The Snow Shovel Workout

Feb. 27, 2013

Today I'm 196 pounds and change of rolling thunder. Change because I weighed with my clothes on so who really knows what the weight is. All I know is it's not heading down the way I had hoped.

And while I'm rationalizing things, I think I'm going to call an hour of snow shoveling my workout for the day. I see the headline now, "World's Slowest Man Slows Down Even More; But His Driveway Is Clean (sort of)."

I'm sure it's a headline that will sweep the nation if not the world. But after 20-plus inches of snow in less than a week I'm going a little stir crazy riding my stationary bike and watching Jeopardy.

Sure I've ventured out a couple of times, but running in the street against traffic isn't my favorite thing. If that sounds like a lot of wah, wah, wah it is. I'm crying that I haven't been able to hit the streets for my normal run. I miss the pounding, the deep breathing and the satisfied tired feeling you get from a nice long job.

Spinning the bike is good, but it's not the same. I lose focus somewhere around a half hour, and I can't always discipline myself to keep up the intensity required to break a good sweat. But it gets the body moving, and it's way better than watching the Jodi Arias trial on HLN or sitting in front of the computer blogging (wait, I like blogging, so scratch that).

But after three or four days of snow shoveling various friends and neighbors driveways, I'm counting today's outside work as my workout for the day. There was lifting. There was stretching. There was limited huffing and puffing. And my feet were cold, which is a real bonus.

So mock me if you will, but with a ton of snow crowding the streets and sidewalks in my neighborhood, I'm calling this my daily workout -- unless I guilt myself into a run later on.