Kinetic half-iron and sprint triathlons - May 9 and 10, 2009

On Saturday May 9th I drove down to Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania, Virginia to participate in the Kinetic half-iron triathlon on Saturday 5/9/09 at 7:00 a.m. and the Kinetic sprint triathlon on Sunday 5/10/09 at 9:00 a.m. These were my first big triathlons of the season and outdoor swims in my wetsuit. I had been training hard running and swimming but had very little mileage on my bike so far this year coming into this weekend, so I was pretty unsure of how the races would go.

Kinetic half-iron triathlon on Saturday

swam 1.2 miles in 36:19
T1 of 4:01
biked 56 miles in 3:08:44
T2 of 2:12
ran 13.1 miles in 1:49:59
finished in 5:41:13
104th place out of 267 male finishers

Kinetic sprint triathlon on Sunday

750 meter swim in 13:20
T1 of 3:48
18 mile bike in 52:33
T2 of 1:35
5K run in 22:12
finished in 1:33:27
107th place out of 340 male finishers

I was pretty pleased with my performance over the weekend although I was rather disappointed at my biking splits. This weekend did get me motivated to get out on my bike more often. I had fun camping out on Lake Anna with some other kids from the triathlon team on Saturday night after the half roasting some hot dogs and marshmallows on our campfire. Waking up in a tent at 7 a.m. the morning after a half is not the ideal conditions for competing in a sprint but I survived. The end-of-the-year Georgetown Triathon Team party when we got back to D.C. that Sunday night was definitely a blast.

Race for Hope 5K - May 3, 2009

On Sunday May 3rd I rode my bike down to Freedom Plaza (located just on the east side of the White House) to run in the Race for Hope, a 5K run/walk around the streets of D.C. to benefit the National Brain Tumor Society and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure. My last three years of PhD research in the Tumor Biology Training Program at Georgetown have been spent analyzing the cancer genome of the deadly brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme that afflicts ~10,000 Americans each year. I have been identifying new genes that drive the pathogenesis of glioblastoma in the hopes of discovering new successful therapeutics for this uniformly lethal brain cancer. For more information on my research, please see one of my recent publications "Identification of p18INK4c as a tumor suppressor gene in glioblastoma multiforme" at http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/8/2564.

My previous personal best at the 5K distance was 19 min 6 sec run in October 2006. I had been putting in a lot of miles leading up to this race and had high hopes of running somewhere under 19 minutes. Unfortunately, all the running I had been doing was long slow mileage getting ready for the Bull Run 50, and the single interval session I did on a track two days before this race was not enough to get me in speed mode. It turned out to be a rainy morning on race day and the course was covered in puddles. After a ceremonial start by David Cook (last year's American Idol winner) and a crowd of brain tumor survivors carrying yellow balloons, the race went off at 9 a.m. I started up front and kept up with the leaders for a bit but just wasn't able to keep their pace all the way home. After dodging puddles rather unsuccessfully for 3.1 miles, I crossed the finish line in 19 min 23 sec (6:15 min/mile pace) good for 20th place out of 1,470 timed finishers. There were several high school track/cross country students out to run that morning, and I embarassingly was beaten by three 15 year olds, ouch! I have got to get faster.

Run Amuck 5K Mud Run - April 25, 2009

"This is the Run Amuck Mud Run! The Mud Run is a challenging 5K run in Rockville, Maryland with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, walls, ropes, and MUD PITS. This is the most fun you can have running a 5K! View the course map at www.runamuckfestival.com. Race individually, as a couple, or as a member of a 4-person team. Choose the Open category with no restrictions on attire and footwear, or the Costumed category, which requires your own zany costume or matching costumes (for couples and teams)."

Our team "menage a quatre Georgetown style" crossed the 3.1 miles in approximately 1 hr 08 min coming in next to last place in the team costume division that went off at 1 p.m. However, we did win best dressed, most team spirit, most covered in mud at the finish line, and best dance moves at the afterparty. What could be better on a Saturday afternoon?!?

A more complete photo documentation of the event is available upon request.