I am still getting over this cold. I continue to feel a bit better each day, but I am still coughing really bad at night which means I’m exhausted during the day. My cold has moved into my chest a bit, as I have developed a “productive cough” (hopefully not too much TMI).
That being said, I was planning to go for a run after work today. But plans change. When I got home, Barry was in the process of starting to move the wood from a smaller shed to a larger building that we have. We are emptying out the shed so that we can use it for something else.
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| The smaller shed that we are emptying out |
This process involved slinging the wood into the back of Barry’s truck, which he had backed up to the shed. Once the truck bed was full he would drive his truck around to the other building, where we would unload the wood onto the stacks of wood we already have in that building.
This created a nice little unplanned cross training day for me. It’s quite a workout on your arms and back, and my heart rate stayed elevated most of the time that we were loading/unloading. Not to mention the temperature was in the high 80’s today. That small shed may not look like a lot of wood, but let me tell you there’s a lot in there. We got through four or five truck loads and we still have another two rows of wood to go.
And in case you are wondering why we have so much wood, it’s because we use a wood stove to heat our house in the winter.
It cuts our electric bill in half. We had to go a month and a half without our wood stove when we had an issue with the chimney and our electric bill literally doubled when we were relying on the heat pump to heat the house. It’s just not the same kind of heat, either.
Do you ever have “unplanned cross training days”?
What do you rely on to heat your house? Any wood stove or fire place users?
Ever moved or stacked wood (or split it)?
I promise you it’s quite a workout!
Turkey Runner 
I love your wood stove! I remember my grandpa had one of those in his house and so did a friend of mine. We have a gas fireplace but it’s more cosmetic than anything.
I bet the gas fireplace creates a nice atmosphere in the winter, though. I remember as a kid my Dad would build a fire in the fireplace (which was in the family room) and we’d all watch a movie together.
We had a wood stove when we lived in Marquette, MI. It was so warm! Right now we just have the furnace :)Sounds like you had a great workout!
They produce a lot of heat! When it’s really cold outside, I go and stand by it after running so that I can thaw out and warm up.
Whew! I was tired just reading that. I have never had to chop wood or move it around, but one of the rental properties my parents own is right next to a river that floods EVERY year, so we have to drive up into the mountains and fill sand bags and then haul those over to the river bank and create a higher wall. Normally it’s pouring down rain during the process and the middle of the night (without fail, we always get the call that the river is flooding in the middle of the night…). I LOVE your wood stove! And what an awesome way to save on your heating bills!!
Oh wow! Hving to create that sand bag wall with the river flooding sounds like no fun. Of course stuff like that always happens in the middle of the night, right?? 🙂
Wood = Workout, OH YES. Done that in the winter at my parent’s house. Definitely a workout. I guess I sometimes take an accidental cross-training day, but…can’t really think of the last one.
It definitely is! The only time I usually end up taking an unplanned cross training day is if something gets in the way of me being able to run (weather, I get home from work after dark, etc.).
That sounds like quite a workout! When I was little, I had to shovel coal while my brother chopped wood for my grandma’s stove. I was only in fifth or sixth grade and that full coal bucket was heavy!I just sent you an email about Saturday’s run!
That would be some hard work for a little kid!
Duh! Looks like I replied to Holly instead of commenting! 🙂