Running another marathon

I ran my first marathon in February 2025. It was one of the hardest and best days of my adult life. The training was unbelievably challenging, the race seriously hurt, and I was carrying some personal weight at the same time. Crossing the finish line was a wave of pure relief and bliss.

I spent the ensuing evening eating, drinking, and celebrating in Austin with some of my best friends. I’d made a handful of fitness sacrifices (e.g., giving up junk food, doing Dry January) and I hadn’t seen my best mates in months. The contrast between the morning’s effort and the evening’s fun stuck with me. Life sure was sweet

I generally kept up with fitness and kept wondering whether to try running another marathon. Eventually, I applied and (luckily) got into the 2025 New York City Marathon with Fred’s Team, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s running program. I’m really glad I got to run and train with the team - I’m proud of the funds we raised for cancer research and of the awareness we built along the way (via social media, volunteering, and wearing our team gear).

This training cycle was far more enjoyable than my previous one - I made a handful of new friends, picked up a nice tan, and got to see a lot more of NYC.

Then, about six weeks before race day, I was diagnosed with tendinitis in both legs. I essentially stopped training for those weeks (which were intended to be my peak weeks of fitness). I was demoralized and debated whether I could run at all.

I later decided to run anyway and (thankfully) finished in 3:53:13. The finish line felt different from Austin: relief and elation after a brutal day, but a lingering feeling of ‘what if’. I’d originally targeted 3:30, then revised to sub-4:00 after the injury. Although I was proud of my result and the impact my team had, part of me was still chasing the goal I never got to test fairly.

Fast forward a few months (March 2026), and I entered a lottery for the marathon on a whim — and won. I thought about it cautiously but ultimately accepted. My reasons stacked up quickly: I believe I can do real good by fundraising and raising awareness for MSK; I’m hungry to go after my 3:30 goal on healthier legs; I’ve cleared the fitness goals I set for the first half of the year and want to push myself further; and I want to run this race while my friends and I still live in New York.

I’ve already placed my deposit and started volunteering again. So yeah — I’m in.