Marital Motivation and Training

Over the last eight years of our marriage, Michael and I have been told numerous times how lucky we are that we share the same passions. I couldn’t agree more! Here is a quick backstory on how we met… 

I was traveling in Costa Rica and met Michael in the water surfing shop at his local hometown break in Playa Guinoes. After many surf sessions together and sharing waves we became friends, even though we didn’t speak the same language! One thing led to another and Michael learned how to say, “Miranda… I like your smile” in English and his adorable accent. From there, we knew this was it. Michael and I did the fiancé visa and married here in America with only 90 days to decide if it would work. Thankfully, it did!

Fast forward to 2022 and we are happily married with our husky Glacier and cat Max.

We still travel all around the world for surfing. However, that is not our only passion… about three years ago we discovered obstacle course racing and it became another passion we both share. Michael and I dedicate 15+ hours a week to training so that we can perform at a higher level and compete in OCR.

Our lifestyle is dedicated to our passions. 

It’s such a special thing to have a partner who is just as interested in the things you love. You can better relate to each other, talk about your experiences in more depth, and know that the other person fully understands and can give you the best, most honest feedback possible. We support each other, motivate each other, and challenge each other.

Training to us comes in many different forms, whether it be surfing, running, biking, swimming, SUPing (stand up paddling)… the list goes on! I find that it is super beneficial - and very motivating - to have a training partner.

Of course Michael and I have different running paces, so when we have speedwork sessions we unfortunately have to do those separate. But sometimes on Michael’s easy runs, I’ll join and then it will be a nice tempo effort for me! We try to train together whenever we can (especially for our long runs) so that we can enjoy each other’s company. I personally feel that when we train together it is much more enjoyable than if we were to each train solo, and enjoying the process of training is very important to us. If I’m not enjoying something I have on my training schedule, then I won’t do it!

Listening to your body and what it wants to do is so important.

When we are done competing in many years from now, I want to look back and say I really enjoyed this process and learned so much from my fellow competitors and mentors and also learned a lot about myself and my partner. 

I truly believe finding a significant other that enjoys the same passions as you only makes your marriage AND your training that much stronger and more fun!

-Miranda Kielpinski, @miranda.kielpinski