Running in Colorado Oct 1-4

I was in the Rocky Mountains this week for a women in technology conference. It was held at a ski resort in Keystone, CO, about 90 miles west of Denver, 9000 ft above sea level. Picturesque location, tall mountains all around, covered with evergreens and deciduous Aspen trees. The Aspens had turned yellow in sync with the fall season. There were some traces of snow on the mountain tops. The weather was quite chilly with temperature in 60s during the day and falling to zero at night. I had my first experience of altitude sickness: dizziness, breathlessness and fast heartbeat due to rarer oxygen. Even simple activities like climbing a flight of stairs were exhausting. The only way to prevent altitude sickness is drink a lot of water.

I went running along with Rebecca twice. It was hard to go on for even half a mile without going out of breath. It felt like I was back to square one. I was reminded of my initial running days when running a mile left me breathless. We braved it for about 40 minutes each time and were quite humbled. Learnt the value of gradual acclimatization: If you are planning to go hiking, skiing, running in high altitude areas, you should give your body enough time to adjust to the low oxygen.