USATF Southwest Region Indoor Championship Masters and Open

Over the winter break after the Brickhouse Triathlon I decided to mix up my winter training and work on some running speedwork. I found the USATF Masters was hosting their regional meet at UH, so of course that sounded perfect.

Training
I created a training plan that had 1 speed workout and 1 strength run a week; a couple recovery runs and a couple days of easy cycling. Core speed work focused on repeats at mile pace, or just slightly under. My goal was to get to a 5 min mile. Most of my speed work ended up at a 5 min mile pace, which set me up race day for a 5:08-5:10 goal mile. Assuming 1 sec slowly per 400, plus another 1.5-2 for the full distance.

USATF Masters Southwest Indoor Mile - Houston

Race Day

I decided race day to give the 5 min mile a go, fully knowing that my times didn't reflect it. Warm up consisted of about a mile and half jog, 4x100 strides a bit faster than mile pace, lots of stretching and waiting.

I went out at goal pace and held on through 1009(first lap of the mile is 209m), with 2 laps to go the wheels really fell off and the struggle set in. The first lap we were in a nice line, on the second lap 6 of us went clear and a gap started top open between 4 and 5, so I went around and moved into 5th to close the gap. Then on the 4th lap the gap infront of me opened up. They went on to run 4:50 ish. I ran in no mans land the second half of the race and caught lapped traffic on lap 7. Overall pretty happy with a 5:04, Masters PR and the same time I was running in High School.

It was pretty nice to also have a big cheer squad with Sarah and Ava joined by my parents. Snagged a "Gold" in the masters 40-44 division.

USATF Masters Southwest Indoor Mile - Houston - Sam Luna

Results

Comments

2025 USATF Southwest Region Masters Indoor Championships - Masters Mile at UH - A New PR!

I’ve really enjoyed Masters racing over the past couple of years, so I was excited to hit the track again for the mile at the Yeoman Fieldhouse at UH. Coming into the race, I felt strong —training had been solid and consistent, and I was ready to see what I could do. I had a good warm-up : a couple of miles of jogging, some strides , dynamic stretches, and 4 x 150m ramp-ups to 4:50 pace to get the legs firing. Race Plan & Execution They ran the mile in two heats , and I was in the second. My goal was to go out at 4:58 pace , hold that through 1009m , and then kick it up a notch . Once I started hearing my splits, I knew I was just a touch off pace —but I didn’t panic. At 809m , I still felt in control and started gradually picking it up. Navigating Traffic & The Final Push I was getting back on track when I hit lapped traffic , which forced me to run most of the penultimate lap in Lane 2 —this ended up being my slowest lap . Despite that, I closed strong , crossing t...

2024 Houston Turkey Dash

Gobble Gobble! So we have a running family! I was pretty excited when we got the call from our oldest that she decided she wants to run the Aramco Half Marathon with us in January. My mind also immediately realized that she will be placed in a different Corral. So we took a look at the requirements for an "A" corral on a certified course: Qualifying Time Standards for Front Corral Seeding Gender Age Group Marathon Half Marathon 10K 10 Miler Male & Female OPEN (all ages) 4:00:00 1:52:55 0:51:08 1:25:06 I looked around online and found the Houston Turkey Dash put on by our friends over at the Houston Run Co . They have a 10k that was just USATF certified, so while she was on her Thanksgiving break we decided we would run the 10k and go for the qualifying time. Race morning was pretty windy with a cold front that had just blown in that morning. I felt like from her training she would be able to nail a 7:50-8 min pace based on her past runs. Of course when the gun went off ...

2025 Aramco Half Marathon - A Family Affair!

This year marked Sarah’s twelfth Aramco Half Marathon, and it was a special one—it was Chloe’s first half marathon! Since Chloe qualified for Corral A , we all got to start together, which made the whole experience even better. We had a blast the night before, laying out all our race gear and making sure we were ready for the big day. With an incoming Enzo cold front , we knew race day would be chilly —temps feeling like the 20s and plenty of wind to keep things interesting. Race Morning – The Early Grind Alarms went off at 4 AM , and we were up and fueling for the long run ahead. Once we took care of the essentials (yes, emptying the bladders is a must), we headed downtown, following our usual race-day routine. A quick walk from the Toyota Center garage to the GRB Convention Center landed us in the middle of thousands of nervous and excited runners. This was the moment it hit Chloe—this was a BIG deal. The night before, over our traditional pre-race dinner at Ciro’s , we came ...

The Life and Times of Sam Luna

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