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Feb

The Winter Storm Fitness Plan

snow traffic sign The Winter Storm Fitness Plan Last week, we received another 20″ of snow. Since we’re both working from home, there wasn’t the worry about getting to work. One of the joys of telecommuting. When it came to the shoveling, I had to step up to the plate. My husband still has restrictions on what he can do as he recovers from surgery. Not that I’m complaining; far from it.

I’m not sure why this always surprises me every year. Snow shoveling is damn hard work. It tests you every bit as much as a vigorous weightlifting workout. You get a cardiovascular workout as well as a strength training workout in one session. How’ s that for exercise efficiency? A 155-pound person can burn off 422 calories an hour, though I wouldn’t advise it at an hour a stretch. So, I decided to come up with my own winter storm fitness plan.

First, move to Minnesota.

The snow isn’t going to come to you. Take heart though. When it’s not snowing, you can ski or sled or just enjoy snuggling in front of a fire.

Get geared up.

You’re going to need warm boots, perferably insulated. You should also get some heavy duty socks. You don’t move a lot, so you have to rely on your body’s furnace to stay warm. Oh, and don’t forget your gaiters. We do serious snow in Minnesota. The 20″ last week was just another snowstorm.

Move to the west side of a lake.

Our 3 to 4-foot snow drifts were the result of blowing snow. There’s no better way to get some extra inches than to have the snow blowing off of a wide open, unobstructed surface like a lake. If you’re serious about winter fitness, this is your best plan for maximum results.

The great thing about Minnesotans is that they have made peace with the winter. They don’t whine like those out east because of the snow. Sure, the commute is going to be brutal, but we’ll manage. The south has its hurricane parties. We have our winter storm parties.

Photo by Karin Lindstrom

Category: exercising Tags: snow shoveling, winter Comments off

Jan

Spring Visitors at the Shed

Chris

We have one of those outdoor storage sheds in our backyard. We don’t go into the shed a lot. It’s basically just used for storage of our summer stuff. As we learned the other day, it also stores something else–a woodchuck that enjoys its location away from the house.

The weather has been getting warmer. We are finally above zero. The other day, it was positively balmy, reaching into the upper twenties. Okay, so nothing says Minnesotan like…..

I happened to look out to survey the neighborhood and the year when I saw it. I didn’t realize that woodchucks viewed metal sheds as habitat, but there he was, peaking out from underneath our shed.

It was late afternoon, the perfect time for a woodchuck to be active. Contrary to popular belief, that winter sleep is not a deep hibernation. When days are warmer like it was this week, they will venture out to feed. So it happened with our little friend.

I watched him for awhile, lumbering around. We all have our ways of dealing with winter, I thought. The woodchuck’s strategy is just to enjoy the best of winter and avoid the rest. It’s probably not the worst of strategies.

Interesting, this little guy had made the mistake–I’m assuming it’s the same one–of taking up residence under one of our neighbor’s vinyl sheds. That neighbor wasn’t as happy to see him. He set a trap for the woodchuck. I have to admit that we tripped it a few times. The woodchuck wasn’t doing any harm. As I like to say, he’s just trying to make a living just like you or me.

I watched the woodchuck as he looked for some food. Winter had to have been especially tough this year. Not that I’m one for anthropomorphic feelings, but I also don’t believe in cruelty. As I see it, we’re all trying to endure the winter. I have my warm house with its fireplace. The woodchuck has his little den under my shed. Best of luck to the both of us to survive the winter.

Category: exercising Tags: winter Comments off

Jan

Still Musing About Summer

Chris

I have to admit it: I’m still thinking about summer. Ah, summer, the time to boat, to swim, to cook on the barbecue grill. It’s all good.

I like being outdoors best. During the winter, we venture out so much less. The walks are shorter, colder. I love the silence of the woods in winter, but I miss the birds terribly. It’s far too quiet sometimes.

The other day, we were finishing the last of our Christmas shopping. There is always that last-minute gift. I like to kid that I need something to do on Christmas Eve. As we walked the store, I noticed that the summer items were out already. While it snowed outside, we strolled past racks of swimsuits, aisles of garden furniture and barbeque grills. Maybe because I was so cold from the damp that the thought of being outdoors was so surprising.

We found the winter gloves that were our last gift to buy. My mind, however, kept going back to those thoughts of warm, summer nights. It seemed so far away. Would it really be possible to swim in that lake now frozen and covered with snow?

When we came home, I browsed through my cookbooks, past the stews and soups to the grilling section. Grilled steak and grilled shrimp sounded so good. That’s the magical thing about a BBQ grill: just about anything tastes delicious when it’s grilled.

That’s part of the reason that I cook and don’t bake. I didn’t inherit those particular genes from my mother. Baking is exacting. You cannot make a mistake when you bake. When you cook, there’s always a fix. No recipe has to be a disaster. Just throw it on the grill, and you have a meal. End of discussion.

I suppose that it’s going to be a long winter for me if my thoughts are turning to summer already. Rather than fight it, I’ll embrace the season. A savory beef stew sounds very good right now.