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Unity is strength...When there is teamwork and collaboration1，
wonderful things can be achieved.
—Mattie Stepanek
團结就是力量……在有团队合作的时候，美好的事情就可以实现。
——马提·斯特帕尼克
I warned my husband that something crazy was about to come out of my mouth. “I think we need to run a 5K.”
我警告过我丈夫，我嘴里忍不住快要说出什么疯狂的东西了。“我觉得我们要跑一次五千米赛跑。”
I was not a runner. I was a stay-at-home mom. With my husband in graduate school， and a toddler2 and a baby in the house， exercise hadn’t been a priority3. Running was just about the last thing I ever thought I would do for fun.
我不是赛跑选手，我是一个全职妈妈。我的丈夫在读研究生，屋里有一个刚学步的孩子和一个婴儿，锻炼并不是我的首要任务。跑步几乎是我最不可能为了好玩而做的事情。
But it was an idea I hadn’t been able to shake for a couple of days. A friend had posted something on Facebook about a program that would take people from no exercise to running a 5K in nine weeks， and I was interested in it.
但这是我几天以来都没能动摇的一个想法。一个朋友在Facebook（美国一个社交网站）上发布了一个计划，可以让人们在九周内从不锻炼到跑五千米，我对此很感兴趣。
My husband， who had been to an army boot camp and served eight years in the reserves， was all in from the start. He started researching running gear4， jogging strollers5 and a 5K we could register for a few months later. Me？ Even though it was technically my idea， I was hesitant. In high school， one of the physical-education requirements was to run a mile-and-a-half every year. I always came in near last. I remembered how slow I was. I would sweat and feel like I was going to faint6 as my face turned deep shades of red. I had to walk part of the way. I was really in no shape to be running.
我的丈夫参加过一个军队新兵训练营，并在预备役部队服役八年，他从一开始就全力投入。他开始研究跑步装备、慢跑婴儿推车和几个月后我们可以报名注册的五千米赛跑。至于我呢？尽管严格来说这是我的主意，但我还是犹豫不决。在高中，体育教育的要求之一是每年跑一英里半（约2.4千米）。我总是跑在几乎最后一个。我记得我有多慢。我会出汗，感觉自己快要晕倒了，同时脸变得很红。我得走一段路。我真的不适合跑步。
Sometimes， I joked that the only time I would ever run after high school was if I needed to save my life. In a sense， I did. Our marriage was only three years old at this point and had been dealt a serious blow. While we both tried to keep our marriage together， it was going to take work. We needed a lot of help to repair our relationship， and for some reason I thought running would be part of the solution.
有时，我开玩笑说，高中毕业后我唯一会跑步的时候就是我要逃命的时候。从某种意义上说，确实是这样。我们的婚姻到现在才三年，就已经受到了严重的打击。虽然我们都致力于维系我们的婚姻，但这需要努力。我们需要很多帮助来修复我们的关系，出于某种原因，我认为跑步是解决办法的一部分。
I was desperate7 enough to think that training for a 5K would be good for our marriage. For one， we’d have to spend time together several days a week. We had registered for a 5K that was exactly nine weeks from when we started the training program， so we had to keep to a strict schedule. Happy time as a couple was something we lacked， what with two small kids and no family within 800 miles. During our training， we had a few offers from friends to watch the kids， but buying a jogging stroller was our guarantee8 that we wouldn’t miss a workout. 我出于無奈，认为训练五千米跑对我们的婚姻有好处。首先，我们一周有几天的时间必须在一起。我们报名参加的五千米赛跑，正好在我们开始训练计划的九周后，所以我们必须严格遵守时间表。作为一对夫妇，我们缺少开心的时光，因为我们有两个小孩，在八百英里（约1300千米）内没有家人。在我们训练的过程中，我们收到了一些朋友要来帮忙照看孩子的提议，但是买一辆慢跑婴儿推车是我们不会错过锻炼机会的保证。
Second， I needed to accomplish something difficult—to push myself beyond what was easy and comfortable. I wasn’t sure if I could run a 5K or save my marriage， but I knew I couldn’t do either if I didn’t try. I hoped that training for my first-ever 5K would help me develop the kind of discipline9 and perseverance10 I would need to face difficulties of all kinds.
第二，我需要完成一件困难的事情——把自己推出安逸舒适区。我不确定我是否能跑五千米赛跑或者挽救我的婚姻，但我知道，如果不努力，就哪个也都做不到。我希望第一次参加五千米跑的训练能帮助我养成面对各种困难所需要的纪律和毅力。
Third， I wanted the physical act of striving toward a common goal to inspire us to do the same for our relationship. I wasn’t sure which would be harder.
第三，我希望朝着一个共同的目标来努力的行动，能激励我们为两个人的关系做同样的努力。我不确定哪个更难做到。
Nothing dramatic happened in those nine weeks. I didn’t lose a bunch of weight. Our marriage didn’t improve better automatically11. But， week by week， we stuck to the plan and gave it our best effort.
在那九个星期里没有发生什么戏剧性的事情。我没有减掉很多体重，我们的婚姻并没有自动修复。但是，一周又一周，我们坚持计划，尽了最大的努力。
The morning of the race， I was up with the kids before dawn， as usual. Their grandparents came to town to watch them （and us） during the run. It was a cold November morning and I questioned our sanity12. This idea had always been crazy to me， but now that the reality of it had arrived. I was even more sure that this unconventional13 plan was not something normal people did.
赛跑的那天早上，我像往常一样在黎明前和孩子们一起起床。他们的祖父母在比赛期间来镇上看他们（和我们）。那是一个寒冷的十一月的早晨，我对我们的理智产生了怀疑。这个想法对我来说一直都是疯狂的，但现在现实已经到来，我更加确信这个非常规的计划不是正常人能做出来的。
My body hummed with adrenaline14 and nervousness as we gathered with hundreds of runners at the start line. And then we were off—putting our training to the test on the actual race route. It was an emotional 36 minutes. The first mile passed quickly. The second mile dragged. We saw our kids a couple of times on the route， and I blinked back the tears. As we neared the end， people we’d never met—fellow runners—shouted encouragement.
当我们在起跑线上同成百上千的参赛者聚集在一起时，我的身体充满了肾上腺素和紧张不安。然后，我们出发了——到实际比赛路线中去检验我们的训练成果。这是令人情绪激动的36分钟。首个一英里很快就跑过去了。第二个一英里是拖着步子完成的。我们在路上几次看到了我们的孩子们，我眨了眨眼忍住了眼泪。当我们接近终点时，与我们素昧平生的人——与我们同样的跑步者——大声叫嚷鼓励着我们。
When the finish line came into view， my husband， who was slightly ahead of me， reached back toward me to take my hand. I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. That one gesture symbolized so much of what we had been through in the past months. After all that had happened， he was still reaching for me. We were still in it together. 当终点线映入眼帘时，跑在我前面一点的丈夫，转头向我伸出手来握住了我的手。我再也忍不住眼泪了。那个手势象征着我们过去几个月所经历的一切。在这一切发生之后，他仍会朝我伸出手，我们还在一起。
We finished the race holding hands and sobbing15. Running a 5K hadn’t made our marriage perfect， but it had changed something in us， something I hoped would last.
我们手拉着手流着泪完成了比赛。跑五千米赛跑并没有让我们的婚姻更完美，但它改变了我们之间的一些东西，我希望这将持续下去。
That was eight years ago. We’re still married. We’ve run a few 5Ks since then， and we’ve had more than a few difficulties in that time. But the lessons from that 5K remain. We make time for each other. We push ourselves to do and say what is difficult because we know it will be good for us. And we keep our goals in front of us， working together as a team.
那是八年前的事了，我们现在还在一起。从那时起，我们已经跑了几次五千米赛跑，并且在那期间遇到了不少问题。但那次五千米赛跑的经验教训依然还在。我们为彼此腾出时间。我们强迫自己去做困难的事情，去说难以说出口的话，因为我们知道这对我们有好处。我们把目标摆在面前，就像一个团队一样一起努力。
I can’t say I love running yet， but I love how running makes me feel. Strong. Confident. Accomplished. All because I took a chance on a crazy-for-me idea.
我还是不能说我喜欢跑步，但我喜欢跑步带给我的感觉：坚强、自信、成就感。这都是因为我碰运气尝试了个疯狂的点子。
（英语原文选自：www.chickensoup.com）
【Notes】
1. collaboration [
wonderful things can be achieved.
—Mattie Stepanek
團结就是力量……在有团队合作的时候，美好的事情就可以实现。
——马提·斯特帕尼克
I warned my husband that something crazy was about to come out of my mouth. “I think we need to run a 5K.”
我警告过我丈夫，我嘴里忍不住快要说出什么疯狂的东西了。“我觉得我们要跑一次五千米赛跑。”
I was not a runner. I was a stay-at-home mom. With my husband in graduate school， and a toddler2 and a baby in the house， exercise hadn’t been a priority3. Running was just about the last thing I ever thought I would do for fun.
我不是赛跑选手，我是一个全职妈妈。我的丈夫在读研究生，屋里有一个刚学步的孩子和一个婴儿，锻炼并不是我的首要任务。跑步几乎是我最不可能为了好玩而做的事情。
But it was an idea I hadn’t been able to shake for a couple of days. A friend had posted something on Facebook about a program that would take people from no exercise to running a 5K in nine weeks， and I was interested in it.
但这是我几天以来都没能动摇的一个想法。一个朋友在Facebook（美国一个社交网站）上发布了一个计划，可以让人们在九周内从不锻炼到跑五千米，我对此很感兴趣。
My husband， who had been to an army boot camp and served eight years in the reserves， was all in from the start. He started researching running gear4， jogging strollers5 and a 5K we could register for a few months later. Me？ Even though it was technically my idea， I was hesitant. In high school， one of the physical-education requirements was to run a mile-and-a-half every year. I always came in near last. I remembered how slow I was. I would sweat and feel like I was going to faint6 as my face turned deep shades of red. I had to walk part of the way. I was really in no shape to be running.
我的丈夫参加过一个军队新兵训练营，并在预备役部队服役八年，他从一开始就全力投入。他开始研究跑步装备、慢跑婴儿推车和几个月后我们可以报名注册的五千米赛跑。至于我呢？尽管严格来说这是我的主意，但我还是犹豫不决。在高中，体育教育的要求之一是每年跑一英里半（约2.4千米）。我总是跑在几乎最后一个。我记得我有多慢。我会出汗，感觉自己快要晕倒了，同时脸变得很红。我得走一段路。我真的不适合跑步。
Sometimes， I joked that the only time I would ever run after high school was if I needed to save my life. In a sense， I did. Our marriage was only three years old at this point and had been dealt a serious blow. While we both tried to keep our marriage together， it was going to take work. We needed a lot of help to repair our relationship， and for some reason I thought running would be part of the solution.
有时，我开玩笑说，高中毕业后我唯一会跑步的时候就是我要逃命的时候。从某种意义上说，确实是这样。我们的婚姻到现在才三年，就已经受到了严重的打击。虽然我们都致力于维系我们的婚姻，但这需要努力。我们需要很多帮助来修复我们的关系，出于某种原因，我认为跑步是解决办法的一部分。
I was desperate7 enough to think that training for a 5K would be good for our marriage. For one， we’d have to spend time together several days a week. We had registered for a 5K that was exactly nine weeks from when we started the training program， so we had to keep to a strict schedule. Happy time as a couple was something we lacked， what with two small kids and no family within 800 miles. During our training， we had a few offers from friends to watch the kids， but buying a jogging stroller was our guarantee8 that we wouldn’t miss a workout. 我出于無奈，认为训练五千米跑对我们的婚姻有好处。首先，我们一周有几天的时间必须在一起。我们报名参加的五千米赛跑，正好在我们开始训练计划的九周后，所以我们必须严格遵守时间表。作为一对夫妇，我们缺少开心的时光，因为我们有两个小孩，在八百英里（约1300千米）内没有家人。在我们训练的过程中，我们收到了一些朋友要来帮忙照看孩子的提议，但是买一辆慢跑婴儿推车是我们不会错过锻炼机会的保证。
Second， I needed to accomplish something difficult—to push myself beyond what was easy and comfortable. I wasn’t sure if I could run a 5K or save my marriage， but I knew I couldn’t do either if I didn’t try. I hoped that training for my first-ever 5K would help me develop the kind of discipline9 and perseverance10 I would need to face difficulties of all kinds.
第二，我需要完成一件困难的事情——把自己推出安逸舒适区。我不确定我是否能跑五千米赛跑或者挽救我的婚姻，但我知道，如果不努力，就哪个也都做不到。我希望第一次参加五千米跑的训练能帮助我养成面对各种困难所需要的纪律和毅力。
Third， I wanted the physical act of striving toward a common goal to inspire us to do the same for our relationship. I wasn’t sure which would be harder.
第三，我希望朝着一个共同的目标来努力的行动，能激励我们为两个人的关系做同样的努力。我不确定哪个更难做到。
Nothing dramatic happened in those nine weeks. I didn’t lose a bunch of weight. Our marriage didn’t improve better automatically11. But， week by week， we stuck to the plan and gave it our best effort.
在那九个星期里没有发生什么戏剧性的事情。我没有减掉很多体重，我们的婚姻并没有自动修复。但是，一周又一周，我们坚持计划，尽了最大的努力。
The morning of the race， I was up with the kids before dawn， as usual. Their grandparents came to town to watch them （and us） during the run. It was a cold November morning and I questioned our sanity12. This idea had always been crazy to me， but now that the reality of it had arrived. I was even more sure that this unconventional13 plan was not something normal people did.
赛跑的那天早上，我像往常一样在黎明前和孩子们一起起床。他们的祖父母在比赛期间来镇上看他们（和我们）。那是一个寒冷的十一月的早晨，我对我们的理智产生了怀疑。这个想法对我来说一直都是疯狂的，但现在现实已经到来，我更加确信这个非常规的计划不是正常人能做出来的。
My body hummed with adrenaline14 and nervousness as we gathered with hundreds of runners at the start line. And then we were off—putting our training to the test on the actual race route. It was an emotional 36 minutes. The first mile passed quickly. The second mile dragged. We saw our kids a couple of times on the route， and I blinked back the tears. As we neared the end， people we’d never met—fellow runners—shouted encouragement.
当我们在起跑线上同成百上千的参赛者聚集在一起时，我的身体充满了肾上腺素和紧张不安。然后，我们出发了——到实际比赛路线中去检验我们的训练成果。这是令人情绪激动的36分钟。首个一英里很快就跑过去了。第二个一英里是拖着步子完成的。我们在路上几次看到了我们的孩子们，我眨了眨眼忍住了眼泪。当我们接近终点时，与我们素昧平生的人——与我们同样的跑步者——大声叫嚷鼓励着我们。
When the finish line came into view， my husband， who was slightly ahead of me， reached back toward me to take my hand. I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. That one gesture symbolized so much of what we had been through in the past months. After all that had happened， he was still reaching for me. We were still in it together. 当终点线映入眼帘时，跑在我前面一点的丈夫，转头向我伸出手来握住了我的手。我再也忍不住眼泪了。那个手势象征着我们过去几个月所经历的一切。在这一切发生之后，他仍会朝我伸出手，我们还在一起。
We finished the race holding hands and sobbing15. Running a 5K hadn’t made our marriage perfect， but it had changed something in us， something I hoped would last.
我们手拉着手流着泪完成了比赛。跑五千米赛跑并没有让我们的婚姻更完美，但它改变了我们之间的一些东西，我希望这将持续下去。
That was eight years ago. We’re still married. We’ve run a few 5Ks since then， and we’ve had more than a few difficulties in that time. But the lessons from that 5K remain. We make time for each other. We push ourselves to do and say what is difficult because we know it will be good for us. And we keep our goals in front of us， working together as a team.
那是八年前的事了，我们现在还在一起。从那时起，我们已经跑了几次五千米赛跑，并且在那期间遇到了不少问题。但那次五千米赛跑的经验教训依然还在。我们为彼此腾出时间。我们强迫自己去做困难的事情，去说难以说出口的话，因为我们知道这对我们有好处。我们把目标摆在面前，就像一个团队一样一起努力。
I can’t say I love running yet， but I love how running makes me feel. Strong. Confident. Accomplished. All because I took a chance on a crazy-for-me idea.
我还是不能说我喜欢跑步，但我喜欢跑步带给我的感觉：坚强、自信、成就感。这都是因为我碰运气尝试了个疯狂的点子。
（英语原文选自：www.chickensoup.com）
【Notes】
1. collaboration [