Duncan Gardens at Manito Park in Spokane, Washington. The scent of flowers fills the air.

I usually step up my training to do well in races, but the last race I did was in early June, and the next one I’m doing is Sept. 28th.

That means I’ve been able to ease up on my training. I like to stop in the middle of a run if I see something interesting. Other times I feel like resting and letting my mind ponder things. I did that today when I went on a long run through several parks.

I stopped at a picnic shelter to watch a squirrel race around with a hazelnut in his mouth.

I moved on to another park and took a break on the bleachers of a ball field at Franklin Park. I played baseball as a 9th grader and this is where we practiced and played games.

Taking a break for contemplation and reflection is enjoyable, but location is very important. I ran to another park where I know of a bench that overlooks a flower garden.

It was a pretty view, but my contemplating wasn’t high quality. There was a disharmonious visual effect that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

After giving up on the fancy, colorful spot, I thought why not just lay on the grass. That turned out okay.

However, I noticed a bunch of people coming my way and I knew I’d feel silly just laying there doing nothing, so I assumed a well-known meditative pose.

A Manito Runners Club member I know likes resting on this decorative column before we head out to run. I gave it a try, but it’s a bit uncomfortable.

I finally found the best spot ever. I’d never guess that a tennis court net would be the No. 1 spot for resting and contemplating.

It was so good that when a couple guys came and asked if they could use the court, I said no. I’m sure they were a little pissed as they went back to their car, but sometimes it’s all about me.

Whenever I bought a pair of running shoes, I took the box to the basement where it became part of a shoebox skyscraper.

As the stack of boxes grew, I knew I’d better do something before it collapsed. I came up with several uses.

Sometimes I’m a little short on cupboard space. I find that shoeboxes make great temporary cupboards.

Where to put the many running socks I have?. In a shoebox. A bonus is that when I have visitors, I can create temporary chairs by stacking them up.

Another excellent use is a cat timeout place. Whenever my cat Gloopy does something that makes me angry, to the shoe box she goes for ten minutes.

After her last time out, I realized it was the 4th time that day I’d sent her there. I needed better negative reinforcement. I decided that threatening to squish her with my bike would do the trick.

Surprisingly, even though she knows it’s coming, Gloopy compliantly waits on the sidewalk to be run over. Just as I reach her, I “accidentally” miss, sparing her a squishing, but it’s frightening enough that her behavior has changed for the better.

A few months ago I wrote about a diet regimen called SNARP (Strategic Nourishment and Replenishment Program), I devised that has been adopted by top runners around the world. Nowadays, I think most people don’t believe my post. I admit it was a total fabrication. I’m sure this will cause readers of I Must Run Everywhere to slap their foreheads in shock.

To make up for this transgression, I’ll reveal my real diet secrets. The secret is that I don’t eat anything special. In my entire career I’ve rarely eaten with a running benefit in mind.

However, I eat as healthy a diet possible because I believe what you eat has a big impact on health. I don’t necessarily want to live to a very old age, but while I’m alive, I prefer to be healthy and active.

The below photos show part of my vegetable garden which takes up most of my backyard. Starting in mid-April, I’m able to harvest over-wintered spinach, early lettuce and dandelion greens for salads. Additional greens ripen during summer and fall. I’m usually able to harvest lettuce into December.

On the left is a type of Romaine lettuce. Middle is Asian tatsoi. On the right – onions.

Far left are eggplants. In the middle is Swiss chard. On the right, carrots.

It’d probably be boring and monotonous for most people, but most days my dinner is a big salad with many ingredients from April to December. I’ve been doing it for years, yet I still look forward to my big green meal in the evening. I freeze other fruits and vegetables that I grow and use them to make various dishes during winter.

However, I have a weakness for sweets and usually don’t keep them around because I’d devour them in no time. But I got around this rigid policy a few evenings ago.

I was hankering for something sweet, and I wanted it now, so a drive to the store or baking something was out of the question.

I found a neglected box of cake mix that had been given to me a few months earlier. I poured some into a bowl and added milk. Voila! – dessert for a king. If you’re hoping for instructions on how to prepare this dessert, you’re in luck.

Pour cake mix into a bowl. Warning – do not sneeze while doing this.

Add milk. If any is spilled, ignore platitudes and release frustrations by crying.

Stir well. Do not allow anticipation to cause saliva to drip into the bowl. It’s your own spit, but it’s still gross.

Yummy. Reminder: for at-home-alone use only. Do not serve at dinner parties.

Do you have a story of going to extreme lengths to get some sweets into your mouth?

It’s been a warm and sunny summer. A lot of runners don’t bother to put on sunscreen for a run, but I do.

I came across a fantastic sunscreen bargain at the dollar store recently. They were selling sunscreen in gallon containers. I’ve never seen that before. And get this— it was a buy one, get one free deal. With a coupon I had, I got two 1-gallon containers for $1.50.

When I walked out of the store, I was happily calculating how many years until I’d have to buy sunscreen again. However, I ran into a problem that all Spokane area runners should be aware of.

As I rubbed the sunscreen in, it didn’t feel right. I rubbed and rubbed and after ten minutes little had soaked in. I rubbed more and a half hour later I gave up and took the below photo.

I believe this product is paint. Someone has committed an outrageous mislabeling injustice.

I marched back to the store and got my $1.50 back. You should absolutely avoid this brand. The gallon can has a very cheap-looking purple label. 

I continue to have a major problem. My face is still covered in white paint, and I can’t find skin-friendly paint stripper. For more than two weeks people have been accusing me of trying to be a ghost.

I am not trying to be a ghost. I have no desire to do that. They are the lowest. They are creepy and scary. Why would I want to be a ghost?

I have several other grievances. I’d really like people to stop calling me Casper. That is not my name. And quit pretending that you’re scared when I walk into the room. And stop telling me how surprised you are that I know more words than “boo”. I’m a person, not a scary ghost!

People who go for a run in the country make such a big deal about how nice it is. Running down a tree-lined country lane to the scent of pines and chirping birds sounds nice, but is it really? Well, maybe it is. That’s a bad example. But running in urban areas can be fun too.

I get an excellent workout by racing to beat traffic lights, especially if the lights are set to a fairly slow traffic flow. Sometimes I can go several blocks at a hard pace before I get stopped.

Trail running takes sure footing, but so does running downtown. I don’t take a chance stomping on those rusting, about-to-collapse, metal plates covering access tunnels. Leaping across them makes a great cross-training workout!

And there’s more cross-training—imagine playing dodge ball, but instead of harmless nerf balls, you’re dodging hordes of shoppers and downtown office workers. What a challenge to keep up a brisk, collision-free pace.

I’m amazed how many times I’ve slowed down because I lost my motivation to push the pace, and just then I come across an abandoned homeless encampment. Suddenly I have no problem kicking it into high gear to escape the stench, and for some reason, this “runner’s high” lasts for several blocks. To the homeless, I say, “Thanks for the boost.”

I’m a fan of history, and opportunities abound for higher learning. Just today I stopped at a statue and picked up information that I’m sure will help me if I ever appear on Jeopardy.

Art aficionados will appreciate the dynamic artwork under railroad bridges, on walls and the sides of buildings. Art experts estimate it’d take 2.5 years of daily viewing to see every mural and painting in the downtown area.

Runners who love music won’t be disappointed either. Often there are talented musicians playing on street corners. I took a short break to listen to these two girls. When I resumed my run, they played the theme song from Rocky to get me going again.So, next time you want a stimulating, educational workout, go for a run………..

The last few years, it seems I get the running doldrums when the hot days of mid-summer arrive. This time I did something about it. I attended a running retreat at Lake Thomas in the sparsely populated northeast corner of Washington.

Several one-on-one sessions of wise running advice were provided by a top coaches with a long history of success. I found much inspiration in our discussions.

One day, the coaches took myself and a few other runners to a nearby golf course. I rarely play golf, so I borrowed my mother’s clubs that she bought in the 1960’s.

The course charges $2 a round on weekdays, and $3 on weekends. Though I hit lots of grounders, sometimes I was able to hit it into the air.

The course gets few players because of its remoteness. The greens are packed sand instead of grass. There’s a heavy metal pull-bar for smoothing the surface before you putt.

The coaches aren’t golfers, but they’re great at analyzing a situation and applying their knowledge and skills to something new. This coach got a hole-in-one on a 145-yard hole.

I took a few walks in the woods thinking how nice it’d be to live here and what great running routes I’d have. But it’s a long drive to the nearest grocery store, and it’d get pretty lonely, especially in winter.

Running parks, modeled after dog parks in which dog owners pay to allow their pets to run free and unleashed, have opened recently in Atlanta, Eugene and Spokane. Like the dogs pictured below, runners experience camaraderie, friendship, and a chance to group up and sprint wildly.

At first glance, paying a fee to run seems silly. Why pay when you can go almost anywhere and run for free? Running parks offer many amenities that attract runners, which has led to plans for more parks.

The cost depends on how long you run. In my hometown of Spokane, a half hour is $15 with each additional half hour costing $10.

Long lines like this at the Spokane Runners Park are an everyday thing.

What do you get for your money? Miles of well-maintained trails in a beautiful setting. Electronic signs showing your pace and elapsed time. Park personnel stationed throughout the grounds who clap and cheer you on.

Because research has shown that running performance is improved by being in a good mood, a hired, professional comedian belts out hilarious one-liners in the warm-up area.

Bulls are released onto the trails three times a day. In scenes similar to the running of the bulls in Pamplona, runners get an intense speed workout as they avoid being trampled or gored. To prevent serious injuries, foam sheaths cover the bulls’ horns and hooves.

At regular intervals, prizes are shot high into the air by a “prize cannon”. A parachute deploys, and as the prize drifts with the wind, runners race to snag the prize.

After the workout, runners exit to the sound of inspirational, I-got-it-done music punctuated by pre-recorded phrases such as You ran so fast today! Your workout was fantastic! and You are way beyond amazing! This leaves customers feeling so good about themselves, they give friends and strangers back slaps, high fives, and chest bumps.