I was lucky enough to spend the last few days at the beautiful Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. This National Historic Landmark was built in 1778 and now holds a 5 diamond award. The grounds include almost 7,000 acres with activities ranging from falconry to off-road driving. Needless to say, it was incredible.

I was there for work, but was determined to squeeze a few workouts in between meetings. I’m at that awkward taper time of the training plan where all my workouts are optional/shorter/easy so I wasn’t too pressured to follow any strict plan.

The forecast for Monday looked absolutely beautiful before we left. I was really excited to enjoy a run without the Florida heat and humidity.

As soon as I checked in I met with our Event Manager from the Greenbrier for a quick property tour before our conference started. I asked her if there were any good running trails around. She handed me a map of the miles and miles of trails around the resort. I had a few hours to spare before dinner so I set out for an 8-10 mile run.I guess my absolutely beautiful weather forecast was a little inaccurate because I got out about 5 miles when the rain started. I decided to cut my run short and take the shortest route back to the hotel which was only about a mile away.

After returning soaking wet, I decided it might be a good time to check out the indoor pool. The pool at the Greenbrier was built in 1912 and is absolutely incredible. The pool is filled with mineral water and is super refreshing. I asked the lifeguard if it was a standard 25 meter pool. She informed me that it was actually 30 meters. I swam a mile, but could have swam all day.

It rained for the next 24 hours straight which wasn’t too bad since I was in meetings all day.

Before dinner the second night I made my way back to the pool and got another mile in.

While at dinner a co-worker of mine was showing me pictures she’d taken that day around the resort. She happened to snap a picture of the pool while I was swimming and had no idea it was me. Too funny.

I have to mention the food. I usually have a hard time finding vegan places/meals to eat while traveling. I rarely travel without some emergency granola bars or oatmeal in my bag. However, The Greenbrier just got it. I set up our entire banquet menu and requested a vegan option. Every meal was delicious and unique and I always felt very well taken care of.

For our last afternoon we had boxed lunches before heading to the airport. They marked mine vegan and gave me veggies, an apple and a wrap with balsamic marinated asparagus, mushrooms, squash and zucchini. It was awesome.

This trip really couldn’t have come at a better time. Getting myself out of my normal surroundings and routine for the first few days of this taper made it a lot easier to enjoy to transition to the more relaxed training.

Had I not been training for this event I probably wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the miles of grounds of The Greenbrier and I probably wouldn’t have experienced the pool.

I’d love to go back some day and enjoy all the other activities this resort has to offer. It truly is one of a kind.