They call it the December Challenge; create a relay team to complete an Olympic Distance Triathlon. So that is a 1500 meter swim, a 24.9 mile (40K) bike, and a 6.2 mile (10K) run finished in December. So why not just do one event? I have decided to join 3 relay teams and do all 3 events. So how will I do this? After some brief thoughts I have decided to knock out the 10k asap, probably the 2nd of December. Then maybe try a 40k TT on the bike trainer over the weekend and then use the rest of December to "hone" my pain cave and get another 40K in at the end of the month. The swim will just have to happen. Fortunately the pool is outside, but heated so I will find a "warmer" afternoon and get it done. MC^3 - Bike Relay-istic Winners -  Run Tri Harder Next Time - Swim Team Results   Individual Results

Hello to the 2 people that keep checking for an update (I see you mom and dad)!  So as I round the corner to 40 and being a masters I decided it was time to put some work in and start to train a bit. With the pandemic time management has been a bit easier with a work from home schedule.  A couple race reports to share. Galveston Daily Press Run 10K  -  Results I signed up for this race to use as a Coral A course certificate qualifier for the Aramco Half Marathon with hopes of pacing Sarah.  The course is used for a few different series, but I have never done any of the bridge runs. I did a few workouts leading up to the 10k that included hill repeats to help simulate the anticipated grind up and down the bridge.  I felt like 6:30 pace would be pretty close to my ability and a HR between 174-178 would be a good range. I ended up with an avg. 6:19 pace and HR of 181. Good day for 2nd overall. Full stats

Sooo Sam on a MTB??? Sure why not!   I really needed to just race. Sometimes you just need to go deep and enter the pain cave.   One of my fellow UH alums, Ben Proko who is not only a Band Instructor, but a Triathlete, Coach and Race director. He puts on a few different races and with the Pandemic, he was able to get this race approved with precautions and a limited field. I was also fortunate to be able to do this race with my friend Fede who was doing his first triathlon! We had a blast and it was great to be able to race and see some old friends! Results   Pictures

A 10k? A race you ask? Yes, lets do it! Its been long, and all the pre race jitters came back! Warm up and race morning seemed like I was a newbie all over again. Results