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.

Used to be, whenever I bought a pair of running shoes, the box went to the basement and became part of a shoebox skyscraper.

One night, analyzing its structural integrity, 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.

I have so many running socks, I don’t know where to put them. Shoeboxes are the perfect answer. A bonus is that when I have visitors, I can create temporary chairs by stacking them up. I also put unlaundered socks in a box for house parties to use for the fun game, ‘Which is the stinkiest pair?’

Another excellent use is a cat timeout place. The other day I got angry at Gloopy and sent her to the box for ten minutes.

After her last time out finished, I realized they haven’t been so effective. I brainstormed and decided squishing her with my bike is an excellent negative reinforcement.

Keeping safety in mind, I’ll wear a bicycle helmet even though squishing Gloopy is an easy, backyard chore.

A few months ago I wrote about a diet regimen I devised that has been adopted by many top runners around the world. Called SNARP (Strategic Nourishment and Replenishment Program), I wrote the post with high hopes that I’d win an award. 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 have a very healthy diet because I believe what you eat has such a huge 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, kale, 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. Other fruits and vegetables I grow are frozen, and I use them to make various dishes during winter.

However, I have a weakness for sweets. Because of this, I generally 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. Anticipation may cause saliva to drip into the bowl, but don’t let it happen. It’s your own spit, but it’s still gross.

Yummy. As a reminder, this is 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 the other day – buy one, get one free. 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 my sunscreen will last. 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. Of course I marched to the store and got my $1.50 back.

You should absolutely avoid this brand. It comes in a gallon can and has a very cheap-looking purple label. 

I continue to have a major problem. 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 ashamed of my ethnicity. I have no desire to be a ghost. They are the lowest. They are creepy and scary. Why would I want to be a ghost?

Hopefully I can find some stripper, or a product that will remove this paint. Until then, I would 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”.

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 sound of chirping birds and the scent of pines is a nice idea, but if you’re actually doing it, is it really that nice? Well, maybe it is. That’s a bad example. But running in urban areas can be fun too, and there are advantages you don’t have in a rural area.

I can 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. Those metal plates that cover freight access tunnels are rusting away at an alarming rate, and if they aren’t collapsing as you run over them, the ones that have already fallen in have to be leaped over. What a 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 some 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 masonry walls and the sides of buildings. In my hometown of Spokane, art experts estimate it’d take 2.5 years of daily art viewing to see every mural and painting in the downtown area.

Runners who love music won’t be disappointed either. Nearly always there are talented musicians on street corners playing all through the day. I took a short break to listen to these two girls. Then as 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? Surprisingly, running parks offer amenities that are attracting many runners, which has led to plans for more across the country.

Running parks charge according to how long you run. In my hometown of Spokane, a half hour is $10 with each additional half hour costing $5.

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. Many 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.

Three times daily, bulls are released onto the trails. 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 the grounds 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 What you did today was amazing! This leaves customers feeling so good about themselves they can’t help giving each other back slaps, high fives, and chest bumps.

I regularly run at night, but many runners won’t. Women especially have concerns. I called my friend at the National Institute of Running Sciences for more information.

Dr. Ayer O’beck, a running researcher, says they’ve done several studies the past few years. He says the major reasons people don’t run at night are as follows:

• Personal safety issue – 37%
• Afraid of tripping or running into something – 21%
• Hate missing evening TV shows – 12%
• Moonlight interferes with brainwaves – 7%
• Past unpleasant encounters with werewolves or vampires – 5%

Dr. Ayer O’beck adds, “You’re missing an opportunity if you don’t run at night. Our studies show night training improves race times around 12%.”

“No way, Doctor!” I insisted. “That’s statistical insanity!”

“Jim, these statistics are not insane. And why are you yelling?”

“Sorry, Ayer, but I don’t get the 12% difference.”

Dr. O’beck explained that cooler conditions at night allow runners to train harder. In addition, there’s a primal fright factor about things that go bump in the night. This instinct causes you to run faster. Also, running at night is part of human evolution. Modern man has corrupted it by forcing workouts during daylight hours.

“What? We were born to run at night?” I asked.

“It’s obvious,” Dr. O’beck said. “Just look at the Olympic symbology of the torch-carrying runner. Torches were invented for nighttime training runs. Everyone ran at night.”

“I didn’t know ancient people even trained. I thought they were too busy just trying to survive.”

“Heavens no. Most of the time food was plentiful, life was easy, and you didn’t have to go to a job for 8 hours a day. Running was what they did to keep busy. In fact, ancient peoples spent most of their daylight hours discussing shoes, running outfits, and whose torch was best.”