Clean-up time

Nemo found us, hit us hard, and then left.  The snow stopped around noon on Saturday, but the clean-up started long before that.  We don't have a snow blower, so all snow removal was done by hand.  Can I just tell you, shoveling never gets any easier, no matter how many years you've been doing it.  It starts out fine, maybe even fun, but by the end, you're wet, it's miserable, and everything aches.  When there's 23 inches of snow covering your cars, it's no joke either. Today was better, but we went out to help shovel out a family friend, so we added 2 more hours of cardio to our day.
Due to the nature of the storm, there was a travel ban for 24 hours, from Friday to Saturday.  You couldn't drive and walking was almost impossible as well.  We made it through with full power, which was nice, as we had ourselves a Batman marathon!  After being inside basically all of Friday and Saturday, we ventured out when the ban lifted.  Ryan's truck has 4 wheel drive, so it was a breeze, really.  Lots of places were still not plowed out and many businesses were still closed today.  It was just nice to be able to get out of the house though.
We were supposed to go to the Jeff Mangum show in Providence tonight, but they rescheduled it for next Monday.  Sadly, we most likely will not be able to make that show.  I wish we could because I was looking forward to it, but I know it would be hard to get there in time after Ryan gets out of work and we wouldn't be home until late.  The snow has been keeping us busy here and I definitely was not able to even THINK about getting any running done in this weather, so there's not much to update on that front.  Instead, I'll leave you with some pictures of the blizzard. Enjoy!

Snow day

Nemo is currently finding New England so the whole state of Massachusetts has essentially shut down.  Schools are closed, stores are closing early, the T is shutting down, and starting at 4 pm, a statewide driving ban is in effect.  Driving after 4 could earn you a ticket to the tune of $500.  In short, Nemo is no big deal....
Being from Massachusetts, yesterday, of course, was a mad panic after work.  You couldn't even get gas without waiting in a long line.  Which is kind of silly, because lets be honest, if this does turn into a mega-storm, no amount of gas is going to get my Rabbit out of the driveway, let alone down any streets.  Here at my house we stocked up on the more important things.  Food, milk, wine, beer, popcorn, and the Batman Trilogy.  We are so prepared it's scary. Only 7 eggs left though, so french toast may not be a reality.  Sad.
Since this storm has been plastered all over the weather and news since Wednesday I went for one last run outside yesterday.  It was only 2 miles, but I knew I had to at least get that in, because who knows when the streets will be run-able again.  If Nemo drops as much as they say, it could be 30+ inches, so it could take a while to get that cleared up. Hopefully everything is back in order by the end of the month though, because I signed up for a three race series that starts February 24.  One of the other teachers at work had mentioned this series to me and I sort of forgot about it until recently.  The half-marathon isn't until May and the next Will Run for Beer race isn't until March 9, so I thought I would find some other races to sign up for in the meantime.  This one is called the Wild Rover, in honor of St. Patrick's day.  The first race is a 5K in Lawerence, the next is a 6K in Haverhill, and the final is a 7K in Lowell.  If you run all three races, your medals fit together to make a mega-medal, which is pretty neat.  The races run three consecutive weekends, 2/24, 3/3, and 3/10.  The only downside is that the Will Run for Beer 5K is on 3/9, so that weekend I'll be running two races instead of just one 5K.  After that 15K though, it's no big deal.  I can handle it. (I hope!)
Not much else going on with this storm coming.  Mostly just stuck in the house until further notice. We're supposed to go see Jeff Mangum on Sunday night, so hopefully by that time, the storm has passed and the roads have been cleared.  In the meantime, I think I'll just go watch some Batman.