We are buried under nearly 3 ft of snow, with another foot predicted for the next week. At no point this week is the temperature expected to get above freezing. It's week 6 of the marathon training and outside running is nearly impossible. Sidewalks are non-existent, roads are slippery and slushy and full of aggravated drivers.
Oh, and because I live within city limits (oh to live 1 more block south!), my street has yet to see a plow.
On Friday night, the snow started falling, and I was actually pretty happy. It was beautiful! And it guaranteed that John and I would be snowed in for at least a day. As an added bonus, I had to close the bakery 3 hours early and the bakery didn't even open on Saturday. Plus, I had just found out on Friday that Cooper had been selected as to participate in a dog food photo shoot and Petey was to come along as well as a back up.
So Saturday started off nice. We took the dogs out, we ran around in snow up to our thighs and we just played. Then we sat around in comfy clothes and watched TV and baked and hung out. It was great- just relaxing and nice. But by 9pm, we hadn't seen a plow come down our street or even a salt truck. The only dent in the 2.5 feet of snow were the tracks we had made with the dogs. Knowing that those fun union contracts the city had would prevent any plowing to happen on Sunday, and knowing I would have to drive the dogs into the city on Monday for the photo shoot, John and I resigned ourselves to the fact that if we wanted to go anywhere in the cars, we would be shoveling our street by hand.
Sunday, we slept in, but we were out on the street, shoveling by noon. We had a good 100 yards to shovel from my car before we even turned the corner to get onto our street. John and I knew we were going to be shoveling for at least 5 or 6 hours to make a path. And then out of nowhere, came our community.
All plagued by the same knowledge- we weren't going to get a plow truck before Monday- 6 of us shoveled, shoveled, shoveled. 3 hours later, we made it to the corner. I was so inspired by the teamwork and the camaraderie- especially since none of us really knew each other- that my energy continued to boost itself up.
I ran up to get my car and get it out of the gravel lot and onto a paved street. By the 4th hour, John's car was out too, and John was working on making a small dent in our sidewalk. Now that the car was out, I also had to go buy some collars for the dog shoot. I was the assigned dog wrangler for the shoot- and we needed some hero collars. So off in my car I dashed to Petco.
I arrived at 4:30pm to find out they closed at 4 due to inclement weather. What? Are you kidding me?
It wasn't even snowing or supposed to snow. But I kept moving, on to the grocery store.
It was in Giant Eagle that the fatigue struck. Have you ever walked around the grocery store and felt lost? Missed at least 1 to 2 things in every aisle? Felt dizzy? Hot? Uncomfortable? It's terrible! And it's even worse at Giant Eagle- one of the biggest, busiest stores in the area. By the time I arrived home Sunday night, totally wasted and aching, the Superbowl seemed light years away and the thought of doing anything except sitting on my couch in a state of half vegetation was unpalatable.
With the possibility of another foot of snow this week and temperatures below freezing, I have to get creative. John and I need to run this week to stay in shape for the marathon. We are coming up on our 10 mile week next week and if we get behind, we'll regret it. I'm thinking it might be time to consider a last minute getaway....
