Holy cannoli I'm one with the universe.

This is the ecard to send someone who has just run a Ragnar:

Alright, enough sanitary jocularity.  On to the exercise vomit.

I did not work out at all on Sunday.  It was the day after a Ragnar in which I ran 22 total miles rather then my expected 19.  I'm crazy, but not insane.  I want to get to my next Ragnar uninjured (which is fast approaching!  More about that later!  With lots of exclamation marks and girly squealing!).

Part of my Ragnar noninjury plan was to do weights on Monday and go cycling on Tuesday.  I did miss riding my bike while Ragnaring it this weekend, but I do not miss what I look like while biking.

I'm so pretty.  Look at that bike helmet hair.

I was trying out a new Zoot cycling tank that had a built-in bra.  It fit nicely except for the fact that it kept riding up during the ride and exposing parts of my nether regions that don't normally get to feel the breeze on the bike, if you know what I mean.  Maybe if I shove tons of gels and food in the back pockets it will get weighed down and stay down like a good cycling tank should.

I biked 12 miles and had some pretty good 5-mile splits for me (both under 19 minutes).  I finally managed to get the bike to shift in the front so the chain is on the large gear.  May the mechanical advantage be with me.  (Until I start cycling up a steep hill, that is.)  But what I love about cycling is not the fact that I look like a total moron trying to shift my front gears; it's the fact that when you're cycling in the cool of the morning (I'm talking 5 AM morning) and the sun is coming up and the wind isn't fighting you for once and the birds are signing and there are no dogs chasing you and you're not producing snot like a hagfish....cycling can be just as "holy cannoli I'm one with the universe" a moment as running.

In other words, it was a good 12 mile ride.

Today I ventured back into running after Ragnar Chicago trying out my new purple running skirt from Sparkle Skirts:

Yes, I need to vacuum.

Trying out this skirt was the sole motivating factor getting me out of my office chair and out the door this morning. Since the Ragnar, I have been in perpetual nap mode, with my eyes regularly closing without my consent during the middle of the day.  This makes it hard to do things like train your replacement at your old job before you leave for your new job, make screencasts to put on websites, and create a curriculum map so the new people will actually know how to teach the courses you've been teaching for 12 years.

But the shiny swirly purpleness of this skirt got me movin' and a groovin', and I managed to do 4 miles this morning.  The first mile I felt like I was running through mud, with my legs reminding me that "HEY--DID YOU KNOW WE JUST RAN A RAGNAR?  NO?  WELL WE DID.  MORON."  But after that mile they began to stop their whining, and I managed a nice pace in the 9s afterwards.

And that's the pace I want to keep when I run my next Ragnar in less than two weeks.  Yes, you read that correctly--this girl gets to fly to Utah to do Ragnar Wasatch Back! (Insert girly squeal here.)  It's the 10th anniversary, and I've heard that the medal is going to be spectacular.  Because running, you see, is not just about those "one with the universe" moments.

It's also about the bling, baby.