Damn that snow plow guy...

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

I went to bed around midnight thinking “too much hype about snow”. Boy…was I right.

I started shoveling a little before 7 a.m. Jack had to be to school and I needed to get the car out of the driveway. You’ve heard me whine before about living on a curve and the snow plow dumping an inordinate amount of snow in the bottom of my drive as a result, but today was over the top. I had a least three feet of snow to move and time was short. I stripped down to a t-shirt and started throwing. It took about 15 minutes to clear the bottom and I made a path for the car to get out on the rest of the drive so I could take Jack to school and return for the balance. In all, I spent about 45 minutes on it…a decent workout…but had the pleasure of a second plowing before I was through.

I saw them heading down the street on the other side and knew they’d be coming back shortly, so I made my way to the bottom and planted myself in the street as the came charging back. I was pretending to dig out near the curb and stepped back into the drive as the first plow approached. He moved away from the curb and I waved my appreciation, which he didn’t return. I found out why in the next 30 seconds as the second plow came by and sent another half ton of snow all over me and the bottom of my drive. He pretended he didn’t see me…but I could see the wicked glint in his eye as he passed…may he rot in hell.

I went to the Metropark for a hike and carried the camera thinking I’d get some good winter scenery shots. There was at least another 6-8 inches of snow on the trails and when I set off into the woods for the marsh, sunk about twelve inches in. The hike was strenuous, but beautiful. It took about 30 minutes to get down to the marsh and I elected to climb back out the way I’d come in to heighten the workout. Round trip took around 75 minutes and with all the snow I’d moved that morning, figured my workout day was complete.

Hike duration: 75 minutes. Shoveling duration: 45 minutes
Training Heart Rate: 90 hiking. 120 shoveling.
Calories burned during workout: 375 hiking. 450 shoveling.