My hands are a death grip white on the steering wheel of the white Rav4 rental car. I can feel literally every muscle group in my neck tense as the car four cars in front of me slams on their brakes and skids into the right lane, right into the snow bank. I can barely see the stretch of I-95 through the white flakes and wind gusts ahead of me, and once again from the back seat I hear from the minis, "WHEN are we going to be there?"
I calmly answer, "As soon as we can girls..." and for lack of a better word, plow forward. Thirty exits to go, the day after Christmas, and the minis and I are headed to my parents house in Connecticut. They LOVE Connecticut...the traffic lights, the grocery stores, Target...all the things they "miss out" on growing up on an island like Nantucket. I tolerate Connecticut...I mean who doesn't love target, and of course my fave lulu, but it's times like this very moment when I am questioning the trip and wondering if it snows the expected 20 plus inches, how the hell will I ever get to the gym in the morning?!?
WAY too long later, the two wheel drive car, skates into the driveway at 25 Canoe Hill rd...and skids to a stop. I sigh, appalled that I, literally the worst driver EVER, in my own opinion, has made it safely. I turn around and look at the best minis in the world. "Here we go!"
The next morning I roll out of bed and reach for my lulu gear, thinking about the storm, I throw it in my gym bag and get dressed for the snow. I kiss the minis, still snuggled in my bed with me and head downstairs. My mom and dad both know about my running addiction and have assured me no less than three dozen times they are more than happy to watch the girls when they wake up. Still, when I come downstairs and see my dad sitting there he looks at me in shock. "You're not possibly going to the gym, are you? We have 22 inches of snow out there! You can barely open the front door!"
I can feel my legs start to twitch, I breathe deeply and reply calmly, "Well, I'll just give them a quick call to make sure they're open." I grab my blackberry, (the landlines and power are both out) and dial the number...ring, ring, ring...the recording picks up..."our hours are 5:30 am-" WTF. What the hell time is it anyway? I look at the phone, nope...definitely after 5:30, they SHOULD be open. What kind of gym is this? Why can't they handle a couple of flakes? I look at my dad who is staring at me like I may very well be slightly insane. I hang up and manage a smile..."okay, I'll just...I'll just try later. I guess I can start shoveling." I mean whatevs...shoveling is supposed to be good exercise, right?
Hat, gloves, scarf and three layers later, I am outside shovel in hand. I plant my feet and dig in. Fitness GEEK that I am, I reach down with my arms, think about engaging my core and throw the snow in an arc over my head. I'll just try to make it my workout, I think. Then, I can still sled and hang with the minis when they wake up and I won't freak out about missing my run. I can still go tonight, I try to reassure myself. Damn, this is a heavy snow. I scoop three sets of fourteen before I have to stop and stretch out my shoulders. This is harder than I thought. I look at the driveway ahead of me...I have barely made a dent. My parents do not have a short driveway and although they have told me the snowplow guy should be here momentarily, my slightly psychotic competitive edge has kicked in and for some completely stupid reason I am finding myself determined to have the whole driveway completed by the time he gets here. With this thought in mind, I decide to up the reps to twenty and continue...realizing the entire time I have some issues:) This time I stop and realize underneath all these layers, I am sweating. I breathe for a second and go again....an hour and a half later, I have made some progress. Take that plow guy! I have about a quarter of the driveway and one of the four cars in the driveway dug out. I stretch out for like the zillionth time and look to the street, the town seems to have just begun to get things under control. I am sweating bullets, and can already feel where I will be sore tomorrow. I see a snowplow slow down in front of the driveway and lower the plow. Finally. I throw my shovel to the side and begin to walk to the door. I stomp off my boots and head inside for some snuggle time with the minis and some hot chocolate. I surrender guy, it's all yours.
