I belong to the Y.M.C.A. For that reason, when other gyms are open (such as New Year's Day), my gym is closed. I knew I wouldn't be hitting the gym on NYD, but made the decision to go Jan. 2 after work. I had my bag packed on Jan. 1 and all ready to go!
Then doubt crept in because the weather forecast was calling for snow. In my neck of the woods, 3-5" of snow, starting at noon then getting worse around rush hour. I was nervous about this because I didn't want to get stuck if the roads were bad. During work, I made the decision to go straight home. I have workouts at home I can do. No reason to risk the car and me by waiting to go home when the temps would be colder and more snow on the ground.
What I failed to realize was the snow was much worse than we thought while at work. Oh, and did I mention I needed gas? My car told me I had about 38 miles before I would run out. I knew in the horrific traffic I wouldn't make it to a gas station before running out. As I was driving past the gym, the lights were on, people were in the cardio center. I could park, hit the gym, then hopefully traffic would be better and I could get to a gas station.
I parked the car, walked to the gym, and found out they never close early unless it's a really bad issue. My Y is a residence center too, so they stay open for the residents. Thank God! I changed and hit the cardio center. I did 35 minutes on the TM (1.75 miles) and the bike for 35 (6.5 miles). While on the bike, one of the instructors I used to take TRX classes came over and told me to pedal faster. We chatted a bit and he reminded me of a gas station that was 4 blocks away. Thank you Shawn! I then did my stretches, then headed to the car. I got my gas and headed home.
And it was horrible! It took me 2 hours to get from the gas station to home. It took an hour from the gas station to my exit off the highway, then another hour from the exit to home. This trip is normally about 30 minutes at the time of night I was driving. The highway hadn't been cleared and we were going about 20 miles an hour. That was fun. Compared to the second hour of my trip, it was cake. I got off the highway and made it literally to within a quarter mile of home when my car wouldn't go up the hill. So, I went around. Then I couldn't get up another hill and my car slid backwards down the hill. I tried going the way I came, then literally got my car stuck going up a third hill. I had to abandon my car at an auto body shop and decided to try walking home...in the dark, on a road covered in snow, with no shoulders or sidewalks.
That's when a kind woman who lived next to the auto body shop came out of her house asking what I was doing. When I told her, she insisted on taking me home. She had a truck that could make it up the hills and wouldn't hear of me walking. She grabbed her keys and drove me home. We grabbed hubby on the way because he was walking towards me as I walking towards home so I didn't have to walk the whole way alone. I got home around 10:00 p.m., ate dinner, went to bed by 11:00 p.m. Exhausted!
So, while I had a horrible traffic night, I did get my workout in. And I learned there are still great people in the world care who will go out of their way to help you.
Did you have to deal with snow Thursday?
