Last winter my wife talked me into buying a snow thrower. She’d seen me in the driveway huffing and puffing, taking forever to clear the snow with the shovel. It was so bad that my neighbor, who has about twenty five years on me and has a plow service taking care of his driveway, would come out with a shovel and pretend work in his drive, so that he could keep an eye on me!
I used the snow thrower last winter, and it did make clearing the driveway much easier, but I resented having to use it. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the fact that I have people who care about me and my well-being, but it was still a serious blow to my ego.
We've had snow falling on and off for the last few days. While the city trucks have done a good job of clearing the streets, they've pushed a lot of snow into the apron of the driveway. I decided to skip the gym tonight and open up the driveway. I grabbed the shovel instead of starting up the ‘thrower and got started. I cleared the apron up to the sidewalk and realized that I hadn't stopped for a rest and my breathing was pretty even. I kept going, clearing the rest of the driveway, the side entrance, the front stairs and walkway. By the time I was done, I’d broken a light sweat and was breathing a little heavier. Truthfully, I believe that I breath harder using the elliptical machine than I did shoveling snow this evening.
My heart rate recovered quickly and I had no aches afterwards. It felt really good to knock off driveway in that fashion. I felt completely vindicated. The cardio and resistance training is really paying dividends. I joke with my wife, when she asks me to do some physical chore, saying that these aren't “working” muscles, they’re just for show. It seems I was wrong.
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