Though I regularly run with a couple running clubs, I enjoy my solitary runs. Stopping to admire scenery, thoughts I have while running, and spur of the moment route selection are nice. However, I experienced a major disruption on my last outing.

I was approaching an intersection, and I heard very loud laughing, a shriek, and excited, fast conversation. Into the intersection came three women runners. They were in their early to mid-30’s, in very good shape, and one was talking about something that was cracking up the other two. As they passed through the intersection, as loud as can be, I thought how extremely, intolerably, and profoundly rude they were. My pleasant, quiet run was in shambles. I stopped in the middle of the intersection and stared. They hadn’t even noticed me, and they were quickly moving on with no idea the disruption they caused. This was not right.

I took off after them. As I caught up, I recognized one. I talked to her briefly after a 10K race I did last month. “Girls,” I said firmly, “You’re much too loud. Three people in the last block were covering their ears and shaking fists at you, and I’m quite upset as well.”

“Are you serious?” One asked, looking back.

“Yes. Actually it was five people.”

The woman I talked to at the race smiled at me. “Hey, I met you at the Autumn Classic 10K last month.”

I ran with them a few blocks and offered fair and lenient terms for their noise violations. However, as often happens when I attempt to administer truth and justice, they turned the table and said I was in the wrong. I had interrupted their conversation, gave false testimony, and ruined their day beyond repair.

In the end, Jessica, the one I’d met at the 10K, agreed to atone for the group by forfeiting the medal she’d won as overall women’s winner.

A Caucasian Rastafarian in dreads, sporting a flowered necklace and pant patches extolling a carefree and easy-going lifestyle showed up at the Monster Mash 5K last Sunday at Manito Park in Spokane Washington.

The Rastafarian was not a Jamaican, but me, in my Halloween outfit. I ran at an easy pace, staying in character by having a good time, encouraging others, and offering “medicine” for my fellow runners to feel good and mellow out.

The Monster Mash 5K raises money for a group called Active4Youth, which funds after school running programs for Spokane area elementary schools. Over 500 entrants, nearly all in costume, entered the race.

By the time Halloween is over, I’ll have worn my outfit on several occasions. As many people know, marijuana is an integral element of the Rastafarian lifestyle. Since Washington state legalized it last year, I knew I’d be okay including some extra large joints as an accessory.

I offered my stash to many, and though I received very positive comments, especially regarding the size, there were no takers. This was a good thing because despite the benefits of smoking weed, I normally don’t indulge, so I had to make the joints with the best substitute I had on hand – dried catnip.

It was fun dressing as a Rastafarian, but I was hoping for a fringe benefit that didn’t work out. Despite immersing myself in Rasta culture, I was not able to turn into a hit-producing performer of reggae music.

A lot of serious runners incorporate hill workouts in their training; however, what do you do if you live in a very flat place, or the hills aren’t close by? (It’s maddening when hills are inconveniently located.) If this is the case, a tall building where you can access the stairwell would work. If that’s not possible, the only option is your front porch which is where I go.

Yes, I have to do a lot of reps for a good workout; however, they are very conveniently located. Actually, there’s a decent grade not too far from my house, so I don’t really use my porch for running. In addition, I get in some stair workouts with the Flying Irish, the running group I often join.

We have a route called Stairmaster which hits several sets of stairs in the three-mile route. A couple are pictured below.

The two photos below are me in the middle of a recent stair workout. I forgot my camera, so after arriving home, I googled, “Jim doing stair workout”, and these photos showed up from Google Earth. I’m surprised the angles those satellite cameras can get.

I think it’s fair to say that stairs are more demanding than hills. When I do stairs, it’s two at a time, at least. Stairs are constructed for walking, so a running stride just doesn’t match up to one stair at a time.

If you’re on a long, tiring run and incorporate a stairway with lots of stairs, I won’t yell at you if I see you doing one at a time. But if I catch you walking, I’ll require you to attend my two-hour seminar on stair running.

In my many years of running, I’ve never scaled back my training because of the weather. When it’s especially bad, I like going for a run even more because of the challenge.

The only time I passed up running because of bad conditions was when Ice Storm hit the Spokane area in 1996. Heavy snow followed by frozen rain brought down trees and power lines. Back then I took the bus to work and did a six mile run home. I was about to leave when my wife at the time showed up and said it was crazy to run, and she was driving me home. Only because she asserted herself did I relent. As we drove home, I saw how right she was.

The coldest temperature I’ve run in is -15 degrees F. When it gets very cold, I wear a cap, three layers on my upper body, two layers for the legs, and mittens over gloves because my hands are especially susceptible to cold. I wear nothing extra on my feet – they always stay warm. However, years ago I learned a hard lesson about a body part you normally don’t worry about while running.

One afternoon I went running when it was around 12 degrees fahrenheit. A very strong wind was blowing, and it went right through the sweat pants I was wearing. A very important body part got very, very cold. So cold that I was in a lot of pain the last couple miles of my run.

You’ve probably experienced how the thawing process of a very cold body part can be painful. Well, that’s how it was for me after I got home. I thought I would have permanent damage. It took a long, achy time for this part to finally return to its normal condition.

Nowadays, anytime it’s below 15 degrees F, I stuff something into my training pants, usually a sock, for added protection.

Unless you live in a federal wilderness area, you have plenty of experience sharing the roads with cars. I’ve been fortunate in never having a close call, though I was witness to one.

I was once running with a track teammate, and he insisted on crossing an intersection against a red light. When we reached the traffic island in the middle, a line of cars in the left turn lane blocked our view. I stopped to look for oncoming cars, but my teammate continued. A car was sailing through the intersection, and I screamed out.

My warning wouldn’t have mattered – he was already crossing. The car skidded, and fortunately for my friend, stopped just short of striking him.

I often run at night which of course increases the danger of being hit. Turning cars are the biggest hazard. I always head check for right-turning vehicles before crossing a busy intersection. I’ve had drivers turn just in front of me, requiring me to abruptly stop.

Sometimes when cars take a right out of a parking lot, the driver checks left for traffic, but not right for pedestrians. Some drivers give me an apologetic wave after turning into the street and noticing me waiting there.

Making eye contact is the way to avoid accidents, but some cars have such dark tinting, it’s impossible. In this situation, a waiting game ensues until it’s apparent the driver sees you and is waiting for you to go.

Though I’ve never been hit by a car, I’m a recovering victim of another type of violence cars inflict on runners. And I think there are many other victims out there. It can be a winter day with heavy snow that is melting or a springtime downpour. When a car whizzes past and throws cold slush or a wall of water on me, the shock, trauma and helplessness is debilitating. By the time I reach home, immediate medical attention is necessary. Warm soup, a thick blanket and my favorite TV show usually eases symptoms.

If you can identify the brand of running shoes I’m wearing in the below photo, you win a jackpot that currently sits at $1.2 million. More clues later in this blog.

Converse low tops aren’t considered running shoes, but that’s what I wore when I started running as a sophomore in high school. It took a while for my uncle, also a runner, to convince me I needed real running shoes.

Over the years, I’ve worn shoes made by almost every running shoe company. In high school, I wore Adidas and Puma, the dominant brands back then. There were few others to chose from, but when a new company called Nike marketed their revolutionary Waffle, I switched brands.

Ever since the Converses, I’ve stuck with shoes made for running, except once. I was on vacation and forgot to pack my running shoes. I wasn’t about to give up running for two weeks, so I ran in a pair of non-running shoes.

Think I was self conscious running in these shoes? Not so much. The shoes I actually wore weren’t quite as dressy. If you made a guess to win the $1.2 million, I’ll have to get back to you. These shoes came with a suit I bought for a wedding, and I don’t remember the brand.

Moving on to another topic, it’s been a couple weeks since Petra’s bold move at the Manito Runners Club group run, and I’ve been wondering how to respond. Today I made a decision to ask her out for coffee. I’d like to have a relationship with her, but we’ll have to do some negotiating. I have some ideas what I’d like, mostly involving greater freedom than a typical relationship. After her break-up with Byron, I’m guessing she may have similar views.

Ever been on a run and tried to catch up and pass a bicyclist, or keep pace with one? Usually cyclists are too fast, but there’s been a few times when I was feeling really good, and I’ve passed cyclists.

I lived in Japan when I was in my early 30’s, and during one evening run I was feeling great. I was slowly catching a couple teenage boys riding single-speed bicycles way ahead of me. One looked back, and I heard him say to his friend, “Mite, hayai!”, which means, look, he’s fast. I soon caught up, said hello as I ran past and then picked up the pace. I left them in the dust, but my pace was unsustainable. After a half mile or so I had to let up, but I didn’t see them again.

A very good runner I know once told me he didn’t like it when he saw another runner ahead of him. People would think he was the slower of the two. He pushed it until he was ahead and made sure to stay there.

Like him, when I pass another runner while on a training run, I consider it bad form to be caught and passed by the same runner, so I always pick up the pace to make sure it won’t happen.

However, I’m not quite the runner I used to be, so I rarely think about trying to run down a bicyclist, and it’s not often I happen upon a runner that I can catch up to and pass. These days, I’m the one that other runners chase down and leave in the dust, which has led me to develop a new skill set.

Anyone trying to pass me will find themselves unexpectedly taking a fall. I’ve developed very effective tripping strategies.

Several days ago, I crossed paths with Petra in the middle of a 6-mile run. I hadn’t seen her in two months. Ever since she walked into the Rocket Bakery and caught me with I.P., she’d stayed away from the Manito Runners Club. She was very friendly though, smiled a lot, and when I suggested she come to our club’s run on Saturday, she said she was already planning on it.

When Saturday arrived, I mentioned to Joe and Franklin, who both really like Petra, that she was going to join us. However, as the time neared for us to head out, Petra still hadn’t shown.

“Go knock on her door,” Joe told me. I really didn’t want to do that, but I sprinted across the street anyway and climbed the stairs to her apartment.

The curtains of her front window were open, and as I walked past, I glanced inside. I couldn’t believe it! What a completely unexpected sight! Petra was getting dressed, and she was topless. Plain and clear. I froze in place for a second and then walked quickly to her door.

I felt like I’d done something wrong. As I waited, I hoped she hadn’t noticed me at the window.

She greeted me warmly, apologized for being late, and said she’d be right down. I rejoined our group. She came down a minute later and went straight to a group of MRC girls.

Joe raised his hand to give a fist bump. “Good job, bro. I’m giving you a gold star.”

I was still worried by what I’d done. It hardly registered that Joe was talking to me.

“Dude…hello,” Joe said. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw Petra topless.”

Joe looked at me like I’d done something great. “You’re the bomb!”

“No way. I looked in her window while walking past. I violated her privacy.”

“Jim, we saw her glance out the window when you ran across the street. She saw you coming.”

I looked over at Petra. She was chatting with the girls and looked like she was in a very good mood.

“Whoa. That changes everything, Joe.”

Evan Sims, a fellow member of the Flying Irish Running Club, is part of a group starting a new race that will be held on Sept 28th at the Spokane Raceway Park. He asked early on if I could help spread the word. He agreed to pay $500 for a blog post devoted to the Speedy 10K.

As I was finalizing the post, Evan told me his $500 should entitle him to some additional race marketing advice, and he’d prefer to pay me in goods. I wasn’t too happy, but since I’d like to see the race do well, I agreed.

Evan’s pastimes – breaking course records and DJ-ing.

Evan is well-known in the Flying Irish Running Club and is one of the top runners in Washington. I suggested he parley his celebrity by singing ballads and love songs as part of the pre-race entertainment. He said no way. So I recommended he lead a warm-up dance routine set to music. He hasn’t committed, but I saw him walking out of a clothing store with leopard-print dance tights.

As for the Speedy 10K, Evan and team have worked hard to ensure participants have a good experience. The course is flat as can be, accurately measured and marked, and USATF certified. There’s a purse of $1,550, and prize money will be awarded to the top 5 women and men finishers. Cost is $30. Day of race registration is $40. T-shirts are an additional $12. The race benefits Active4Youth, a non-profit that supports after school sports programs in Spokane area elementary schools.

The website, Speedy10K.com, is user-friendly and there’s no extra charge to sign up on-line. So go to the site and sign up now.

One final thing; shown below is Evan’s payment in goods for my hard work which I just got in the mail. A pair of socks? Are they worth $500? I was so enraged that I ripped my curtains to shreds and smashed my antique bottle collection.

To be honest, I didn’t really charge Evan to write about his race, so with the socks, I came out ahead. I think I’ll wear them when I run the Speedy 10K.