Gorgeous Sunday

First, let me offer a word of advice to those of you who have chest straps for your heart-rate monitors:

Do not throw them in with the rest of the laundry.

My chest strap is squeaky clean now, but for some reason it no longer talks to my GPS watch. I'm hoping that it's a case of the battery discharging itself among the suds, and that a new power source will cure its ills. But I wouldn't be surprised if the device has sustained some other sort of damage.

I should sue Timex, though, because I'm pretty sure there's no warning label on the strap that says "Do Not Launder." That there is bona fide corporate negligence, it is, and I should make them pay!

Or not. I'm actually feeling pretty mellow these days. After all, I had an awesome weekend.



I was planning to run some steps at Red Rocks on Sunday, but as I was putting on my shoes I realized that I had begun the morning in one of my more solitary moods. By the time I'd finish my workout, there would be hundreds of athletes, dogs, and tourists up there--yet I was feeling more of an urge to commune with Nature. So instead of heading to Red Rocks, I went up to Deer Creek Canyon Park.

It's a fairly challenging trail, and unlike the steps at Red Rocks, there are no handrails. I had 90 minutes before I'd need to be back at the car to go to swim practice. I knew I wouldn't have time to do the entire 7-mile Plymouth Mountain loop, so I decided to just run up the path until I thought it was time to turn around. I'm usually far slower going down the hill; my tender knees combined with questionable depth perception due to my keratotomy/trifocal visual difficulties force me to be rather tentative on the descents. But as I warmed up, I realized that I felt great! My legs were steadier than usual...so I felt I could risk going outbound for the full 45 minutes.

Very few people were out there yet, and it was wonderful to be exercising in the woods. As usual, I heard sporadic anonymous rustling in the vegetation off the trail, which I always attribute to pumas, bears, or perhaps the dreaded snipe. (It quickens your pace to imagine such things, trust me.) At one point, I did nearly step on a fat bird of some sort (I think it was a grouse). He politely stepped off the trail, but appeared determined to continue on the people path as soon as I had passed by. Pretty casual behavior for somebody whose kind is often eaten by my species, I thought.

Anyway, it was an absolutely phenomenal morning.



And my legs held up. I wasn't fast, but I felt good. I began to wonder why I don't do these trails more often. Since it's steep, I don't seem to notice my chronic hamstring tightness as much. This is a good thing.

I did finally pass by a few other folks who were heading up as I was descending. I somehow managed to avoid all the roots and protruding stones that have tripped me up in the past, and made it back to my car at precisely the desired time. I was grinning throughout the drive back to the pool, and continued to feel good during the entire swim practice. It was a great way to start the day!

So...how was your Sunday? I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Not that this has anything to do with that (or anything else for that matter), but a conversation I had with my brother caused me to think of these fellows:



Any idea what they have in common?

OK, how about these?



That's all for now. I'll leave you to ponder these graphics (and any other grand philosophical challenges you'd care to undertake.) If you live in Colorado, please take a moment to be grateful for the beauty that surrounds you. And if you live elsewhere, well, you can just be jealous of the good fortune we enjoy here. But no matter where you are, have a great day!