It’s February 15th, Modern Philosophers, so I suggest you scramble off to the local grocery store to pick up leftover Valentine’s Day candy at severely discounted prices.
Please buy this candy for your own enjoyment. If you’re buying it for your special someone, I recommend that you do that person a favor and walk away from the relationship because they shouldn’t have to put up with a cheapskate like you!
Today also happens to be President’s Day, and for the first time in forever, I actually have the day off. I guess the country is really serious about celebrating having a real President again after the past four years.
I took advantage of the holiday to continue two important streaks. Good things come in threes, and today is my third straight day of running and working on my novel.
Mondays are usually my rest day, but since I had the day off, I wanted to hit the road again. Truth be told, I’d been slacking off the past two weeks since my Wellness Challenge ended. I wrote it off to being sore and tired, but if I’m being honest, I’d have to add lazy to the mix.
Ever since my friend gave me a pair of snow cleats, I’ve been eager to put them to work on my favorite running path along the river.
As you can see from this photo, conditions are not ideal along that route. However, with my new cleats, snow and ice are no longer a problem!
It hasn’t exactly been easy to get my butt out the door, though, the past three mornings. The temperature upon my leaving The House on the Hill for my run was: 8, 17, and 15.
So I might not be slipping and sliding anymore because I have the cleats, but I am most definitely shivering my way along.
Despite the conditions, it has felt wonderful to start off the day by getting some miles under my belt. It gives me a much needed energy boost to deal with the overall BLAH that is Maine in February. And an added bonus has been that the bad weather has meant I’ve had the path to myself. So no more worrying about selfish people without masks.
And people seem to enjoy the pics I tweet after my runs..
Twenty-one likes on a tweet is a lot for me!
The second streak I continued on Discount Chocolate Monday was working on my novel. As I recently confessed, I hadn’t touched that project in about six months. Which was so stupid because I was fifteen chapters in and on such a roll.
I finally got past whatever was blocking me to outline the next chapter the other night. Then, for the past three days, I’ve been writing chapter sixteen.
And it was just like the old days. I’d write a couple of pages, and get up to do something else. Before I knew it, though, the next part of the story was forming in my mind and I was excited to get back to the laptop and write more.
Writing always works best when the characters speak to me, and the story spills out of my head faster than I can get it down on the page.
So I’m very happy today. I’m running, writing, and maybe there’s some discount chocolate in my future.
Life is good. Let’s hope the streaks continue!
The Return of the Modern Philosopher 
Yes, your post-run photos are great! They make me look forward to the day when my knee heals and I can exercise more vigorously again.
Thanks, Lydia. Hope your knee heals soon!
Here’s to exercise, writing books, and discount chocolate! What’s not to love!? Keep up the streaks, my friend!!
Amen to that, Kristian! You keep up the good work as well. 🙂
Cheers to your current streaks, Austin.