Although I am an insidious night owl, I didn’t find out that the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority – aka SEPTA – was on strike until I woke up early on Tuesday morning.

Too early, actually. My clock was set pre-7am, and I already forget why. Extra proofreading at work? Who knows, but I would have been in for a long wait at a lonely bus stop had I not quickly checked Twitter on my way out of the house.

SEPTA ON STRIKE!, is what Twitter loudly proclaimed, AS OF THREE IN THE MORNING.

Twitter proclaimed it so loudly it was a trending topic.

Since I was up early already, I decided to walk in. I love to walk to work, but I don’t usually have enough time. It’s consistently a 39-minute trip on foot – three 13-minute miles. As I made that walk on Tuesday morning, I thought, Am I really equipped to be traveling six miles a day? Maybe I need some friendlier shoes…

That inspired a trip to Philadelphia Runner, a business so wonderful I think they may merit their own separate post. Suffice to say, they sent me packing with a pair of shoes that fit like no other I’ve ever had. It’s like they were made for my uneven, wide, somewhat archless feet!

Up early and appropriately equipped on strike day two, I decided, Why not do a little jogging?. I jogged the first mile of my commute in, and the last mile of my commute home.

Strike day two results? My round–trip commute completed in 67:30, compared to a 68:00 average on SEPTA.

Yes, my skinny-yet-chunky Italian ass locomoted itself home faster than SEPTA.

Including today’s walk home I’ve logged over 25 miles of walking this week, which amounts to over five hours of exercise. That’s amazing! I’m happier. Healthier. Hungry at appropriate times of the day. Sleeping soundly.

Basically, SEPTA going on strike made my life awesome, and – issues I have for or against the strike aside – I don’t particularly care if they come back.