A look back at June, a coincidence, and a new swim suit

Miles: 4.1
Pace: 9:51
Total miles for today: 4.6

I ran today, after having done a short run on Monday and yesterday, partly because I don't think that I'm logging enough miles. I know that mileage goals must be reached gradually in order to prevent injury, so instead of taking days of full rest in between long and/or hard runs, I'll do an easy mile or two. When I get used to that, I can then increase the distance of the long runs. I'm thinking about this because I looked at my June stats and saw that on days when I was supposed to bike, I didn't do anything (mainly because of rainy weather). In fact, I only biked 5 miles during the entire month of June, and almost every week in May and June, I only ran 3 days a week. Rest is good, but I can probably handle more work, and I think I will need to if I ever want to move beyond the plateau I've reached in the 5K.

My run today was a little hot and humid, but the sun wasn't very strong by the time I ran, so it wasn't bad. I wanted to do a distance that was somewhat substantial because I'll be busy this weekend and might not be able to run that much. It turned out to be just over 4 miles and felt a bit easier than yesterday's run. Yesterday's run was a little more interesting, though. I had the late shift at the reference desk, so I ran in the morning, at around 9:30. It was a short, sweet 2-mile jog on the back roads by my house. On my way home, a car passed me, and I thought that it really looked just like the library director's car, although I knew it couldn't be because he lived about a half-hour away and had no reason to be driving around back roads in the middle of nowhere. When I got into work, there was a party being held for him, because he is retiring and yesterday was his last day. I popped into his office to congratulate him and wish him well, and he asked if it was me that he had driven past that morning. He had been driving from one library branch to another to say goodbye and thank you to the staff, and he happened to take a very scenic route to do so. ("Very scenic" meaning "totally out of the way" - I guess you're entitled to that when you're the boss and it's your last day.) I know I was gross and sweaty, and I just I hope I wasn't also flailing my arms around too much or bouncing ridiculously on my toes, as I have been told I used to do. Oh well. It was interesting. I wonder who I'll come across next in my travels...

Speaking of travels, the next place I'll be running is ... the beach! On Friday morning, my support staff and I will be making our annual trek to his friend's shore house for some 4th of July festivities. We'll stay there until Sunday, so I hope to get a run in at some point during the weekend. Luckily I have a new bathing suit to wear this year. I was feeling woefully inadequate in my last bathing suit, since I lost a lot of weight since I bought it, and the top is too big now. (Some people drown in rip currents -- I would have drowned in my tankini.) I stopped at Kohl's on Sunday and was so happy to find one that I feel completely comfortable in. It's somewhat sporty (Nike Swimwear) but also very cute and modest, too.


If I'm feeling confident, I also have a new not-so-modest suit, but the few inches of pudge that won't budge off my belly might prevent me from breaking it out this weekend. I feel so much better about my appearance than I did at this time last year, but I don't know if my confidence is that high yet. I bought the suit, which is a step. I'll be sure to get lots of use out of the Nike one, and hopefully I will get some use out of my Nike sneakers as well!