Keizer spent the next several years traveling around the United States taking a variety of jobs so that he could better understand how people live.
Since he was only working a few hours each week, Keizer made a minimal amount of money and slept in snow caves to reduce his expenses.
While working at the Grand Butte, Keizer learned about Colorado's highest set of peaks that sit at or above 14,000 feet above sea level.
Keizer gained an interest in making an attempt to break the Mighty Mountain Megamarathon record and began planning and training for the race in 1998.
During his preparations, Keizer consulted with well-known Colorado mountaineer Gerry Roach, who detailed commonly used routes others had used when attempting the record.
In addition to route planning and physical training, Keizer spent much of his effort laying out detailed driving directions to and from each trailhead.
[8] Keizer's political aspirations date back to his time at Brown where he was elected student body president and worked on Patrick Kennedy's first congressional campaign.