Time Station 34 Adventures

With all the excitement going on yesterday, I forgot to talk about our Time Station 34 (Washington, Missouri) adventures.

Just like back in Congress, Arizona, this Time Station had a kiddy pool for anyone to jump in and cool down, as well as food (pizza) and drinks. Showers were also available, but getting one was a bit complicated.

One of the volunteers first sent us to the Super 8 hotel down the street to get a shower, but when we arrived, they gave us the bad news: They had rooms reserved all right, but not until the next day.

Luckily, Joe, of Revolution Cycles, which was located directly at the Time Station, had a Plan B. He sent us to the local YMCA and guaranteed us that we could get a shower there.


Sure enough, when we arrived at the "Y," we were told that they would accommodate us. What's more, they even let us use their other facilities, besides the showers. You see, as soon as Jody heard that we were going to the YMCA to shower, he told me that we were going to go for a run on the treadmill.

Considering the fact that I had been falling asleep in the car before we arrived in Washington, and considering the fact that both of us were about to do a workout on an empty stomach, I wasn't so happy about having to go running. Then again, sitting in a car all day for days on end isn't exactly healthy, so getting in a run under any circumstances was probably a good idea.

Or was it?

Unlike me, Jody is a running machine. The guy can run a marathon with his eyes closed. The most I've ever run is a half-marathon.

Since Jody's the far more experienced runner, he told me the plan. Basically, we did a 40-minute run, divided into 5-minute intervals. It wasn't a "killer" workout, but it wasn't a walk in the park, either, by any means.

Every time we were about to change speeds, Jody called them out to me, and, because he could see I was struggling a bit, he continuously gave me words of encouragement.

When we finally finished the run, Jody said, "Congratulations. You have just completed the Official 2012 RAAM Official Treadmill Workout."

He also noted that, because he was wearing his red RAAM Official shirt and I wasn't, other people working out in the gym probably thought he was my personal trainer.

My response: "You are!"

After the run, we headed on back to the Time Station, checked in on things there, took a look at some of the nice bicycles in the shop, and said "Goodbye" to everyone.

Just before we left, however, we decided to donate the cookies that we had gotten from McDonald's to the Time Station volunteers. (Sorry, Team Trix!)

Of course, our donation made them very happy, especially since we had just been talking about how fattening cookies could be.

As soon as we got back to the car, Jody and I encountered another minor bump in the road: The car wouldn't start.

Thanks to the assistance of one of the Time Station volunteers, though, we were back in business a hop, skip, and a "jump" later.