Cottage country update

Here a quick update from the cottage holiday:

• One great long joggle completes: 22 miles. When I got home, Lauryn (my two-year-old) asked me: "Did you have any drops?" I did have many drops, but I was doing a lot of tricks and looking around at the beautiful Precambrian Shield rock formations, so I had an excuse.
• One great hard interval run through rolling hills. The run was about 10 miles and I did 6 x 1 mile at GB (gut-busting) pace.
• One great day of marathon juggling. I had a nice patch of grass, three clubs, seven beanbags and several hours to burn. My back was killing me the next day, but it was the best juggling session ever. I pulled off a run of 14 catches with seven balls; I started to solidify my 3-up, three-ball pirouettes and the five-ball synronous and asynchronous half showers. It's so nice to juggle without a ceiling.
• Enough butter tarts, pie and beer to get me through the next four or five marathons.
• The whole family's really looking forward to seeing 'Kooza' next weekend. Anthony Gatto's routines don't look that hard by his standards, but it'll be such an experience just to see him in action.

The Joggler on YouTube at last!

Zach's friend Emily sent along this clip (including her cheering) of me and Zach duking it out in Salt Lake. Note the film crews in golf carts. I'm hoping the golf cart footage makes it look like we're running faster - this video makes it look like we're out for an easy stroll.

Barry Goldmeier: The amazing 5-ball joggler

Barry Goldmeier, seen in the above YouTube clip, has always made me feel like a bit of a fraud when I talk to people about my joggling. For years now, he has quietly been joggling in road races with five balls.

Running, juggling and joggling inspiration

Still no running, no juggling and no joggling, but my neck is starting to feel better.

During this forced training retreat, I've had some extra time to relax. We finished Season 5 of '24' last night, and I've been getting myself motivated for the upcoming Salt Lake City duel by watching some running, juggling and joggling on YouTube:

Here's the end of Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley's "Duel in the Sun" at the 1982 Boston Marathon. I had hoped that my joggling duel with Zach last year in Boston would end with me pulling away from Zach, just like Salazar did to Beardsley. But instead it was Zach who pulled away from me at the 17-mile mark. In Salt Lake, I plan to reverse this.



For some vintage juggling inspiration, here's Swiss star Kris Kremo:



And Perry "Just Your Average Joggler" Romanowski takes care of the joggling inspiration with this clip of himself joggling up a mountain in Arizona:



Coming soon: The Salt Lake City Marathon joggling duel press release.

Who are the best jogglers in the world?

Today's joggling mileage: 5 miles (with one espresso stop)

As I headed out the door at 5 a.m. for a brisk pre-dawn joggle it was pitch black and I could barely see the yellow beanbags cascading in front of me. This made me think about Perry Romanowski, my friend and fellow joggling enthusiast, who last Sunday joggled the Tampa Bay Marathon, which also began before dawn. In his race report on his blog, Perry talks about how hard it was to keep the balls in the air in the dark while dodging other runners and looking out for potholes and puddles. I can sympathize.

I recently learned how to juggle blindfolded (after seeing Perry juggle with his eyes closed during a presentation that we did together at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon expo last year) so I felt much more confortable juggling through the streets in the dark. Juggling blind is actually a really bizarre feeling. It feels ... impossible.

I'm sure all of the best jogglers in the world know how to juggle blindfolded because they're all good jugglers. I'm probably the worst juggler of the bunch. Here's my partial list of the sport's top dogs (to be continued in the future post):

1. Zach Warren: Current world record holder for fastest marathon while juggling. Also holds records for fastest mile on a unicycle while juggling.

2. Paul-Erik Lillholm: The Norwegian joggler from whom I stole the marathon title in 2005. Also the previous record holder for the 10K.

3. Ashrita Furman: Held the marathon record before Lillholm with a 3:22. Has set 137 Guinness World Records.

4. Perry Romanowski: Perhaps the most adventurous and prolific joggler ever, Perry writes a very popular blog on the sport and has joggled more than 20 marathons, with a PB of 3:23. He is also the only know person to have joggled up the Sears Tower and is currently training to joggle a 100-mile ultramarathon.

5. Albert Lucas: Former marathon record holder and all-around incredible numbers juggler. Lucas is the president of the International Sport Juggling Federation. Also does track races while juggling, including hurdles.

5. Bill Giduz: Joggling pioneer who organized the first joggling competition at the International Jugglers Association festival in 1980.