Mile eight.

I'm training for a marathon. It's in 5 1/2 weeks. And the farthest I've run to date is eight miles.

"Hmmm, it's probably time to step it up, Kellie..."

Yes, you're correct. As I've started to run longer and more frequently, I'm beginning to notice the effects of altitude on my body. While I was in London, I was running a pretty consistent 8:30 mile. I could run 3.5 miles and feel comfortably tired, but not completely wasted.

But then, that was nearly at sea level. Now that I'm back at home in the rocky mountains of Utah, I'm training at roughly 4,000 feet above sea level. That's a pretty big difference, and on my first run after getting home, my body was hating me. I felt like I had to expend twice the effort to run half the distance. I was inhaling but felt like I was getting no oxygen. After two miles, my legs felt like bricks. I was struggling to keep up a 10:00/mile pace.

I'm starting to readjust. But it's clear I've got my work cut out for me.

Culture Shock?

I've been back in the US for four days now. And there are some things I've noticed:

- Utah has a distinct smell. I walked outside on my first day home and took a deep breath, and I noticed I wasn't inhaling cigarette smoke and exhaust from busses.

- My apartment has a distinct smell, too. (Rest assured, it's not a nasty smell.)

- People look at you funny when you say "toilets" instead of "restrooms"

- Not everyone wants to see every one of the hundreds of photographs I've taken in the past two months.

- There are trash cans here. Everywhere!

- There are drinking fountains here.

- Even though I never drove in London, it feels weird to drive on the right-hand side of the road now.

- Public transportation is a somewhat under-emphasized issue here.

- I walk at a very fast pace now.

- Corn and potatoes are not part of every meal.

- I can find peanut butter at the grocery store.

- American chocolate is nasty.

- American yogurt is watery.

- My clothes actually feel dry when I walk outside.

- I have air conditioning!

I'm back

It's 6:34 a.m. 

I've been awake since 3:30 a.m.

Darn jet lag...

"Congratulations, ladies, you survived your first London skate."

Barely.

My sister an I strapped on rollerblades and joined 200 other skaters for a planned 10.9-mile skate around the city. We started at Hyde Park Corner, skated down and around Piccadilly Circus and on down to Trafalgar Square, then right past the houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. All while traffic stopped for us and people lined the streets and took pictures of us and cheered as though we were running a marathon. Quite the experience.

Lauren and I spent most of our time at the back, being coaxed by the rear marshals who were constantly urging us to pick up the pace or drop out of the group. I took a couple spills, Lauren ran into a car, and we both had to be coached in the fine art of stopping...

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunate for us), it started raining and the skate was cut short because the roads were too slippery.

It was so much fun. I think that's the best thing I've done here in London. But I think when I get home, I'm going to go rollerblading and practice my stopping.

Swiss-land

Wow, what can I say about such a place? It was incredible.

It's been a couple weeks since I was there. I just haven't gotten around to putting anything online. Basically my friend Dan and I decided we wanted to go to Switzerland one Wednesday night, so we got online, bought plane tickets, and eight days later were sleeping in the Heathrow Airport waiting for our 6:05 a.m. departure to Zurich Flughafen (that's German for Airport...my three years of high school German were finally put to use).

Sleeping in the airport is not the most comfortable thing I've ever attempted. I slept from 12:30 to 4:00 a.m., waking up about every hour or so. Around 4 I just gave up and went for a stroll around the terminal.

The trip itself was AMAZING. We spent a couple hours in Zurich before taking a train to Luzern and then out to Interlaken, a popular destination for backpackers. We made several stops along the way, including a stop at Aareschlucht, a huge gorge with a walkway along the side of the cliff. We also stopped in Brienz, a delightful little lakeside town famous for its woodcarvings. I wanted to get myself a little wooden musical box, but after turning it over and seeing the 99 CHF pricetag, I decided against it. Swiss Francs are at about the same level as the US dollar, but I didn't have that much money anyway.

We finally made it to Interlaken on Friday evening and started looking for a place to stay. We headed for the cheapest hostel we could find, and booked two beds in a 32-bed dormitory. I'll be honest, I'm not usually picky about where I sleep. I'm just fine with cots or ground or couches...but these bunks made me a little nervous. I mean, it's hard to say when the last time those blankets and sheets were washed...

Travelers Tip: Always bring along a sleep sack/liner, especially when you are concerned about the cleanliness of the sheets. I was so glad I had mine.

On Saturday we rented mountain bikes and loaded them on a train to Lauterbrunnen. We got stuck in the bike car because we didn't get into the normal second-class carriage in time. Later the train conductor found us...we basically got kicked off the train because we didn't have money to pay the extra fee for the bikes. Fortunately, we got kicked off at our stop: Lauterbrunnen. We rode through the town and up to Stechelberg. The ride was gorgeous. There were waterfalls everywhere, on both sides of the valley. We hiked up behind one of them to get a better view of the town.

We rode some cable cars up the sides of the cliffs to a peak called the Schilthorn, which provides an INCREDIBLE view of the surrounding Swiss Alps. It is also the site of the world's first revolving restaurant, and James Bond made an appearance there in one of his movies...

Anyway, we hiked back down part of the Schilthorn, then rode our bikes back down into the valley. It was a day full of amazing pictures, scenery, hiking, biking, and exploration. We were exhausted that night.

On Sunday we went to Grindelwald and Kleine Scheidegg by train, but didn't have enough money to finish the train loop to Wengen, so we walked the rest of the way. Cheap, and much more rewarding, I'd say. The scenery was incredible, and aside from a slight panic when we got lost and didn't know if we'd be able to make it back to civilization in time to catch our train back to Zurich for our flight, we had a great time wandering through the mountains.

It was another one of those trips that totally wore me out, but recharged my battery for the last two weeks of my stay here in London. It was a week and a half ago, but I still can't stop talking about it. Switzerland is such a beautiful country. It's quieter, it's cleaner, the people are friendlier...I want to go back.

For some reason my blog doesn't like it when I upload pictures (it makes them really small...and it takes forever). Click here to see a few of my Swiss pictures.