Porsche Experience Center, Kimpton Overland, Sasquatch Museum and the Blue Ridge Mountains

My husband finally got to experience his Christmas 2019 gift and we also got to take our delayed 25th Anniversary trip last week, and it was great! Christmas 2019 I had given him a trip to the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia, with the option of choosing the driving experience of his choice. He didn't get to go last year so we then planned to go this summer for our anniversary. That didn't happen either so, now, we finally got our trip.

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

We drove down to Atlanta to stay at the Kimpton Overland Hotel. The hotel is literally right next to the Porsche Experience Center; you don't even have to cross a street to get to it. I used two IHG free night certificates to book our room. I knew I'd be eligible for a room upgrade with my Platinum Elite status so I let them know that we were staying there because we were going to the Porsche Experience Center and asked for a room with a view of the track, knowing that they had Track View Suites available those nights. I also mentioned we were there to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Then it was fingers crossed until check in.

Kimpton sometimes runs a "secret password" promotion where mentioning the secret password will also get you some goodies. They had had one over the summer that I had planned to use on our original anniversary trip, but since we had to reschedule, the password expired on September 6th. I had read though that some hotels will honor expired passwords so I was going to bring that up when I checked in too.

So, I go to check in. The front desk girl takes my ID, then goes around the corner and is gone for a long time. She then comes back with a bag with a bottle of chilled chardonnay and two wine glasses, tells me "Happy Anniversary" and also comps my parking for our stay. Plus, we got the Track View Suite. Never mind about even mentioning a secret password. I was thrilled.

Cash price for two nights in a Track View Suite was $766.54 and parking was $22 a night so we saved $810.54 on an AWESOME place to stay.

sitting area

We had views of the Porsche track as well as the airport from our room. The room also had sound deadening windows so it was surprisingly quiet.

bedroom

view from bed

We could have watched cars and airplanes all day!

Thursday, September 23, 2021

We walked over to the Porsche Experience Center at 8:30 am to meet our driving instructor Ross.

Clark and Ross

Clark had decided to do the Mid vs Rear Engine Experience which featured a 718 Cayman as the mid-engine car and the 911 Carrera S as the rear engine car. The driving experiences are 90 minutes long. You ride with an instructor and drive various parts of the course. 

The kick plate was his favorite. He could have played on it all day!

I took photos and video while Clark drove. After driving both vehicles we looked around inside. There was a museum as well as active work bays.

All in all a very fun day!

Friday September 24, 2021

We went up to the Rooftop Lounge in the morning to take a couple more pictures of the track before checking out of the Kimpton and heading to Blue Ridge, Georgia, to meet our friends Pam and Michael.

Views from the Rooftop Lounge

 On the way to Blue Ridge, Clark spotted the Sasquatch Museum so we pulled over for a quick stop.

We met Pam and Michael for lunch at the Cantaberry Restaurant. After lunch we headed over to Mercier Orchards to pick up some fried pies, apple butter and jam.

All the pies got eaten!

Final stop was the grocery store before heading to the cabin that our friends had reserved for the weekend. We had dinner by the outdoor fireplace, then I collapsed into bed. I woke to a beautiful sunrise the next morning. I took some photos and went back to bed...

We had a leisurely late breakfast before driving home. All in all it was the perfect short get away.

Going Long in a Short Week x 2

 The last two weeks of  running have been, well, oxymononic at best.

I've completed my two longest runs of the year but otherwise had very low mileage weeks.

Week 3

Sunday 9/5 - rest day

Monday 9/6 - The original plan was to drive to the Monon at o'dark thirty am and run 15 miles as my long run for the week. We ended up having a family emergency which left me out of town that day so the run didn't happen.

Tuesday 9/7 - 5 miles. Had the alarm set for 4 am but just could. not. get. up. By the time I got moving it was too hot to run outside so I ran on the indoor track.

Wednesday 9/8 - 3 miles. Ran on the indoor track.

Thursday 9/9 - 15 miles. It was supposed to get into the 90's by the weekend so I figured it was now or never today. I made it out of the house around 7:30 am. My intent was to run 3-5 miles south of my house then turn around and stop by the end of my driveway for water and a GU and run the other way. However, the car traffic was horrible for the first half mile and once I got south of that I didn't feel like turning around and having to deal with cars again so I just kept going south into the farm fields. The only issue with this was that I would have no water or fuel during my run. It had been quite some time since I ran this way so it was enjoyable and a nice change in scenery. I was fine until a little after 11 miles when I had to walk a stretch as I was running straight into the sun and up an incline. It got better after that. I glanced at my watch at 13.1 miles and I was at 2 hours 34 minutes so I'm not sure a 5 hour marathon is in the stars this year.

Looking back at last year when I ran a marathon on 29 days of training, I ran 17 miles on 9/15 and my marathon on 9/21 so I think I'm a little better trained this year, but ugh, some of the urgency seems to be gone.

Friday 9/10 - rest day. Actually didn't feel too bad but still had some pressure in my knees.

Saturday 9/11 - 3 miles. Ran outside in the evening.

Week 3 total - 26 miles.

Week 4

Sunday 9/12 - rest.

Monday 9/13 - 5 miles. Ran on the indoor track.

Tuesday 9/14 - 3 miles. Ran on the indoor track.

Wednesday 9/15 - rest. I had a horrible night where I couldn't fall asleep so I was totally trashed during the day.

Thursday 9/16 - rest. I thought if I got up early enough I would run, but then it didn't happen.

Friday 9/17 - 19 miles. It was good before it got ugly... part of the problem was that after running 15 last week without water or fuel I got a bit cavalier about my fueling and simply ran out of fuel. I discovered the night before my run that I only had two GUs. No problem, I thought. I ran 15 with nothing so 20 should be fine with two...

Got up at 4 am so I could eat and drive to the Monon. Started running just before 6 am at the trailhead just north of 111th street in Carmel. Ran the first 8 miles on cruise. I am SO not a morning person, but can I tell you, I just LOVE running on the Monon in the dark when it's a cool morning and it's just me with the cicadas and frogs but it's not buggy. I saw the sunrise as a ball of orange rising over the city as I ran across the pedestrian walkway over 38th street. I ran down to 33rd street and turned around. My lower GI started protesting a bit at this point so I walked a bit while sipping water and took my first GU. I also saw three deer - a doe and two 4-point bucks - come out of the woods and graze next to the trail as I was walking towards them. It was a little weird seeing them here in the middle of the city between 33rd Street and Fall Creek (as in the creek itself). My GI issue went away after that and all was fine until mile 14 when I decided I was hungry. I was going to wait until mile 15 to take my final GU but decided at 14.3 to go ahead and eat. I reached for my GU only to discover it wasn't there anymore. UGH!!! Self-preservation kicked in after that because I could feel myself bonking. After 15 and 16 I walked a tenth of a mile, then walked again before I got to 17. 17 and 18 were plain ugly. I got to 19 just before I got to 111th Street and decided that running another crummy mile would have no benefit to my training so I walked the quarter mile to my car and drove home. Bleck!

Saturday 9/18 - rest. Only a little sore so I was pleased.

Week 4 - 27 total miles

Going forward, I have no intention of running longer than the 19 that I ran. I will plan on maybe a couple more 10-15 mile runs and see how I feel. On Friday I was 2:30 at the 13.1 mile mark before I ran out of fuel for what it's worth.

Virtual Boston Training, Week 2

Rain and cooler weather finally brought some relief this week and I was able to take some of my runs outside.

Sunday 8/29 - rest

Monday 8/30 - 10 miles. Indoor track.

Tuesday 8/31 - rest

Wednesday 9/1 - 3 miles on the road. It's amazing how much better it is outside when the humidity is below 50%!

Thursday 9/2 - 5 miles on the road. I had intentions of running 7 but I started to get little twinges of pain in my left hamstring so I cut it short. By night time my entire left upper hamstring and glute were throbbing to the point where I took a handful of ibuprofen and laid on a massager trying to rub the throb out.

Friday 9/3 - rest... well kind of. No running but I worked in the yard ALL day. Quite frankly, I wanted to give my left leg another day to recover.

Saturday 9/4 - 7 miles on the road. It was a perfect morning for a run. Cool, overcast, and spitting rain occasionally. I did start to feel a little throb in my left hamstring after 4.5 but no sharp twinges like I had on Thursday and I ran VERY conservatively.

So there you have it. 25 miles this week. 35 more days.