... can he do this while running a marathon?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Flashing seven
Last night I flashed seven.
No it's not what you think. I did not expose myself to seven people. In juggling terms, flashing seven simply means that you throw seven balls up in the air in a cascade pattern, then catch all them. Seven tosses and seven catches. And today I managed to complete 12 catches of seven. This left me only two catches away from a "qualify", which is a full run of twice the number of objects you are juggling.
Alright, so some people can comfortably juggle seven balls for several minutes, but this was a big achievement for me. I was also just happy to be juggling at all, after taking off more than a week with that neck injury.
Today's shoot and sit-down interview with Evan Solomon from CBC News: Sunday was the most fun I've had doing a media interview. Let me just say that I think Evan may be the second-fastest joggler in Toronto.
No it's not what you think. I did not expose myself to seven people. In juggling terms, flashing seven simply means that you throw seven balls up in the air in a cascade pattern, then catch all them. Seven tosses and seven catches. And today I managed to complete 12 catches of seven. This left me only two catches away from a "qualify", which is a full run of twice the number of objects you are juggling.
Alright, so some people can comfortably juggle seven balls for several minutes, but this was a big achievement for me. I was also just happy to be juggling at all, after taking off more than a week with that neck injury.
Today's shoot and sit-down interview with Evan Solomon from CBC News: Sunday was the most fun I've had doing a media interview. Let me just say that I think Evan may be the second-fastest joggler in Toronto.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Joggling for childhood cancer research
My back's back!
After eight days of no running or joggling because of an upper back/neck injury, I hit the road yesterday for a six-mile jaunt home from work. I had no pain and was even able to do some tricks, ignoring warning from my physiotherapist not to do any joggling tricks or five-ball juggling (because the higher tosses force you to look up and crane the neck back).
CBC News: Sunday is filming tomorrow and documentary crew is here on Thursday through the weekend, so it looks like I healed just in time.
I recently set up a link to make online donations to a great charity that I've been raising money for these past few years. It's called A Run For Liane, and all donations go 100% toward childhood cancer research at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
At last year's team meeting for this charity, we were told about some amazing advances in research that have been made in recent years, so to those of you who have donated in the past. your generosity is truly making a difference.
Any donations are greatly appreciated. To make a secure, online, tax deductible contribution, click HERE.
Monday, April 9, 2007
PRESS RELEASE: The Salt Lake City joggle-off
World Record Up for Grabs as ‘Joggling’ Rivals Face Off at Salt Lake City Marathon
TORONTO – The masters of multi-tasking, Michal “The Joggler” Kapral of Toronto and Zach “The Jolly Juggler” Warren of West Virginia, will race for Guinness World Record glory in a “joggling” showdown at the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 21, 2007.
Kapral, 34, senior editor at Captivate Network, and Warren, 25, a laughter researcher at Harvard, will each juggle three beanbags every step of the way as they race against each other along the scenic 26.2-mile marathon course.
The two elite jogglers have been tossing the world record back and forth in a fierce but friendly rivalry since Kapral first set the mark in 2005, with a time of 3 hours and 7 minutes.
Warren edged out Kapral’s record by just 41 seconds two months later at the Philadelphia Marathon and the stage was set for the first ever joggling marathon duel at the famed Boston Marathon. Warren and Kapral attracted international media attention in their marathon joggle-off, with Warren crossing the line first in a new world-record time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.
Kapral stole the record back with a 2:57 performance at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September 2006. But Warren – with a documentary film crew at his side – again joggled the record back into American hands with a stunning 2:52 in Philadelphia.
“Marathon joggling is a funny sport,” says Kapral, “but this record is seriously difficult. Salt Lake is going to see a no-holds-barred joggling battle and I really want to take the record back.”
Both jogglers are raising money for children’s charities. Kapral is accepting donations for A Run For Liane in support of The Hospital for Sick Children’s new childhood cancer research centre in Toronto, and Warren, also a unicyclist and circus performer, is collecting funds for the Afghan Mobile Mini-Circus for Children, an NGO based in Kabul (http://www.unicycle4kids.org/).
Kapral, a father of two girls, holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest joggling 10K (36 minutes and 27 seconds) and also the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon pushing a baby in a stroller (2 hours and 49 minutes). He won the Toronto Marathon in 2002 (without juggling) in a personal-best time of 2:30. Kapral writes a popular blog called The Bloggling Joggler.
Warren is a Divinity graduate student at Harvard and has been studying the healing effects of laughter on children in Afghanistan. Warren holds the world records for the fastest mile on a unicycle and the fastest mile on a unicycle while juggling three objects.
Guinness World Records rules state that if the joggler drops a ball, he must return to the drop point before continuing. The balls must be juggled continuously in traditional cascade pattern.
HIGH-RES PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact: Michal or Dianne Kapral at T:416-690-8887 or C:416-573-3036, thejoggler1@gmail.com.
Kapral, 34, senior editor at Captivate Network, and Warren, 25, a laughter researcher at Harvard, will each juggle three beanbags every step of the way as they race against each other along the scenic 26.2-mile marathon course.
The two elite jogglers have been tossing the world record back and forth in a fierce but friendly rivalry since Kapral first set the mark in 2005, with a time of 3 hours and 7 minutes.
Warren edged out Kapral’s record by just 41 seconds two months later at the Philadelphia Marathon and the stage was set for the first ever joggling marathon duel at the famed Boston Marathon. Warren and Kapral attracted international media attention in their marathon joggle-off, with Warren crossing the line first in a new world-record time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.
Kapral stole the record back with a 2:57 performance at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September 2006. But Warren – with a documentary film crew at his side – again joggled the record back into American hands with a stunning 2:52 in Philadelphia.
“Marathon joggling is a funny sport,” says Kapral, “but this record is seriously difficult. Salt Lake is going to see a no-holds-barred joggling battle and I really want to take the record back.”
Both jogglers are raising money for children’s charities. Kapral is accepting donations for A Run For Liane in support of The Hospital for Sick Children’s new childhood cancer research centre in Toronto, and Warren, also a unicyclist and circus performer, is collecting funds for the Afghan Mobile Mini-Circus for Children, an NGO based in Kabul (http://www.unicycle4kids.org/).
Kapral, a father of two girls, holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest joggling 10K (36 minutes and 27 seconds) and also the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon pushing a baby in a stroller (2 hours and 49 minutes). He won the Toronto Marathon in 2002 (without juggling) in a personal-best time of 2:30. Kapral writes a popular blog called The Bloggling Joggler.
Warren is a Divinity graduate student at Harvard and has been studying the healing effects of laughter on children in Afghanistan. Warren holds the world records for the fastest mile on a unicycle and the fastest mile on a unicycle while juggling three objects.
Guinness World Records rules state that if the joggler drops a ball, he must return to the drop point before continuing. The balls must be juggled continuously in traditional cascade pattern.
HIGH-RES PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact: Michal or Dianne Kapral at T:416-690-8887 or C:416-573-3036, thejoggler1@gmail.com.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Prognosis: good
I have some potentially good news: My physiotherapist says he thinks my neck should be back to normal by next week.
He confirmed my own diagnosis of a severe case of joggleritis – a re-injury of the same neck muscle that I pulled a few months ago doing joggling tricks.
The good doctor did some treatments, after which I was able to hold my head straight up, and even turn my head a little bit without agony.
I also found out that I've been icing the wrong spot. Doh! What a waste of time and frozen sweet peas. But I now have optimism and a plan: rest, ice, heat, massage and Advil.
The Joggler will be back!
He confirmed my own diagnosis of a severe case of joggleritis – a re-injury of the same neck muscle that I pulled a few months ago doing joggling tricks.
The good doctor did some treatments, after which I was able to hold my head straight up, and even turn my head a little bit without agony.
I also found out that I've been icing the wrong spot. Doh! What a waste of time and frozen sweet peas. But I now have optimism and a plan: rest, ice, heat, massage and Advil.
The Joggler will be back!
Ouch, this really hurts
Ow ow ow ow ow.
I couldn't sleep last night because of whatever I did to my back. It's been four days and it's worse than ever. This morning I have a physio appointment to get a proper diagnosis and hopefully some treatment.
I keep rewinding back to the point where I was lifting that heavy piece of furniture, wishing that I had just put it down when I felt my arm start to pull out of its socket. What an idiot I am!
In less than a week I'm supposed to be teaching Evan Solomon from 'CBC News: Sunday' how to joggle and I can barely move. Benjamin from the documentary film crew is also flying up to Toronto again to do shoot some pre-marathon footage.
This better get better.
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