View from the hotel - Keystone, COLife has been busy since touching down in Denver on Tuesday. After renting a car and making the 2 hour drive up the mountain we arrived in Keystone, CO just in time for me to drop my bags and jet off to to my new member orientation.
To tell you it is beautiful here is a gross understatement and I can only imagine that experiencing its beauty is the only way one could ever know what I am talking about.
We are staying at approximately 9,000 feet. The sky is bluer than I have ever seen anywhere in the world. This is due to the lack of moisture in the air (hello, chapped lips). Of course the beauty does come with the stuffy nose, headache and shortness of breath of altitude sickness. But honestly I haven't minded any of those minor inconveniences. So what if I am out of breath after walking a mile? It's worth it to experience the most beautiful place I've ever laid eyes on.
I honestly slept horribly my first night in Keystone. I fell asleep ok but I seemed to wake up every hour - 11, 12, 3, 3, 5...I had my alarm set for 6:15 Wednesday morning to hit the fitness center and get my run out of the way. Unfortunately, the fitness center was full and no cardio machines were open. I hit the trail instead even though I only had a t-shirt and capris on. Oh, and it was 34 degrees out.
Although I froze, the 30 minutes or so I had with just myself and the outdoors allowed me to experience some of the great scenery. I'm not a big picture taker while exercising as I think it distracts from focusing on my workout, but I couldn't resist snapping a few phone shots.
A little blury, but this is the Snake River, which runs through the area.
Picturesque, isn't it? It reminds me of a postcard.
Note the snow capped mountains in the far background.
Another shot of the river, which I actually saw someone fly fishing in this morning.
Since time was short, I strayed from the actual #5Kin100days schedule and just did a warm up and then eight 1:30 minute intervals. I thought I would of had more trouble with my endurance given the altitude, but I didn't have difficulty breathing until the end of my run.
I am so glad I got out and got a work out in. 67 lbs ago I would have never taken time out from a trip to do this. A major NSV. Tomorrow I am planning on getting up and renting a bike to ride along the mountainside trails before conference activities really get started.
