Yup – the big one finally hit the Midwest. The east coast has been hit a few times this winter season already, but we’d been mostly spared, and probably spent too much time laughing at those poor folks out there.
But now? Chicago is looking like a nuclear white-out. And it’s pretty damn awesome (at least from my viewpoint… sitting here, warm in my kitchen, power still on, lots of food and wine in the fridge).
I mean, really how often do you get to see Mother Nature at her most ferocious? Probably only a couple of occasions in a lifetime, right? Last night, between the 60+ mph wind gusts and thundersnow and lightning (yes, you read that right: “thundersnow”), it was a great performance. And it definitely shows you who’s in charge, no matter what kind of 4-wheel drive truck you might own.
So, for the time being, treadmill and bike trainer workouts (swim? who does that anymore?) are on hold in lieu of shoveling workouts. And – this is going to be one long, ongoing workout, that’s for sure.
See, I’m just one girl with one crappy shovel (I refuse to buy a snowblower – or even a better shovel since I’m moving to a maintenance-free townhouse in just over a week…) and it will literally take me hours to dig out of this.
I spent 45 minutes this morning just removing the hip-high drift that had snuggled up to my garage. Well – scratch that – I actually only removed a truck-wide swath of the hip-high drift. I should have worn my HRM so I could tell you exactly how hard I was working! Cardio and strength-training, all rolled up into one chilly, convenient package.
The snow seems to be slowing down a little, and while I’m actually working from home, I think I’ll sneak out for an hour over what would be my lunch to try and make another small dent in the snow so I have some hope of being able to drive out tomorrow morning. When I was last out there, I have 2-3 more hip-high drifts to deal with down the driveway, as well as the foot of snow in between the drifts.
So, I’ve got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure, though the sun’s come out which is making it look deceptively nice outside (next up? arctic temperatures…) which makes me *almost* want to get out there and dig in.
Of course, I wouldn’t complain if a snow-blowing neighbor or enterprising kid wanted to do it for me…