Running If You Call My Name

I’ve been working on something behind the scenes for a few years now.

If you’ve been following me for the past few years (but hello to any new faces around here), you may have realized that I am always up for a challenge. Whether it was medical school and now residency, Ireland’s Got Talent, or my YouTube channel - I have taken each challenge in stride and done my best to excel.

A few years ago, I started talking about the challenge of running a marathon.

If you knew me as a child, no one would have pegged me as the athletic type. I was nerdy, artsy, extremely uncoordinated, and unfit. I spent almost six months with walking aids due to trochanteric bursitis as a young teenager. I was not an athlete. I played no sports and spent as much time as I could playing music or studying.

When I started studying for the MCAT, I realized that medical school would have both physical and mental challenges. After my first practice test left me physically exhausted, preventing me from fully engaging mentally, I knew something had to change. So, I started going on morning walks. At the time, I was a music therapist in my first job out of college and needed an activity that was relatively low-cost since I wasn’t earning much. Those walks transitioned into runs in the Texas heat, which led me to a gym called TrainLifeFit (now The Unstoppable Baller) and its owner Sumair.

If you’re in the Austin area - or online - and looking for an amazing trainer with an incredible heart, definitely check him out. Now back to my story…

Sumair taught me the basics of personal fitness, and I grew to have a community in the gym. For the first time, I felt like my body was an asset, and those sessions significantly supported my journey to get into medical school.

When I started medical school, my running really took off. I got up every morning before class at around 5:30 a.m. to go on a run before classes started at 7 a.m. I ran my first 10K race with the school running club at Run In The Dark. I ran my first 10K in a banana suit with the running club—not my best move, but I got to run with a bunch of bananas and had a great time.

My running waxed and waned throughout medical school, particularly taking a huge dip during my third year. For those unaware, the third year is one of the most challenging in medical school, as those are the clerkship years that contribute to getting your first residency job.

The idea to run a marathon first crossed my mind while I was in Ireland, but like many things, COVID put that idea on hold. Finally, when I got to residency, I really “hit my stride.”

I started running with a group of women I now call best friends. Building off of running to keep myself occupied while awaiting my H1-B visa clearance to start working in the USA, I ran my first half marathon this spring, finishing with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 32 seconds (not that anyone is counting).

Running makes me feel strong, except when I am running up a particularly big hill—then, I sometimes feel very winded and a little wimpy. When I started residency, I had the idea to run a marathon before I turned 30, similar to Anna Vatuone, who just released her book on her 30th birthday.

But life changes. In February of 2021, my cousin Kendra was diagnosed with brain cancer related to Neurofibromatosis Type 1, a genetic condition she was born with—one I will cover in more depth in a future blog post. Kendra was the light of so many people’s lives. We were family, but I also had the fortunate opportunity to be her friend. Kendra would give me advice about boys and bullying at school, and she taught me how to swear by yelling at the top of my lungs in the woods. She went through cancer treatment with humour and grace and fought until the bitter end, but unfortunately, she passed away in June of 2022. After her death, I was a well of emotion—sad, angry, and confused about why this amazing bright light was snuffed out.

So now I want to do something about it. I want to run a marathon, but I also want to do some good in this world. That is why I am raising money for the Neurofibromatosis Society of Ontario as part of this marathon.

I hope to raise $2620 CAD ($100 per mile) for the organization so they can continue their research efforts, community outreach, and support individuals with Neurofibromatosis in my home province. You can donate via this link: https://gofund.me/8539f330 . That’s why I’m running the Toronto Waterfront Marathon (my first marathon) on October 20th, 2024! I’ve been training for a few months now, but I wanted to wait until after I had completed my half-marathon to share the news with all of you.

This song from the band Haim really exemplifies how I felt after Kendra’s death. I wanted to run away from the painful memories of her death, shut everything out, and just think about me and the road. Now, I feel like I am running toward something. I feel like I am running for something. And I feel like I am running home. So enjoy this song (you may see it on an upcoming Tunes with Tara).

Stay tuned for weekly updates on my training. You’ll also learn more about Neurofibromatosis, child health, music, updates on how my fellowship applications are going (I just submitted those on the 17th of July), and we’ll count down to the marathon together this fall in Toronto.

Miles Ran This Week: 21
Hours Worked: 60
Money Raised: $0
New Songs Learned: 1
Countdown to the Marathon: 10 weeks 5 days