Running the NYC Marathon

The New York Marathon.

On November 6th, 2022, I will be running in the largest, most prestigious marathon on Earth.

The preparation leading up to it has already been grueling, pushing me past limits I never thought possible, let alone surpassable. 

Each painful moment, each bead of sweat, each heaving breath as I’m bent over on the side of the street will all be worth it come race day.

Life can be an unforgiving, grinding, onslaught of trials and tribulations at times, with some stretches extending further than you’d hope, but only in these tumultuous lows can an appreciation for the soaring highs blossom and be earned.

When I look back on my time as a Nebraska Student-athlete - late nights studying in the library, early dreary mornings spent weight training before heading for Tennis practice in the freezing winter - I see now that the challenges I overcame molded me into a force to be reckoned with, into the mental and physical shape I’ll need to take on the marathon.

I spent much of my life devoted to the unforgiving sport of tennis. I thought that would always be my sport, that I was, am, and always would be a tennis player. Yet, here I am, no racquet in hand, Hokas on my feet instead of Barricades, logging 30 miles a week as I transform my body into a machine with one singular purpose: running and not stopping. Never would I have imagined myself here. More incredulously, never would I have imagined myself loving it as much as I do. 

See, I've always loved individual sports more than team sports. 

When you're out there on your own, you’re writing your own story, forging your own destiny. I love that - I love being the master of my own fate, resting the world on my shoulders and pressing forward to victory. There’s no better feeling of being in full control of the outcome and converting the uncertainty of competition into triumphant victory.

Running is far more peaceful than the melee of a tennis match, but every bit as punishing. Unlike tennis where I had to overcome my opponent, the heart of running is overcoming yourself and your own limitations. In that sense, part of me feels like I've been preparing for this my whole life.

As a tennis player for the Huskers, I built up a level of grit and resilience I’ve carried with me and cultivated further over the years since. 

It was this grit which elevated me above the others, which helped me to earn the numerous awards I achieved both on the court and in the classroom during my time at Nebraska. It’s this same grit and resilience which will carry me to my greatest accomplishment yet: running the NYC Marathon. 

My love for New York City

 

I grew up in a small town in what many would consider the suburbs of New York City, a town called Amityville in Long Island, New York. 

As a child, I was constantly captivated by the magic of the city, the allure of the city lights, and the romanticism of it all captured in movies. Living the shadow of such an imposing and significant marvel naturally engenders a mystical sense of wonder and longing in the mind of a child. When the greatest of dreams remain possible, it’s hard to not fall in love with the fantastical imaginations of what could lie on the other side of a one hour train ride. On the rare occasion my family would make a trip to the city, it was like a holiday for me. The whirlwind of excitement and the frenetic energy in the air was intoxicating and still lies embedded in my heart as a series of wondrous memories.

The endless sea of opportunities the city has in store was simply enchanting for me as a kid when my hometown offered a scant selection of attractions and clubs. Naturally, it was in the city that my love for sports first began. 

When I was 11 years old, I was able to participate in a charitable tennis program organized by the New York City Parks Association in which I met and played against Steffi Graf and Billie Jean King, two legendary icons of tennis who I idolized. 

Seeing and meeting these two role models who reached the heights of my sport sparked a competitive flame in me. If only for a second and if only for a charitable tennis program, the ability to be a top women’s tennis player felt possible and within my reach. 

I knew from that moment on that this was what I wanted and this spurred a fundamental change in how I viewed sports. 

For the first time, I felt the push I needed to take tennis beyond just a recreational hobby to a passion, a way of life. I got better and better, rising through the ranks and taking down steeper and steeper competition until I had finally realized one of my long held dreams. 

I was a five-star recruit and earned a full-ride to the University of Nebraska.

Of course, the dream didn’t last forever.

Unfortunately, we must eventually awake from our dreams and college tennis was a rude awakening for me. 

The demanding lifestyle of a busy student-athlete combined with inordinately intense practices took their physical toll on my body. 

The stress of balancing my rigorous Biochemistry degree with the relentless pressure to perform broke my love for the sport in a slow, grinding disintegration of the passion I’d once felt. 

Good was never good enough, pain was never an excuse to relent, and stress was never ending. The nightmare came to a head just before my senior year when a wrist injury ended my tennis career. 

For many athletes, their dreams may end there, but I had other ambitions beyond athletics. I always felt enamored with the idea of serving as a healthcare professional. 

The opportunity to serve the downtrodden and provide care to the needy always appealed to me. So, after graduating, I applied and got accepted into the #1 nursing program in the country at the University of Pennsylvania, allowing me to move back closer to my roots.

While in school, I remained dead set on eventually finding my way back to New York City. Even after all these years away, the city retained its natural gravitational pull on my heart and that’s exactly where I ended up after school. For the past year, I've been working as a full-time Registered Nurse in a top Manhattan Hospital— another dream come true. 

When I moved back here, it didn't take long for me to start dreaming again. After all, where else are dreams made more often than in New York City? Soon my dreamy thoughts wandered towards the New York Marathon and I thought to myself, “Why not make this my next adventure?" 

That was about a year ago and now, with less than 50 days until the marathon, I find myself in the height of my training.

Getting ready

 

The pandemic was the original catalyst that kick started my running career, out of necessity more than any latent love for the sport. With the country all but completely shut down, there wasn’t much left to do to stay active. 

Gyms were closed, classes weren’t much of option, and I simply did not have the sanity for another at-home calisthenics workout. 

Like many of us, I was going stir-crazy and as someone who has been active her whole life, I needed to do something, anything. With nothing else left, I strapped on my old beat-up Nikes and just started running.

It wasn’t much at first; a mile or two here, three more there - humble beginnings.

However, humble beginnings blossomed into modest steps forward, which eventually flourished into a newfound passion. As the days went by, I kept running more and more, improving, and increasing the mileage each week. Now, despite a challenging work schedule, I still get in my miles no matter what. With the marathon day closing in, I'm running roughly 30 miles a week.

Sometimes I wake up for my 5am run and there’s nothing I want to do more than rollover, snooze my alarm, and sneak in an hour more of shuteye. Then I remember what I’m working for, who I’m doing it for at the end of the day, and I slowly pull myself out of bed. See, as one of the ways to get into the NYC marathon, I raised $2620 for charity, $100 for each mile I’ll be running.

I took a hard look at the organizations in New York City that played a role in opening doors for me throughout my life. 

One that stuck out to me was Team for Kids — a group of runners dedicated to raising funds for youth and community programs. 

It keeps me going knowing that I’m supporting an organization which may be setting some little girl down the path towards achieving her dreams. 

I was once that little girl, participating in a charitable tennis program through the New York City Parks Organization, who had the chance to meet her long-time tennis idols, and kickstart my athletic journey. It keeps me going knowing that, in some regard, I’m paying it forward. 

As I'm heading into the final stretch of training for the marathon, I'd love to take this to the next level.

If anyone is interested in supporting a good cause, and my journey along the way, you can check out this link — https://www.runwithtfk.org/Profile/PublicPage/94350/53781

It surely has been a wild ride since committing to the Huskers.

I'm beyond grateful for the path the Huskers helped pave and the opportunity to share my story.