A few years ago I covered my front yard with a layer of flattened cardboard boxes and newspapers. With several pickup loads of chipped wood that I got free from a tree-thinning project at a nearby state park, I covered them up and said good-by to my lawn.

My front yard before I changed it

On Craigslist I found a woman giving away river rock for free. I dug up a bunch of common indigenous plants, mostly bunch grasses, that wouldn’t need any watering. It took several days of work over 1-2 months, but doing it entirely myself, and for a total cost of $44.10, most of which was for gas for the pickup I borrowed, I turned my lawn into a nature preserve.

My front yard today

The wood chips I got from the state park had lupine and ponderosa pine seeds that eventually sprouted and made my preserve even more beautiful. The lupines have really proliferated which is good because I like their purple flowers. With each passing year, the plants get thicker.

My front yard has led to a great fringe benefit. Instead of driving for miles when I feel like doing a run in the country, I run in my yard.

I’ve created several routes, and I call my favorite Lupine Lane. It’s a figure 8 on one side of my yard. I usually do it when I want to put in six miles, which means 1,084 laps. Sounds like a lot, but they add up fast.

Doing my favorite front yard route – Lupine Lane.

My second favorite route is Country Fields. It follows the property line around my entire front yard. I like to use it for speed workouts.

When I invite friends over for a group run, we do a course I call Whispering Pines. The trail is wide, and we pass right by the front door, making a detour inside for water convenient.

Coming off the corner during a demanding interval workout

Though drought-tolerant native plants are thick, I can still get around on the running paths

I really enjoy my front yard preserve. It saves on my utility bill, it’s low-maintenance, and I think it looks prettier than a lawn. However, one thing it is not is a running course. I don’t really go distance running in my front yard. 🙂

Members of the Manito Runners Club team were involved in a very unfortunate incident

Last weekend I ran in a relay race called the Teen Closet 50. I’ll give readers a few moments to genuflect (genuine reflection) to figure out why teen closet is in the race name.

The 50-mile relay has ten legs that start and end at the large, public high schools in my hometown of Spokane, Washington. A ten-member team is ideal, but teams can have fewer runners.

The Classic Cruizers, first place, masters coed. I’m wearing the white hat

My team, the Classic Cruizers, has finished first every year since the race’s inception three years ago. Our outstanding streak of first-place finishes is easy to understand if you analyze this year’s top finishing teams in our division:

1. Classic Cruizers – 6 hrs. 19 min. 42 sec.
2. (no 2nd place finisher)
3. (no 3rd place finisher)

One of the highlights is the post-race freebies – pizza, ice cream and plenty of swag. The entry fee proceeds funds clothing needs of teen-aged foster children, which you should have figured out after your allotted time for genuflecting.

Despite our first-place masters division finish, I was miffed at the Manito Runners Club team that finished just ahead of us, winning the open coed division. I could have gotten two first-place medals. It gnawed at me until the awards ceremony when I lost it, charged the podium and yelled obscenities and slurs at the Manito team. I got into a scuffle with a couple race officials as they tried to pull me away.

I was told my conduct was a violation of race standards which I thoroughly disagree with, but I agreed to undergo sensitivity training. If there’s any reader who’d like to be a low-cost provider, please let me know by commenting.

As participants headed to their cars, a Manito Runners Club team member asked, “Jim, why did you yell at us? You’re in our club, and we’re friends with you.”

Friendship is neat, but winning medals is better. If someone on the MRC team would just give me the medal I so richly deserve, this riff would be healed.

I was running alone down a residential street when a woman turned into the street in front of me going the same direction. I was very happy about this coincidence. I picked up the pace until I was at her side.

“Pardon me, Miss, I noticed when you made your turn, you failed to head check.”

She didn’t reply right away as if conjuring up a proper response. “I always look before turning. You’re making this up.”

“I was running down the middle of the street. You would’ve seen me if you’d head checked.”

“Does that mean you’re reporting me?”

I said I usually give a warning for first offenses, then admitted I was just trying to be funny, and maybe I should’ve come up with something better.

We ran side by side for a couple blocks without saying anything. There was nothing awkward about it. In fact it seemed to bring a sense of comfort and contentment.

“May I inquire how far you’re running today?” I asked.

“I’m headed to the bluff. I’m gonna get on a trail and take it downtown. I have a route through the neighborhood coming back. It’s about seven miles.”

We were coming up to an intersection where I needed to turn. I was trying to think of something more clever to say this time, but nothing was coming to mind.

“I notice you’ve taken a little vacation from the Manito Running Club,” I said.

“Yeah, but I got a lot going on, Jim. I’m working through something. I haven’t forgotten about you guys, though. I’ll be back.”

I told Petra that I needed to take the next turn. I wished her a good run and expressed sympathy for the tough times she was going through.

Petra stopped at the intersection and told me it really wasn’t that big a deal and apologized for making it sound like it was. “Byron and I are breaking up. We…I’m just trying to keep it friendly.”

She gave me a smile, I wished her good luck, and we went our separate ways.

Lately I’ve been working on technology improvements to this blog. Now, I’m ready to upgrade so I can bring you the latest in running news, information, and updates.

I’ve developed a new big-screen smartphone. This will ease eye-strain, and allow you to really see the details in photos that I post. You can expect to see them in stores starting next month.

My new big screen smartphone will bring internet images to life!

I’ve decided to roll out my own social media platforms. I started a new social interaction network called Face Notes. It will begin showing up on your smartphones and laptops soon. You’ll find that FN works much better than FB.

You can subscribe to my Twicker network. Similar to Twitter, Twicker gives you real-time updates that are real. I’ll be sending out Twicks with running news several times a day. However, I’d like to make a statement: I’m very disappointed by a few comments about my new technology. I have little patience for the Elmer Fudd references like, “Hey, Jim, is this a twick?” or “”Are you a twick or tweeter?” I will become unglued if I hear one more such comment.

To deliver these new social media, I had to put in infrastructure. Since I’m a sustainable, low-carbon footprint, eco-friendly kind of guy, I’m installing my equipment into wind turbines.

Crews installing my network infrastructure at a wind farm in Eastern Washington.

Sorry there’s so little running news in this blog post, but I’ll get back to it next time. Meanwhile, I want you to know…

Everything I do, I do for you, baby!

And, I’ll keep you updated on these new technological advances in a future post.

I’ve called my friends at the National Institute of Running Sciences lots of times seeking information about unusual topics. Turns out nearly every time, they’ve done a study or survey about it. The other day I had yet another request.

Many of my fellow running club members are trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. It made me wonder what percentage of runners make qualifying for Boston a goal. Though Dr. Ayer O’Beck is the Chief of Running Research, I called I.P. Aard because she’s very pretty, and she visited me a few weeks ago.

Runners at the Boston Marathon Wait for the Starting Gun

“Jim, you squirt of honey! How are you?”

With a greeting like that, anyone can see why I like I.P. Aard so much. However, when I inquired about Boston, she told me I had to pay for the information.

“Jim, all the research we do costs tons of money, and you’ve called so many times and gotten information for free. The board made a decision to start charging you.”

I was devastated. I thought I was like family. I didn’t know what to say, “Umm…..okay. I……I understand.”

“Sweet thing, I was joking. We’d never do that to you. I’m sorry.”

I was so relieved. I should’ve known I.P. was joking, though. She fooled me and that rarely happens, so she he gets a kudo. She supplied me with the info I requested — 19% of all runners make a goal of qualifying for Boston at some point.

“Hope to hear from you again, very soon,” I.P. said. “You make my day when you call.”

“Thank-you, I.P. Talking to you is the highlight of my day,” I said.

Now, a contest: The photo caption says it’s the Boston Marathon. It isn’t. I blurrified the photo so it’d be hard to blow up and read the race bibs. If you leave a comment correctly identifying which marathon it is, you win a prize. Even if you have no idea looking at the photo, if you’ve read a recent Post, you might figure it out.

As I’ve mentioned before, I usually run with the Manito Runners Club on Saturday mornings. Afterwards, we have coffee at the Rockwood Bakery. An incident occurred that disturbed me because I thought I could trust my fellow club members.

I set my order on the table and used the bathroom. When I returned, someone had helped themselves to my food. “Okay, very funny,” I said. “Who ate my coffee cake?”

Eating this delicious treat was surely going to be the highlight of my day.

Instead, I found a tragic and barbaric situation when I returned to my table.

Everyone nearby claimed they didn’t eat my coffee cake, nor saw who did. I was about to get another piece when Petra sat across from me. I was instantly happy.

“How was your run today, Jim?”

“It went well, Petra. I felt pretty good. Unfortunately, things have gone downhill. Someone ate my coffee cake.”

“That’s so, so sad, Jim.” She reached under the table and set my coffee cake in front of me. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist playing a joke on you.”

I was happy to get my coffee cake back, but even happier that Petra had done it. She was seated across from me now. We got into a long conversation about relationships. She and her boyfriend Byron have been together two years. When I asked if they had marriage plans, she looked away and sighed.

“Byron is picking me up in a few minutes. We’re going to a friend’s house for a barbecue, and I know we’ll have fun. But last night we got into a long discussion that wasn’t fun. One day we’re a perfect couple and then another day I wish I was unattached. Our relationship is an emotional roller coaster.”

“Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

It was Byron. Neither of us saw him come in. “Roller coasters,” I blurted.

Byron said Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California is the best roller coaster ever. We shared a few more roller coaster stories before they had to leave.

I sipped the last of my coffee and pondered my conversation with Petra. Maybe I have a chance with her.