Backyard Project

For those of you who know me, know that I actually don't have a real backyard.   Although, after working in Lyons for the past 4 1/2 years, I've come to think of the surrounding open space as my own backyard playground.  Within a few miles from work, you have Rabbit Mountain, Picture Rock heading to Heil Valley Ranch, and my favorite of all, Hall Ranch.  All of these provide great hiking, mountain biking, and trail running, with great views from the Front Range to Longs Peak.  I've spent so many hours on these trails, I have become well acquainted with almost every switchback, rock, root, and sweeping view.  Even still, I truly cherish each minute I get to spend moving through these hills and valleys.

With my upcoming climb of Mt. Rainier, I needed some fitness goals to help ensure my preparedness to tackle the highest peak in the continental United States, standing at 14,411 fasl.  With a little inspiration from Anton Krupicka (http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/2010/01/green-mountain-project.html) I set a modest goal of running the first section (to the first bench) of Hall Ranch 30 times in 30 days.  I also set a few rules to ensure I stayed on target.  One complete run was from the outhouse to the first bench, which is right at 4 miles and 700 vertical feet.  I could run further (which I did quite often) but it only counted as one single climb.  Although, I could complete what I called '2-fers' which meant I could complete 1 full run in the AM and another in the PM or perform back to back runs (to make up for any missed days).

A surprising warm day after recent snow on Hall.....not a soul on the trail!
 

This goal was just what I needed to stay on track with training for Rainier and I found that I felt better and better each day.  No day was ever the same.  When I began this little project, the weather would swing drastically from day to day.  I ran in 12 inches of fresh snow, in rain, with 40 mph winds and with the sun beaming down.   Christine joined me for many of my runs and we enjoyed running together, sharing our joy of movement while being in the mountains we love so much.

Christine heading to the top...falling in love with trail running with each stride. 

So, today marked my 30th and last day of the Backyard Project.  It also marks one month before I depart for Seattle and set out to achieve yet another goal in front of me.  It was a modest goal that I had set for myself a month ago, but one I felt would cement a solid foundation of fitness.  During this time, I ran 143.8 miles and climbed approximately 24,100 vertical feet.  There was only 2 days in which I didn't run....1 because I forgotten my shoes so I went on a bike ride and the other because Christine and I were in the mountains (tele-skiing cross-training).

To somewhat celebrate the completion of my project (my 30th was on Sunday), I decided it would be fitting to run Green Mountain in Boulder, in honor of the guy that gave me the inspiration.  The run this afternoon truly showed the modesty of my own goal compared to that of loftier runners, but no less diminished what I had set out to do.  So, from 8,144 ft atop Green Mountain, I took a deep breath, thankful for the ability to move, blessed with the opportunity to run in the mountains, and in awe of the beauty surrounding me.   With that, I sped down the trail toward yet another goal, another mountain, another dream.




















From atop Green, looking west toward Bancroft.

Looking Southeast over the Flatirons with Denver in the background. 

Where Men Win Glory

I've recently been reading the newest Jon Krakauer book, Where Men Win Glory, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  It has brought my attention to events that I never knew happened and it has also made me evaluate my own life, pursuits, and motivations.  Today, I read a portion of the book that contained an excerpt from Pat Tillman's journal, just before he entered the military, walking away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract.  The document was titled "Decision," and I thought some might enjoy the read.

Many decisions are made in our lifetime, most relatively insignificant while others life altering.  Tonight's topic....the latter.  It must be said that my mind, for the most part, is made up.  More to the point, I know what decision I must make.  It seems that more often than not we know the right decision long before it's actually made.  Somewhere inside, we hear a voice, and intuitively know the answer to any problem or situation we encounter.  Our voice leads us in the direction of the person we wish to become, but it is up to us whether or not to follow.  More times than not we are pointed in a predictable, straightforward, and seemingly positive direction.  However, occasionally we are directed down a different path entirely.  Not necessarily a bad path, but a more difficult one.  In my case, a path that many will disagree with, and more significantly, one that may cause a great deal of inconvenience to those I love.

     My life at this point is relatively easy.  It is my belief that I could continue to play football for the next seven or eight years and create a very comfortable lifestyle for not only Marie and myself, but be afforded the luxury of helping out family and friends should a need ever arise.  The coaches and players I work with treat me well and the environment has become familiar and pleasing.  My job is challenging, enjoyable, and stokes my vanity enough to fool me into thinking it's important.  This all aside from the fact that I only work six months a year, the rest of the time is mine.  For more reasons than I care to list, my job is remarkable.  

     On a personal note, Marie and I are getting married a month from today.  We have friends and family we care a great deal about and the time and means to see them regularly.  In the last couple months we've been skiing in Tahoe, ice climbing in Utah,  perusing through Santa Fe, visiting California, and will be sipping Mai Tais in Bora Bora in a little over a month.  We are both able to pursue any interests that strike our fancy and down the road, any vocation or calling.  We even have two cats that make our house feel like a home.   In short, we have great life with nothing to look forward to but more of the same.  

     However, it is not enough.  For much of my life I've tried to follow a path I believed important.  Sports embodied many of the qualities I deem meaningful: courage, toughness, strength, etc., while at the same time, the attention I received reinforced its seeming importance.  In the pursuit of athletics I have picked up a college degree, learned invaluable lessons, met incredible people, and made my journey much more valuable than any destination.  However, these last few years, and especially after recent events, I've come to appreciate just how shallow and insignificant my role is.  I'm no longer satisfied with the path I've been following....it's no longer important.

     I'm not sure where this new direction will take my life though I am positive it will include its share of sacrifice and difficulty, most of which is falling squarely on Marie's shoulders.  Despite this, however, I am equally positive that this new direction will, in the end, make our lives fuller, richer, and more meaningful.  My voice is calling me in a different direction.  It is up to me whether or not to listen. 

If you're anything like me, you'll be pondering the words above for days to come!!!!

Snippets

I am horrible about posting lately! It seems that our weekends have been filled with visitors and trips to the mountains since the holidays, which has not left Shane and I much time to slow down and rest. Although I am not working anywhere close to a 40 hour work week these days, I manage to fill up my weekdays with everything imaginable...from a challenging 6 mile run (pretty good for a former dancer who would only run a mile due to the fact that it would make my legs tight!) with my friend Jamee, to meeting and working with a designer to create a logo for my new business, reorganizing files for the new year, experimenting with new recipes (My latest favorite being homemade granola. I hope to try baking some sweet potato chips this week thanks to my friend Kristin!) and the not so fun never-ending duties of laundry and house cleaning. Today, I finally imported the pictures that were on my camera from Christmas to the computer. Little did I know how refreshing it would be to sit down, flip through pictures on iphoto, reflect and write a few words to whomever might read this blog. I wonder why is it so hard to sit down at times and just relax? Any thoughts? Well, here are a few snippets from the last month. Enjoy!

My Mom and Dad along with his office staff were out here a couple weekends ago for a dental convention in Denver. Shane and I had them over to our house a few times for dinner. We had a yummy breakfast one morning at the tea house in Boulder.

Cameran and Drew visiting from Indy!

While in Michigan with my family I convinced everyone (my sister, her husband Nick, Kim and her boyfriend Noah) to try out cross country skiing on our State Park trails! After a bit of hesitation I think that everyone ended up having a great time! We stopped along the beach afterward to take some pictures.

Lake Michigan

Nick and Lisa, taking one for the team. They were such troopers, after living in Dallas for a year, they are definitely tending towards warmer weather activities!

Nick, Noah, and I excited to hit the trail!

Yes, this is my moms cross country ski gear from who knows what decade. I loved the gaters and the wool knickers! She even let me take them back to Colorado with me.

Dad and Kim, enjoying the Christmas carols.

Nick's family came up to my parents house, along with my Aunt Judy and Uncle Mike. I think we had about 18 people there. His family is very musically gifted as compared to the not so musical "Sitler" family. We enjoyed listening to them play the piano and sing. It was such a great time for everyone!

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!

Salzburg, Austria

After a few days in Switzerland, we jumped on a train and headed for Austria. We basically spent the entire day on one train or another, as we made our way to Salzburg. We didn't have a plan (sorry Christine) nor did we have a place to stay. We enjoyed making conversation with people on our trip, especially a nice Austrian woman who was a psychiatrist. She gave us a lot to think about as she talked about languages, politics, and health care reform.

After studying our Rick Steve's book on the train, we decided on a place to try and stay. A women's university dorm, turned partial hostile. After struggling to find the place, it was far from the best night of sleep. We opted to move locations and ended up in a great place our second night in Salzburg.

The city of Salzburg was beautiful. All of the building's had tons of character and the old castle, high above on the hill, always made the landscape look more dramatic. We spent a day touring the city, taking tons of pictures, visiting churches and castles, seeing where Mozart was born, having coffee (which was way too small) and trying to stay warm.

Here are a few pictures of the beauty Salzburg showed us.















Although Salzburg was beautiful and we logged many miles just seeing all the history, the highlight of the trip was a dinner at a small pub that was recommended by someone at our hotel. When we arrived at the restaurant, the only seats available were at a community table. We sat down, while another group of 3 were enjoying dinner and drinks. Another couple sat down shortly after we did and each of us basically kept to ourselves. After we had finished our meal, we saw the group of 3 taking pictures of each other with an iPhone, which of course prompted a comment, as well as making a great ice-breaker! We ended up chatting away, talking about anything from their profession (German doctors in Austria for a conference) to what we thought of our new President Obama. As we talked and laughed, I noticed that the gentlemen asked for their bill, as well as ours. He wanted to do a little something for us, as we were traveling through Europe. They all encouraged us to continue traveling and experiencing different cultures, as they had encouraged their own children to do. Wow, what a great experience. I'm truly thankful for their generosity and kindness.

After we parted ways, I couldn't help but wonder what people think when they come to my home country. Are we welcoming and friendly, warm and inviting or are we appalled that people come here and can't speak our language? I hope that I will be as welcoming as these folks were to others traveling....whether it's through my country or just through my town, people are the ones that make the impact and can drastically alter the lens they look through.

So, cheers to our German friends and lessons learned!!

Switzerland

Christine and I awoke to snow the morning we were leaving for Europe. Our friend Keith dropped us at the airport and we headed to Charlotte NC, our first connection. On the flight over, we met Terry who was seated beside us. He and his wife were from Colorado Springs and were headed for Turkey. The flight went by fast as we all chatted about church, running, and starting your own business. We arrived in Charlotte to find that our flight was delayed. After being delayed an hour at a time for around 5 hours, we were finally notified our flight was canceled. Everyone made a dash for the ticket counters and luckily we were the speediest. We scheduled a flight through Munich the following afternoon with Lufthansa. A Holiday Inn, a treadmill, and a trip to Rite-aid and we're headed to Munich Germany.

Zurich Switzerland welcomed us with a cool and crisp morning. We got our Eurail Pass validated and jumped on our first train, headed for the Lauterbrunnen Valley, via Bern and Interlaken.



We were pretty exhausted after having traveled through the night without sleeping very well on the plane. We checked into the Hotel Staubbach and rested our eyes for a few. We treated ourselves to Fondue that night in Lauterbrunnen.

The following morning after a breakfast at the hotel, we took a quick tram ride up the cliff face directly east of our hotel. We then hiked the 20+ km loop back. We were in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever experienced. 1000 meter cliff faces, with towering snow-capped mountains in the background. The shear magnitude of the mountains was capturing, even though their height wasn't any higher than 14ers in Colorado.






After our long hike, we stopped in a cheese shop and bought some local cheeses then headed to the local CO-OP and bought bread and chocolate. We "dined on the dime" that night at the hotel. We ate, talked about the day, and played checkers in the common room. A great end to a great day.

The following day, we hiked to the town of Wengen (one of my favorites of the trip) then took the easy way out and took trains to various towns and villages in the valley. Words can't begin to describe the beauty that surrounded us....pictures can only attempt.


The landscapes were so layered with color, it was difficult to capture it all.


This picture shows the immensity of the area. You can see the town of Grindelwald in the valley below. The picture was taken at the base of the peak called the Jungfrau (Young Woman)....4158 meters.....and very close to the famous mountain The Eiger!


The houses, hotels and cabins were all very similarly built. Pictures like this just deepen my desire for a cabin in the mountains someday.

Looking back on our Europe trip as a whole, it was hard for either of us to say what our favorite was.....well, harder for Christine than me. It's no secret that I love the peace I get from being in the mountains. We both commented on how differently we would have viewed Switzerland, if we had visited it last rather than first. The train system was amazing. Everything thing was extremely clean. The people were friendly and welcoming. And the scenery topped it off. This is the place I desire most to visit again....maybe a little closer to summer when you can explore higher in the peaks....or in deep winter when the descents are that much more fun. Until that day, I've got plenty of pictures to keep me company.

A Taste of our Europe Trip

We will post more photos and stories about our Europe trip soon, but here are a few pictures to give you a taste of Europe from our point of view.

Peace
Shane and Christine


Swiss Alps


Overlooking Salzburg Austira


Venice Italy


One of the peaks in the Dolomites....Falcade Italy


The Dolomites


Vernazza Italy in the Cinque Terre Region


My attempt at being an artistic photographer....keep trying aye!

Switzerland


Christine on the train....a place we spent quite a few hours.