LUNA Pro Triathlon and XTERRA Teams Dominate Early Season Races

Terra Castro 11th at Ironman Arizona and Shonny Vanlandingham Wins Lavaman, Berkeley, CA: The LUNA Pro Triathlon and XTERRA teams were in action this month with Terra Castro representing at Ironman Arizona and Shonny Vanlandingham making her debut at Lavaman in Hawaii. Terra battled fierce headwinds, 94 degree temps, and severe cramping to finish 11th in her first race of the season. Shonny competed in her first ever road triathlon; she had a great swim, did her first road time trial, and clocked 6:30 miles for 10k. Not bad for a mountain biker.

Ironman Arizona: In Terra's own words...

"Tomorrow I will be better than I am today... better as a golfer, as a person, as a father. That's the beauty of tomorrow. There's no such thing as a setback." - TIGER WOODS

The magic of Ironman is that no matter how prepared you are or how mentally strong you toe the line- race day is another beast. There are many things outside of your control and also physical challenges that arise during the event that test what you are made of. I came into Arizona with the best fitness to date, prepared for battle both in the mental and physical arenas. After LUNA Pro Team Camp, I was excited to make the team and sponsors proud with a big finish in the strong international field. Race day finally arrived after a week of hanging out in Tempe with my grandparents, cousins and Aunt. After carbo loading and resting all week with the legs up, race day hits and you are READY, almost antsy. Into the water at 6:45am Sunday, April 13th, and the battle began. After a bit of a slow swim, I flew through transition and got on my "hot rod" Ordu, to start working through the field. The strong wind storms had other ideas though, as we all fought a nasty headwind one half of each loop (3 loops for a total of 112 miles). It was awesome to fly back to the start/finish at 32 mph but boy, the way out was all about putting the head down and grinding out the gears. n the end, I crossed the line in 11th and collapsed into a wheelchair that got me water and directed me to my awesome family support team. It was a solid effort on the day, against a very large international field. I woke up today, one day after the race knowing that it is "tomorrow"- that what happened yesterday was not a setback. I chose to be a better racer today than yesterday. So onward to the next race, knowing that I am a stronger athlete from this race, that I am more hungry for the performance I see in training each day I step out the door.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE LUNA TEAM AND ALL OUR AMAZING SPONSORS- I am blessed to be supported by the best companies in the world, the best support crew, and the best nutritional products an athlete could want. Thank you for always being there, no matter the end result.

LavaMan: In Shonny's own words...

The Lavaman Olympic distance race in Hawaii was my first road triathlon and was a great experience. Starting in the 3rd wave on the swim start with 350+ women was great practice for my upcoming target XTERRA races. I was pleased to have an improved swim time due to all the ocean swim training I've been doing this winter. The bike portion was not as fun as I am used to since it was an out and back on the Queen K highway, but that Mavic disc wheel sure felt fast. The 10 K run was mostly road but I did feel at home the last 1.5 miles running on top of lava rock and along a beautiful beach to the finish. The tri training is paying off, I actually won and was offered a spot in the Ironman World Champs in Kona. I turned it down due to my focus on the XTERRA World Champs that happens two weeks later. Plus those Ironman distance triathletes are crazy! I'll stick to the dirt and leave the Ironman distance to my crazy teammates: Cathy, Terra, and Linda!

And a quick update from Linda Gallo:

Folsom Mountain Bike Race: (march 16th or so) As I am looking forward to racing a few XTERRA triathlons this year, I decided to do a mountain bike race for some good training. I honestly can't say if this prepared me for the steep hills on the XTERRA Temecula course, but it was the most fun I have had on a bike in years! Lots of fun fast twisting single-track. I was 1st in the Sport 30-39. Perhaps it is time to consider an upgrade to Expert..

CA 70.3 Half Ironman:
This race is the start of the long course triathlon season in North America and always brings a stacked field. That was no different this year. I had a great swim and led everyone out of the water solo by almost a minute. I led for the first portion of the bike, before being passed by the eventual winners. The wind really picked up on the latter half of the bike which made for a still first half and a strong headwind on the second hilly half. Go figure.. I held steady on the two loop out and back run (one direction was really fast with the tailwind!), but started fading towards the end. This was a good test of my early season fitness and showed the need to work on a bit more speed for my coming races. Finished 20th.

Up Next: The LUNA Pro Triathlon Team will compete in the Wildflower Triathlon in May while Shonny, Danelle Kabush, and Linda focus on the XTERRA West Championship event in Temecula, CA. The mountain bike team sent Katerina, Georgia, and Catharine over to Europe to contest the first three UCI World Cups. The rest of the squad is at home, recovering from competing at the Sea Otter Classic. Look for more action at the next National Mountain Bike Series event in Santa Ynez, CA May 17-18th.