Expanding My Lungs

Man, what a week it has been! Actually, the last two weeks have been a little crazy. The past week at work was the worst I've had in quite a while. We had to change the bearings on a large piece of equipment, which is not a lot of fun. To try and put it into perspective, the bearings are 55" x 27", weigh 4500 lbs each and support a mill that weighs approximately 400 tons. So that being said, the repair on something that large is a stressful task. There are so many details you have to consider, so many variables, so many things that can go wrong, your brain is working overtime. The days were long, as our goal was to complete the project by week end.

Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of time to exercise this week. I've found that my body just doesn't function the way I'm used to when it's not in some type of rapid motion. My most recent exercising passion has been trail running. I started running in the mountains around the Front Range of Colorado a few years ago, but without consistency, mostly due to an overlapping passion of riding a mountain bike. This summer though, my trail running took on a different look and I began to enjoy running up a mountain more and more. I found myself itching to leave work and head for one of a few favorite trails around the area. There's just something about being in the mountains and slowing things down. There's a simplicity in trail running that I've seldom experienced in other activities. Recently, Christine has developed a love for trail running and we've almost made a habit out of running the Shanahan Trail in Boulder following church on Sunday's.


Christine running at Heil Valley Ranch

So, after a long and hectic week of work, I was pumped to expand my lungs on a local trail in Boulder today. I did a little Christmas shopping, threw on the Brooks, and headed up the mountain. One of my favorite trail runners, Anton Krupicka (http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/) stated that Sanitas looks so benign. Well, I must say, it was a welcome site. Here are a few pictures from the popular Boulder trail.


Looking West towards the Indian Peaks


Looking East. You can see Longmont if you look really hard!