It was a weird morning. And since I have a fun tradition of sharing, I was trying to figure out a way to condense my 3 1/2 hour experience this morning into a succinct Tweet or Facebook post, but it just wasn't happening. So, buckle up folks, I'm going to blog about how going to the gym in the snow almost resulted in my car needing a tow. (hey that rhymed)

First, the reason I was up at 4 a.m. this morning was not originally because I wanted to go to the gym. My bf and I are currently sharing a car while his truck is in the shop. We live in Troy and he works in the land of Guilder.

For anyone who was also up early this morning, you know how crappy the roads were. For those that weren't, I -surprise - took photos (from the passenger seat since Jon was driving).

We picked up one of his co-workers, whose usual main source of transportation is his bike and took Rt 20 for a while. The roads had not been treated yet (it was about 5am) and it was slick. While I love my Nissan Sentra, I will admit it is not the best car in the snow. Jon took it easy for most of the usual 25 minute trip which ended up being about double that time.

I'd say the scariest part was Rt 146 heading toward Altamont since there are no street lights and the roads are a bit more hilly and winding. But we got to his job safely and I started to drive back alone. I was nervous - it was my first time driving in the snow this season - but made it to Rt 20 with no issues and decided that I would wait out the storm at the land of Guilder Y, figuring after a work out that the roads would be salted and plowed.

I turned onto the side road leading to the Y and then lost control of my car as I tried to turn into the parking lot. Despite an already slow speed, I hit a curb hard enough to jostle me in my seat and make the whole car jolt to a stop. But I was able to back up and moved to a parking spot.

Once out of my car, I go to check that side of the car and my front passenger side tire is hissing. A lot. I go inside to ask for a flashlight (since it's still dark out and it's about 5:30am) and came back to a continued loud hissing sound. To me, the tire looked like it was losing air. I figured "Screw it", I'll go inside to work out and then call AAA after I'm done.

(note the foot to show I really was there)

I had a great workout in the pool, though I realized I am extremely out of shape. In the Jacuzzi (which felt amazing), I talked to a nice retired guy named Jim who used to work at the Scotia base flying folks to the North and South Poles (did you know the glaciers in Greenland, by the way, are about two miles tall and that the air in the extremely old ice core samples bursts when put in water). By the end of the conversation, he said he would help me put my spare tire on.

I get out there (it's about 7am now and light out) and the tire actually looked fine. No more hissing. I didn't need to call AAA, nor get a spare put on. Awesome. On top of this, the road are much better.

Going at a slow speed (which actually ended up being the actual speed limits along Western Ave and the Northway), I'm finally feeling comfortable at the wheel again.

Then I had one of the oddest moments of my life so far. I heard my name on the radio. I have a weird habit of listening to all the talk radio stations (I blame my parents for listening to WGY so much growing up) and I was listening to the Paul Vandenburgh show when he was talking about how "bad" The Record newspaper was and he then started to talk about my article in today's paper.

Let me tell you, it is a weird moment to try to negotiate slick roads around fellow surprised drivers who didn't know it was going to snow, and then hear your name on the radio while your place of employment is scrutinized. A very weird moment.

But, I'm home now (about to head off to a press conference in Albany and roads are looking OK). The best feeling of the morning so far was when I finally turned onto my street - my plowed, flat, familiar street. And, possibly my biggest regret of the morning, was deciding to not change out of my pajamas thinking the commute back and forth to Jon's work would be quick/straightforward.