Are you a SPRINTER or ENDURANCE runner in life? How do your significant others balance you?

I am an endurance runner in all areas. I am the long distance member of the family and with my friends. I can't sprint for anything and hills kill me😒 and I always struggle with incline😭 I love to run forever! Trail running in the mountains, with a light rain during sunrise or sunset is my favorite.

Today I watched my husband on the trail and so many analogies came to my mind. It was a beautiful jog. We have not ran for over 3 months due to Scott's back surgery and my crazy summer schedule. As we hit the trail I was amazed how we fell right into our natural rhythm. We knew our places and our roll to help the other do our best.

I am the love life and make joy out of daily things. l am the heartbeat of our home as many women are!🏡 For example, if we are going to start running I pull up a schedule, make a plan for us, I lay out the clothes the night before and wake up cheerful and excited to start our run🌈 I love to get the most out of the run, seeing nature, clear the mind, push the body, make my creative juice start flowing, work on my PR and connect with whoever I am with.

I always lead the run, just like life I make most the decisions and run our family for the most part. Daily I make things pretty amazing and am there to lift and brighten others days☀️ or just cheer them on in their success!

My spouse is a Sprinter. He gives all he has and is a rocket. He can go fast and up mountains like I never will be able to but he burns out quick. In life he is sprinter too. If we are going the distance he loves to let me have the lead and make decisions and he enjoys partaking in the magic. We don't even say anything on the trail. I lead and anytime there is a hill he quietly glides in front of me and picks up the pace to keep me focused on keeping up with him and I always run better on incline if he is in the lead. As the elevation levels if there is room we run together side by side or with me in the lead. When we hit the decline I kick in and run strong going down hill, I love the turns, boulders and side stepping while keeping my balance and running fast downhill. Like a chaotic busy life filled with children it is a balancing act and I thrive in it and love it.

As we tagged team through our run this morning I was filled with so much gratitude for my husband, the QUIET SPRINTER❤️. I watched him lead me up the mountain today and I thought how he is the perfect MATCH for ME.

I am independent and do well living and taking care of things, I really don't "need" someone. I can knock out walls, figure out electrical, sprinklers, and budgets etc. I feel very confident in whatever I don't know how to do that I am capable of finding out how to accomplish and complete my goal.

I paid a lot to learn that abandonment issues caused me to take care of myself a bit too much. I had to work hard to be vulnerable and accept love from others. It was worth the work!❤️ I am a happy person daily and love life.

Saying that there is a side of me that doesn't like to climb up painful mountains. Physically or emotionally. When life gets hard, scary or just painful from the past or present I don't like the sad places I go when I face "mountains". That is why my SPRINTER is my perfect match. He doesn't say much or make things happen often, he is happy supporting me in making my dreams happen and he finds joy in my happiness. I know lucky me😀 Saying that he steps in and gets me up the mountains until I can find my happy pace again on a flat or decline.

Here is an example: The other day I was off. For whatever reason, hormone changes, inertia, emptynest, seriously I had no idea why but I was BLUE and couldn't shake it. I hadn't said anything and we had finished dinner when my SPRINTER said "I think we should hike Indian trail go get changed" Now I didn't want to and it wasn't our plans for the night but he knows I love sunsets from the view on the mountains and we made it just in time for the amazing ball of fire in the sky. Scott put his arm around me and we stood quietly and came home. My spouse is a man of very few words, but he didn't need any for me to know he was lifting my spirits and helping me see the beauty around me.

That evening as we were about to finish our nightly routine with our devotional, yahtzee and our evening prayers before lights out, Scott shocked me.

"I was wondering if you wanted to skinny dip before I close the pool. It is a beautiful night out " I was not in the mood to ...dot, dot, dot (you know😍) I knew he was reaching out since this is the first time in the 24 years he has ever asked me to skinny dip. We went to the pool and he had me lay on my back and put my head back in the water to block out the noise and he turned me in circles in the water as I stared up at the sky and all the stars. I have no idea what happened or why but tears flowed as I looked at the stars and the peaceful sky. The silence, nature, and water was healing. When it was done he held me in the water and just let me lean on his shoulder. That was it. He told me he loved me. Nothing more 😀💕No sex for real.The actions my spouse made were my high for the day and healed me. I was able to wake and hit the ground the next day living my pace.

I kept thinking today as I ran behind Scott how many times he has stepped in and helped me heal, helped me climb my mountains or waited for me as I figured out how to keep going up the mountains in life. Then as we hit the decline I took off feeling like a bird, as free as could be and loving the fast pace. He was happy to stay behind and watch me take off and I waited for him to catch me.

That is our marriage. I am the one running nonstop until I break down every now and then and need to refuel and my husband is still and quiet cheering me on silently and he steps in when he knows I am struggling and he kicks into his sprint mode helping me get back to my pace.

I am so thankful for my quiet sprinter in my life. I was thinking of women I love and the role they have in my life and often they balance my life by bringing their strengths to bless mine when I can not offer some gifts to myself.

That is life isn't it? figuring out our strengths and sharing them with others and learning to appreciate and accept others gifts to make our lives more beautiful and full. I am so thankful for the different people in my life and their gifts they bring to my world to make it more colorful and beautiful.

May we all find our stride and learn to value the stride of all those around us.

With much love until next Monday,

Starla❤️