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The muscles around my rib cage cramped. The mattress wouldn't go so easily, but the guest room needed to be cleared. There's a baby on the way. But maybe this project should have been completed before my run.

Another case of going accidentally too far, my run Saturday evening proved that my ability to judge distances remains poor. It turned out a figure-eight along the Buckeye and Valley Bridle trails from the Pine Lane parking lot would not fit inside a 40-minute window.

If there's one thing I learned on this run it's that my ability to stay upright may be my crowning achievement as a trail runner. After some recent thunderstorms the ground was a bit wet, which went on to prove that my Merrell Road Gloves don't have the greatest traction.

Me not falling.

On the first descent, right after passing two women with dogs, my foot slipped sideways, but I caught myself on the high bank of the hill.

But the real adventure was on the final downhill, where I went full-on one-footed slalom for a few feet.

The rest of that hill required much slower navigation, and still that wasn't the end of the slipping. Even so, never fallen on a trail run.

Another thing I learned is when I do almost fall, I make sounds like an ape. I don't know what that says, but there you have it.

And so thus went my first run in June, which means it's time to look back at last month's mileage. Here is May's statistical rundown:

• Total Miles: 36 miles (13 runs)
• Total Time: 8 hours
• Highest Weekly: 12 miles
• Average Weekly: 9 miles
• Average Pace: 13:17/mile
• The Monthly Dif: +24 (12 miles in April)

Yeah, so that looks better. All those trips to the Sand Run Parcours Trail slowed my average pace, but it still showed improvement if only by eight seconds per mile. Improvement is improvement, though, and I'll take it wherever I can.

My weight still bothers me, but oh well.

After my slippery run, I decided to clear out the room that will be the nursery, considering today Mrs. Viper and I are on our way to IKEA to buy baby furniture. Let's just say I slept well Saturday night.