Chance Myers and Kirsten Gradinger aren’t your average power couple. In fact, it seems more suitable to refer to the soon-to-be newly weds as kindred spirits, feeding off each other’s energy, drive and love for life. As the blonde, tanned and fit fiancés sit side-by-side at the kitchen table made for them by Kirsten’s father, they speak easily and freely about their five-year relationship — their sentences weaving and flowing in and out as the pair describe their passions perfectly in sync.
The two are somehow both highly ambitious and refreshingly laid back, a combination that seems to work flawlessly when puzzling together a life full of training, home games, away games, a 9-to-5 job, a fitness blog, running, two dogs and so much more. Their common drive to achieve and succeed keeps them busy, but a shared love for fitness, adventure, travel and each other is never lost along the way.
“I think from an early point, I just saw how motivated she was, and that was something I always grew up with,” Chance said. “I’ve always been blown away by how driven she is at her job and everything she does. That’s kind of what locked me down. When we met each other, I felt like we were just kind of aligned. We always have a good time together.”
Of course, Chance spends his days training with and playing for Sporting Kansas City as a defender. Kirsten, on the other hand, focuses on her marketing career during the day, and trains for half marathons outside her normal work hours — all while managing her growing fitness blog, What the Fartlek, on the side. But even with so much going on, Chance and Kirsten always make time to support each other in their fitness and career endeavors.
“She has a 9-to-5 job, but she also has a blog and she runs and she does all these other things,” Chance said. “So when she has a race — which are few and far between compared to how many games I have — it means the world to her to have people there and supporting her. So I go out of my way to make sure I’m there to do that because she works so hard to do those things outside of her regular job. And she does the same. She sacrifices a lot of her free time to come watch me play, so it goes without saying that I’m going to be there for her.”
- Find WTFartlek on Instagram here.
It’s a constant challenge of making the many pieces of their lives fit together. But between traveling for half marathons, for away games and to visit family, Chance and Kirsten always make time to encourage and be there for each other.
“I think a good example was when they played the U.S. Open Cup last year,” Kirsten said. “I took off work and went to Philly so I could watch them win that. And then likewise, I run half marathons, so I try to schedule around his games. So I went to Portland and ran a half there, and it was cool because he got to come to the finish line and watch me to finish the race. It’s a lot of juggling our schedules and just making it work.”
Despite their hectic lives, the couple takes time every year to reconnect and spend quality time together exploring new places. Kirsten saves up most of her vacation days until the end of the MLS season, when she and Chance take a couple weeks to travel just the two of them.
As someone with a strong social media presence, Kirsten finds travel inspiration from fellow bloggers and uses her network to find the best places to stay. The Kansas City pair prefers to immerse themselves in the culture of a new place, avoiding big resorts in favor of more authentic temporary living, such as renting rooms from locals.
“If we go somewhere warm and tropical, we’re not the kind of people to sit by the pool or the beach,” Chance said. “We like to go everywhere.”
Kirsten chimed in. “We like to stay at sort of off-the-grid places — more unseen, cool places. Like the place we stayed at in Mexico didn’t have A/C or hot water.”
But even when they’re both crazy busy during Sporting KC's season, Chance and Kirsten find time to be active together in KC, whether riding their bikes together, taking their dogs to the park or just lounging by their backyard pool. Most recently, however, the two have merged their projects and passions for a project benefitting a charity near and dear to their hearts — the Victory Project. On Wednesday, June 8, Chance and Kirsten will head out to Children’s Mercy Park along with Jacob Peterson, Seth Sinovic and Connor Hallisey for this year’s Yoga on the Pitch.
“I think the coolest thing is that we look at the bigger picture of what we can do that benefits other people,” Chance said. “It’s not just about the people who get to go do yoga — it’s about the Victory Project. So when you combine the two and we get to work together, it’s the coolest thing.”
While the rest of the year may revolve around meshing schedules and supporting each other’s individuals projects, the couple said it’s been a new and fun experience working together doing what they love and supporting the city they love, too.
“I’m local, so I was born and raised here, and he’s lived her for 9+ years, so the Victory Project and Sporting Kansas City and Kansas City in general are just important to us.” she said. “Plus, it’s fun that we get to collaborate and mix our worlds for once.”
Check out yoga.victorykc.org for more information on Yoga on the Pitch, this Wednesday night at Children's Mercy Park.
