The Fitness Station

Yesterday I signed up for a one-month membership to The Fitness Station, the only workout place in Interlaken. If you know anything about Interlaken (population c. 674) you're probably surprised that it has such a place at all but here it is. When I signed up I confirmed that they had an elliptical machine, that they opened at 6am reliably every weekday morning and that there would be someone there to show me how to use the machine. (The last time I worked out on a machine was my freshman year in college and that was a Stairmaster.)

I chose The Fitness Station over the YMCA in Ithaca because I can walk to it and because, if I work out right at 6am, I will be able to finish before Braman needs to leave for work and we won't have to worry about daycare for the kids. Nora has babysitter-phobia and when we do leave her with someone, she frequently cries the whole time. When I asked at the Y (which has daycare) what would happen if she did this, they said they never let a baby cry for more than 15 minutes at which point they'd come get me to comfort her. Which means I'd be hard-pressed to get in any workouts, never mind a 2-hour workout intended to replicate 10 miles.

So I get ready this morning, hobble down to Railroad Street on my sore foot and go inside. (You might have guessed from the street name and the business name that The Fitness Station is a converted train station. It was originally part of the Geneva & Ithaca Railroad--completed in 1873--which came under the control of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1876. I'm not sure when trains stopped running through Interlaken but I'll ask some of the Historical Society people that I know.) I get there at 6:03 and need to get started right away since I have to workout for about 45 minutes to simulate a 4-mile run and Braman needs to leave for work at 7am in order to arrive in time for his 8am class.

No one is at the front desk and there's only one other person inside but he's a customer like me and not an employee. He is nice enough to stop and tell me that the owner lives upstairs, comes down to unlock the place at 6am and then goes back upstairs. He says the owner may come back down later or there may be a person coming in 20 minutes or so who might be able to show me how to use the machine. That won't work for me so I go through the weight room into the cardio room and try to figure out the machine myself.

By reading the directions on the machine, I'm able to plug in my weight, how long I want to workout and the intensity plan I want. This all takes me a few minutes so by the time I get started it's about 6:15. I set the machine for 40 minutes since I started later than planned.

The workout is fine and I sweat a lot, more than I do when running, I think, or maybe it's just because there is no wind inside to cool me down. I do the full 40 minutes and, according to the machine, I burn 350 calories. I average about 138 steps per minute. I'm mad that there wasn't anyone there to show me how to use the machine when I explicitly asked about it but, since I forgot to bring a towel with me, I comfort myself with the knowledge that I am sweating all over the machine and won't be able to clean it off when I am done. Petty, I know.

And, sadly, it doesn't look like I am going to be able to listen to my audiobook while working out at The Fitness Station. In the cardio room, all the machines are oriented toward three TVs mounted up high on the wall. This morning one of the TVs was tuned to FOX News, one to NBC and one to The Weather Channel. I tried to listen to my audiobook but, even with the volume at the highest setting, I could still hear the TV. So I took off my headphones and watched the Syracuse news for the rest of my workout. At least the other two TVS were muted. If I'd had to listen to FOX News for 40 minutes there is no telling what might have happened.

When I left at 6:55 there still wasn't anyone at the front desk. If I ever get to speak to a person I'm going to ask if they'll turn off the TVs when I'm there. (There were big signs on each one saying "Don't Touch".)

I thought a little longingly about the row of new elliptical machines at the Y, each with their own personal TV that only works if the exerciser has headphones plugged in. Then I thought about the daycare room, which doesn't open until 8:45 and in which Nora certainly would have bawled the whole time. The Fitness Station only has one elliptical machine and TVs that I can't ignore or control but at least I got to workout. And, for the next six weeks, that's more important to me.