Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Air Up Here...

When your (very) long travel day starts at 2am... you rarely wake up hungry and ready for breakfast. And with layovers only long enough to facilitate finding the gate for your connecting flight, you really don't have an opportunity to obtain and consume nourishing food to fuel the brain. So sadly, on rare occasions, sleep deprivation & hunger combine in a way that stimulates (what seems to be) exponential delirium...
Which was demonstrated by me exiting the airplane, walking in a daze towards the "ground transportation this way" signs, getting in a taxi, and then realizing that I didn't have my suitcase with me. Sigh.

Park City is beautiful... I'm in love with this city already! It's been a while since I've seen mountains this beautiful. Well actually I saw mountains a couple of weeks ago when I went home; but it's been a while since I've seen mountains in the U.S...

Leaving the airport (SLC)...


Heading up I-80 to Park City...

Picture perfect skies...
The air is thinner up here. I can sense it, but the lightness of it is refreshing. It's not hot and humid (like it is in Florida) but it's not cold either.

On the way to the hotel from the airport I got a detailed 45 minute session on "the history of UT as told by Brian" (my awesome shuttle bus driver). I learned a lot about the origin of mining in Utah...
...the Winter Olympic training locations, the best places to visit, the best places to run, and (probably most importantly) "how to recognize altitude sickness and what to do about it". Which in a nutshell was: if you are getting headaches, feel lightheaded or dizzy you should hydrate with water. Lots of water.

The conference hotel is absolutely phenomenal...

On one side it has a lovely view of the ski lift on the hill above the hotel...

And on the opposite side you can see the ski lift on the hill across from the hotel...

The hotel staff has been awesome as well. When I checked in, the front desk receptionist noticed that I liked purple (I think the purple jacket, sneakers and laptop bag were a clue) so she highlighted the important areas on my "guest amenities and services" card with her purple highlighter...
(this level of attention to detail speaks volumes)

Once I got settled I went in search of food.. I was starving by that point so when the concierge said she could "arrange transportation to (their) sister lodge for lunch" I was excited.  But then she told me the transportation would take 10-15 mins to come for me, so I asked her if it would be faster if I walked. Based on her facial expression I could tell she thought I was certifiably insane, but I was a hungry girl on a mission so I decided to take my chances with walking. Halfway up the hill, however, I realized that it would have been smarter to get acclimated to the air up here a little longer before I decided to trek the 10 degree gradient hill in search of food. But I made it safely and was rewarded with:
An amazing view...

Fabulous food...

Oh, and this...
I know, I know... this is not on the training plan and I'm sure it has more dairy than my body will tolerate (which is usually little to none). But it was sooooooooooo good!!!!

I'm looking forward to this upcoming week. Not just because of the half marathon on Saturday, but also because of my work conference. I love attending these professional educational conferences and I love traveling. So this week has the trifecta for me: traveling, trauma nursing education, and running.

Do you like to travel? What's your favorite thing about traveling?

What's the highest elevation you've run at (or trained at)?

What was the best thing you ate today (or recently)?

6 comments:

  1. It looks so beautiful there! Your food looks amazing, and makes me sort of hungry LOL. I'm excited to hear about the half marathon this weekend.

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    1. Thanks! I'm hoping to get some running in before then so I get used to running in the altitude :)

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  2. The air is thinner in Utah but even more so where you are staying, I hope you are adjusting well! Park City really is a very unique little city.

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    1. I'm adjusting ok so far....but I haven't run yet ;) so we'll see how I do tomorrow :)

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