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, fa...