A personal post from Kristin McGlone, photographer and Colorado foothills local
Yesterday, Matt and I laced up our trail shoes and ran 13 miles together at Staunton State Park. Today is our 13th anniversary. It was hard and somewhere around mile 10, when my legs were done and my brain was not far behind, I had a moment of not knowing if I could finish. I ran the Colfax half 2 weeks ago, and hadn't put any real miles down since.
But we did finish. And the drive home felt like exhaling after holding your breath for a very long time, in a good way.
We started with emails
Matt and I started emailing in May of 2009 and met in person that August. Almost seventeen years ago now. In 2009, it was still somewhat weird to meet each other online, naturally we fibbed about that for awhile!
But we built something together from those early emails. A life in the Colorado foothills, two kids, a lot of miles on a lot of trails, and a marriage that has weathered more than I could have predicted when we were just figuring out what we were to each other.
Thirteen years of that is worth celebrating. We just happen to celebrate by going outside and doing something hard.
We have always been this way
Running is not the only language we speak out here. We bike, we hike, we backpack, we find our way back to each other on trails and in the mountains every chance we get. The past few years, we biked over 25 miles together to celebrate our anniversary and train for a big race at the same time. That is just kind of who we are.
There is something about moving through hard terrain together that strips everything else away. The schedules, the to-do lists, the mental load of parenting and running a business and being adults with responsibilities. Out on the trail, none of that comes with us. It is just the two of us, our legs, and whatever the mountains decide to throw at us that day.
Staunton is our go-to place. We run and bike there more than anywhere else, and being in that landscape together always brings us back to ourselves. Back to who we were before life got so full.
What mile 10 actually felt like
Thirteen miles on a trail is not a casual Sunday. Your legs feel it. Your mind feels it. There was a moment where I genuinely did not know if I had what it took to finish. I told Matt. And he did not push me to go faster or remind me of the goal. He slowed down to my pace. He stayed with me. He said the things I needed to hear and not the things that would have made me feel worse.
We finished together.
That is thirteen years in one moment, right there.
The part social media does not show you
Here is what I want to say, because I think it matters: thirteen years has not always been easy. We have had our share of hard seasons financially, relationally, as parents, as individuals trying to figure out who we are alongside each other. Living far from family adds its own layer. Life adds its layers regardless.
I am not going to wrap that up neatly, because it was not neat. It was real. And I think sometimes when we see marriages celebrated online, there is this quiet pressure to perform happiness instead of just living it.
What I know is that we kept going. Not perfectly. Not without struggle. But we kept lacing up and showing up, and that is the whole thing right there.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9
If you give up on the trail at mile 10, you never know what mile 13 feels like. Marriage is the same. The hard seasons are not proof that something is broken. Sometimes they are just mile 10.
Why it always comes back to being outside
Running, biking, hiking, backpacking: being outside in God's creation together has always been our reset button. It puts us back in our bodies, back in the present, back with each other. There is no agenda on the trail. There is just movement and breath and whatever conversation rises naturally out of that.
Doing hard physical things has a way of reminding you what you are actually made of. You find something in yourself that was quietly waiting to be needed. And when you do that alongside someone you love, it deepens something that is hard to put into words but very easy to feel.
That is what yesterday felt like. Not just a run. A reminder.
Why I am telling you this
Partly because this is my space to be a real person, not just a photographer with a website. If you are going to trust me with your family or your brand, I want you to actually know who I am first.
And partly because I think a lot of people reading this know exactly what mile 10 feels like, in a marriage or a business or just a season of life that will not seem to end. I see you. It is worth finishing.
Here is to 13 years, 13 miles, and whatever comes next.
Happy anniversary, Matt.
I am Kristin McGlone, a lifestyle and brand photographer based in Conifer, Colorado, serving Denver, Littleton, Lakewood, Evergreen, Morrison, Pine, and Bailey. If you are ready for photos that actually feel like you and the life you are living, I would love to connect. Book a discovery call and let's talk.
