Unruly Skirts and Chilly Muscles

Birds of a feather…

Week of April 15, 2012:

Thursday: Bike commute + grocery shopping (I always seem to be grocery shopping, eh?  With my shopping habits, I think I should move to Europe.)

Friday: Short run + biking to and from my favorite park

Saturday: Bike ride for (wait…can you guess?) more food and a very s-l-o-w walk

I have two fitness-related stories to tell you.  The first involves this very unruly, very cute black pencil skirt.

(Wait, do pencil skirts have slits?  What exactly is a pencil skirt?  I think of it as a slim, column-like skirt, knee-length or thereabouts.  To my mind, it has no flare to it, no A-line shape, nothing of the sort.  Fashion-minded friends, what say you?  Am I close?)

Anyway, over the last year or two, I’ve been learning which clothes are good for bike-commuting and which ones do not work.  I thought this skirt would be awesome: it’s not too long, has some stretch, and it’s black, so when I arrive to work and I’m a little sweaty, it’s harder for others to tell.  As an aside, I have to say, I really don’t worry too much about a little sweat.  I’m lucky that my work environment is very casual, and I feel like most people kinda get it: Texas is a sweaty, sweaty place.  Or most people are too polite to say anything, unlike that one time in the bathroom where some woman probably thought I peed my pants and had to comment on it.  I should have told her I have a disorder and HOW RUDE OF HER TO BE SO UNKIND TO ME!

Ahem.

My skirt and I had the best intentions, but when I wore it for Thursday’s bike rides, it kept flying up!  I have no idea what other people could see during my wardrobe malfunction, but it was really annoying for me.  The slits facilitated my flying skirt—it was that front panel that kept flying up whenever a gusty wind blew in the wrong direction.  If I wear it again for biking, I am going to have to wear some shorts underneath because it was ridiculous, trying to pedal while holding my skirt down with one hand.  Ridiculous!

On Friday evening, I set out for my run.  I decided to mix things up by biking to my favorite park and doing my 25 minutes of running around the mile-long loop.  We’ve had some unusually chilly weather lately, and it was cold enough on Friday that I actually wore running tights.  On top I wore a t-shirt, which turned out not to be enough.  I was freezing during my bike ride to the park because the wind was really working hard out there.  I was warm enough once I started running, but as soon as I was on my bike again, I was so, so cold.  I got home, and as I tried to wash my hands, I literally felt like my arm muscles were locking up—they were just so cold.  I wondered if my arms felt weak because of nutrition or exhaustion because it was such a strange sensation—I didn’t have goosebumps, just a horrible fatigue and not everywhere, just my arms.  It was very weird.

I’ve had a really nice, lazy, indulgent day today.  I feel slightly guilty that I was not more productive, but I am hoping that tomorrow I will get myself organized and ready for the new week.  I have a lot I’d like to accomplish, work-wise, as well as lots of personal goals for the day.  50-minute run, anyone?  JD’s counting on me to be in good running shape in two months, and I can’t let him down!