3x5s.

5x7s.

8x10s.

Every picture tells a story, no matter the size, no matter the shape. And the just-posted photographs inside Santa Fe Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inc., on the grounds of El Gancho Fitness, Swim & Racquet Club, capture the latest adventure of Julie Endreson, the hands-on owner.

But the one-dimensional prints provide only partials of her stay at the Beijing Olympics, where her talents as a certified athletic trainer served USA Track & Field on the biggest sports stage of the world.

When you live a dream come true, one click here and another click there miss the depth of the details of what Endreson says is "the defining moment of my life."

"I loved the way it turned out," Endreson says of her career with USA Track & Field, one that also took her to Osaka, Japan, in 2007 and to Moscow, Russia, in 2006.

It was Endreson's first Olympics. It was also her last.

"I'll probably retire from track and field at this point," Endreson says. "What a great way to end things."

Prior to her participation in the closing ceremony, where she entered the stadium with the athletes, Endreson watched
the opening ceremony from Dalian, China, where the USA track and field contingent was based for two weeks prior to the competition.

It was there that Endreson reunited with Crystal Bustos and Stacey Neuveman, a pair of U.S. softball players. Prior to Endreson's switch to track and field, she worked with USA Softball in 2000, the year she met Bustos and Neuveman. In fact, her first trip to Beijing was with the softball team.

"I loved it because I had once thought I would make it to the Olympics as a softball trainer and I really enjoy those girls," Endreson says of the what-are-you-doing-here meeting.

What made it more memorable was Julie Foudy. The former gold medalist on the U.S. women's soccer team was in Beijing working for NBC. Foudy was the one behind the camera.

"I told her, 'Here I am, supposed to ask if I can take your photo, and I'm asking you to take my photo,' " Endreson says. "She was so nice."

The U.S. softball team lost the gold medal game, 1-0, to Japan. And since the sport is being dropped off the Olympics docket for at least eight years, Endreson felt for her former friends.

Not all went well in track and field, either.

The U.S. failed to get the baton around in the men's and women's 400 relays. But nothing matched the sorrow of seeing Wallace Spearmon, who finished third in the 200 and was later disqualified for stepping outside his lane.

"That was such a heart break," Endreson says. "I can't tell how hard that kid worked before the games. He was doing everything right. After he ran third, seeing him dance around, it was so much fun. Then to see the screen go black and then hearing the announcement that he had been DQed ... it was heart-breaking stuff.

"We're working on them for two weeks, before the Games even begin. You get to know them and it's tough when weird things happen. You get emotional."

It was tough not to feel — on the track, in the training room, at the Olympics village, in the streets of Beijing. Was there a pinnacle moment?

Yes.

It was one Endreson shared with her family and friends in an e-mail sent Aug. 19:

"I went back to the village last night when I was done at the practice track and caught the shuttle over to the Birds Nest Stadium. I go to the warm up track where we have our tables set up, turn around to see the full moon rising over the Olympic Torch, burning over the Birds Nest Olympic Stadium and almost cried. Good as it gets, defining moment of my life."

It didn't end there.

While on a tour of the Birds Nest, Endreson stopped for a spell in the athletes seating area. It was there that she saw Hylease Fountain, a U.S. heptathlete, celebrate her bronze medal with a victory lap. It was there that she saw Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, win the 100 in 9.69 seconds, which eclipsed the world record.

"You've just never experienced anything until you are seated with 90,000 people and in one moment there is dead silence for the start of the race, and less than 10 seconds later, it just erupts in a once-voice deafening roar of pure excitement," Endreson says. "It was phenomenal."

The quiet times provided their own sense of awe.

"The people power that went into this was so extraordinary," Endreson says. "I couldn't have dreamed it this big. Every time I stepped off the bus, there were four people waiting to carry my bags, my table, whatever I was holding. Every detail was taken care of. They got the big picture. They also took care of the details. We were never left wanting."

In Dalian.

In Beijing.

In spots in between.

"I didn't hear anybody speak poorly about the Chinese," Endreson says. "There was something extraordinarily positive and wonderful about that."

Since Endreson knew she would not work another Olympics, every break she got she made the most of it. That included shopping trips, where she bought a knock-off Rolex and haggled for a purse.

"I was living on four, five, six hours of sleep each night, but I didn't really care," Endreson says. "I was trying to experience the whole experience of the Olympics."

That included more than one visit to the dining hall, which was the size of a football field. There, every variety of food known to mankind was served, including McDonald's. And the mixture of languages was even more aromatic.

The trip was more than sight-see.

"The experience of being in that clinic and learning so much from all the other trainers, it's a wealth of knowledge that I am brining back and using on my clients," Endreson says.

Santa Fe wasn't far from her thoughts.

Then.

Now.

"I'm grateful for all the people of Santa Fe that gave me so much input before my trip," Endreson says. "That gave me so much energy. And I've been overwhelmed with so many people's excitement for me since I've been back. I want to thank everybody for that."

Endreson knows not everything fits on a 3x5, a 5x7, an 8x10. The scrapbook that is life cannot always be framed and mounted, though the photographs furnish daily reminders of her dream come true.

"It's one of those life moments you live for," Endreson says.

She did, capturing it one click at a time.