Life is a marathon, not a sprint

This past weekend I got to experience something really special with Chelsea from over 1,000 miles away. We ran 10 miles together!

A few months ago, Chelsea was asked to join some good friends in a 10-mile race as part of the Denver Colfax Marathon. When she told me she was going to do it, without hesitation I said "I'm going to do it with you". Sure, we weren't together physically, but we ran 10 miles at the same time, which made it feel like we were running the race together.

I am so incredibly proud of Chelsea! Not only was this the first time she'd ever run that far, but two weeks ago she hurt her ankle really bad and wasn't able to train (at all), AND she worked until almost 1:00am the morning of the race and was going on just a few hours of sleep - but she KILLED it. Not kidding. She didn't stop one time and kept a great pace until the end! Knowing she did this, was out there giving her all and cheering me on at the same time, gave me all the motivation I needed to push myself and suffer through those last 2 miles of the run. It may sound crazy, but I could feel her energy, love, and support and she felt mine…

Even though Chelsea and I don't get to have each other the way we want right now, we have come up with creative ways to make this time apart a lot better. It’s only made our relationship stronger, and helped prepare us for other life trials and tribulations that come our way.

This experience reminds me of the quote: “Life is a marathon, not a sprint.” That small actions and choices really do make a big difference. They build up over time to create real change that can have a lasting impact on our life and the people around us. Too often, people believe that significant changes happen quickly, but that’s rarely the case. Life truly is much more of a marathon than a sprint.