My Marathon Journey

Chandi Schwab
I have always loved to run, but I never pictured myself a long distance runner. I think motherhood kind of brought it on. After having 3 kids and not having anything to consider my "Me" time I decided to up the distance. I thought I was reaching far when Cambree was 11 months old doing my first half, and fortunately it was finishing that half that reassured me that I could go for the full.
I have some great friends that had done marathons and one even did a 50 miler. This was so inspiring for me. I realized I really can do anything that I set my mind to. So in October of 2010, my good friend Aubrey told me about a great marathon to start with. She told me that it fills up quick so I needed to make my decision. It was then that I signed up for the Ogden Marathon being held on May 21st, 2011. It seemed so far away so I decided to make my goal even more challenging by shooting for a Boston Qualifying time.The remainder of the year I worked a lot on my speed and threw distance runs in here and there.
2010 came to an end, and my friend Davey (amazing runner) who had completed the 50 miler, gave me a book to read called Advanced Marathoning that shared all of the particular ins and outs of training for a marathon. I chose the schedule with the least amount of mileage and went to work.
It was an 18 week schedule and was pretty gruelling for me where I had never even done one before. Some days I was on cloud 9 after my runs and other days I felt so defeated. I was able to complete every run on the schedule with a minor 2 week break where I just did cross training because my calf was pretty sore, but luckily I left a couple of weeks to spare.
I really wanted to be so prepared that my goal of Boston was in the bag. Unfortunately it was going to be a close call. The final week before the run I was so sick to my stomach with nerves.I would continue to tell myself. "Why did I open my big mouth about trying to qualify for Boston?" I knew making it public knowledge would help motivate me, but the pressure I was feeling was so rough.
On May 20th my brother Austin's sweet girlfriend Sadee watched the kids over night for us, so that I could go down to Ogden and not have to worry about anything but the race. there was a lot of travel time because just as we were nearing Ogden I realized I hadn't put my bag in the car(Classic).We went back to Lehi and then back to Ogden. About an hour each way. So 3 hours travel total. Scott and I picked up the marathon packet and then grabbed a bite to eat at a local diner. I ate a big baked potato with halibut and a roll(carbo loading). Scott went above and beyond with all of his support and sacrifices to help me accomplish my goal. He was so helpful the night before in helping me to mentally be prepared. I finally had everything ready and was settled around 10:00 p.m. I set the alarm for 4:00 a.m. and tried to sleep. Of course I didn't sleep well that night, I decided to just get up at 3:45 a.m.
I had everything laid out and found a sweet card stuck to the mirror from Scott. So sweet:) I got dressed and ready and headed down to the lobby where I was meeting up with Aubrey and some of her friends. I slowly ate oatmeal and had tons of water while I waited. As soon as I met up with the girls it was great because it got my mind off of everything. We caught a bus around 5:15 and I sat by Aubrey. She is so sweet and easy to talk to. Of course we were on the bus that got lost, I wasn't too disappointed because it would have been more time at the start line and at least we made it. After we got there and a half hour in the bathroom line it was time to start. I really liked that I didn't have too much down time.
It was 7:00 a.m. and I made my way to the start line. There were signs set up to gage where to stand in line by pace. I chose right in between the 7 min and 8 min. At first it hardly felt like I was moving at all it was so euphoric and I had to slow it down a bit because I was so excited I was going too fast. The run was beautiful! There were very few houses up in the canyon but when there was a house the people that lived there were at the end of their driveways cheering us on!It was so motivating. There were aid stations almost every other mile with so many volunteers that made the experience so great! As time went on the crowd grew thinner and I began to choose people to match my speed with. There was a girl with long dark hair and a green tank top that was a perfect pace setter for me. We took turns leading each other. when one of us would slow down the other would be ready to kick it in high gear. There were so many people at he half way point, It was a great energy booster because they were cheering so much! After mile 13 it started getting a little bit hilly until 18 or so and then it started coasting down again. Downhill was nice minus how hard it was on my knee and my knees are usually pretty strong. 20 was the furthest I had gone before the marathon so after I passed 20 I had mixed emotions. So close...yet so far away!!! I saw Scott around mile 22 he had an energy drink for me but I didn't think I could stomach it so I saved it for after the race. He ran with me for a while and really pumped me up!The last few individual miles took forever! Miles 23 and 24 were kind of hilly and the last mile you go from coming down a beautiful canyon to being on a regular never ending road to the finish line. I kept anticipating picking up my speed and it still seemed so far away. Finally when I did I just didn't have it in me to go much faster.I had given it my all.I looked down at my pace on my Garmin and it said 7:59, I gave it one last push and finished!Barely reaching my goal.Pretty sure I was about to pass out right after but didn't. I met up with Scott and chatted with Davey and April(good friends) Along with a couple other people we saw. We cheered Aubrey in and sat and cheered for awhile. It was so neat to watch people push themselves to the limit and give it there all. there were so many volunteers and spectators that devoted there time to helping others achieve their goals!
It is so surreal to have it over. After all of the training and time. I am pretty much already having with drawls. Time for a new goal!And who knows...maybe I will be at Boston next year!
I have had so many friends and family members that have supported me through this all and I want to send a shout out to all of you!Those that asked me how it was going, those who gave me advise, and those that helped make it happen! I wrote this to encourage you to find something you are passionate about, set a goal with it, and go for it! Because you can do anything you set your mind to! There will be lows, but it always takes a low to achieve your highs!
(Born to Run (Christopher McDougall) and Running with Joy(Ryan Hall)are both amazing books for runners to read as well!Both a huge part of my journey.)