Up and running

The training has begun. As I prepare for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September 30, it's time to start thinking about how to fit in all the running, juggling and joggling that I'll need to get into world-record shape.

Here's the plan:

1) Run mostly at 4:30 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. My summer running schedule will avoid the heat, the smog and the traffic.
2) Strength training, core work and plyometrics three times per week after work.
3) Juggling every night with the kids. I juggle, the kids dance around to music and get tired so they sleep well.
4) Saturday morning run at 5 a.m. down to the St. Lawrence farmers' market. Fill backpack with fruit and vegetables and run home.
4) Long joggle on Sunday at 5 a.m. Back in time for breakfast with the family.
5) Tuesday evening runs with the whole family (kids in the Twinner Baby Jogger).
6) Speed work on Wednesdays and Fridays.
7) Ride bike to and from work.
8) Do some of my running backwards to prepare for 2008.
9) Keep working on the 5-ball joggling.
10) Keep bloggling almost every day.
11) Visit www.runningmania.com almost every day.
12) Don't watch TV, except for finale of Top Chef.
13) And as Metallica once said: "Those people who tell you not to take chances / They are all missing on what life's about / You only live once so take hold of this chance / Don't end up like others / Same song and dance."

Jogglers on Breitbart TV

Breitbart, the online news site often linked to by the wildly popular Drudge Report , posted a link to the CBC News: Sunday joggling video ... right here. I find this very cool because, as a news junkie, I visit both of these sites regularly.

Speaking of joggling news coverage, there will be an article about me in an upcoming issue of Explore magazine. The interview I did with the reporter was really funny so I'm looking forward to reading this one.

Cruising out of retirement

I'm going to give this thing one more shot. That's right, I'm joining the likes of Magic Johnson, Bjorn Borg and Muhammad Ali by coming out of retirement. Of course, all three of these sports heroes failed quite spectacularly in their comeback efforts.

Why will I be any different? Well, for one thing, I'm not Magic Johnson, Bjorn Borg or Muhammad Ali. I'm a joggler, which means the heights of my sports-stardom were about as lofty as the world champion of Tiddly Winks. I didn't rise high enough to fall. Secondly, my retirement lasted only 1.5 months, so I'm not too stale yet.

Yesterday, I told the good people at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon that I will be back in September to try and break Zach's 2:52:15 marathon joggling record. I don't plan to do any publicity this time around. I think the news media are getting a bit tired of joggling anyway - it's not a novelty anymore.

So here goes nothing...

Today, I got stuck on a hot, crowded subway and that convinced me that it's time I started riding my bike to work. This means I'll no longer be able to joggle home as part of my training, so I'll have to run late at night or very early in the morning.

The photo at the top of this post is the vehicle I'm drooling over right now. It's a pedal-powered velomobile available in Toronto through http://www.bluevelo.com/. The catch is that these things cost about $10,000. The $20 I've made so far through joggling won't go very far to cover this cost, but who knows what joggling endorsements await me around the corner now that I'm back in the game.

In The Long Run

A couple of weeks ago at the Toronto Reebok Run Easy event, I met Lee Hewitt, a web editor at the Toronto Sun. Lee, who recently qualified for the Boston Marathon, writes a great running blog on - you guessed it - the Toronto Sun website.

The blog also has a great name: In The Long Run. I'm not sure if Lee intended this, but this is a line from the excellent Rush song, Marathon:

It's a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race
More than blind ambition
More than simple greed
More than a finish line
Must feed this burning need
In the long run...

Lee published a nice photo of my custom Sport Juggling
Co. joggling beanbags in his latest entry, and will soon be running an interview
(I hope I didn't say anything stupid).

Joggling cash arrives

Author Denise Marek's $20 cash funding for my joggling career has arrived, along with her book, 'Calm,' which she generously included in the package for Dianne (it's written for women).

'Calm' looks like an interesting book. It's about teaching yourself to stop worrying about things and get on with your life.

It's true that people worry too much about what others think about them. I used to go joggling at 4 a.m. in a park so no one would see me. Eventually, I discovered that people were entertained by joggling and there was nothing to be afraid of. I thought young kids would throw rocks at me, but instead they cheered. It was a surreal contrast from my 4 a.m. "closet" joggling when I found myself joggling the Boston Marathon last year in front of one million spectators (and 17,000 runners).

So the question remains: What do I buy with my new found joggling fortunes?

Almost, sort of famous

Apparently a lot of people watch CBC News: Sunday because I've had several people on the street ask me if I'm the juggler guy who was on TV on the weekend.

Joggling for dollars

Big news: The first paycheque of my two-year joggling career is in the mail. I'm not joking. It's a jolly good joggling day. Here's the story:

Denise Marek, an author, TV host and professional speaker, saw the joggling story on CBC News: Sunday and was inspired to donate $20 to me after learning that my total income from the sport was "zero dollars." The income donation was part of a birthday gift from three of Denise's friends, who gave her some cash for her birthday to be used as a "pay-it-forward" gift. I'm honoured to have been chosen as a recipient.

Now that I make more than $0, let's do a rough calculation of how much I make per hour for joggling.

My average hours per week spent joggling, juggling, jogging and bloggling is about 15.

• I've been doing this for almost exactly two years now.
• That makes 104 weeks x 15 hours/week = 1,560 total hours.
• $20 divided by 1,560 hours equals...
• $0.0128 per hour – that's more than a penny!!!

So now the question is: What should The Joggler do with his new $20 salary? Sport Juggling Co. already gave me free beanbags. Does anyone have any suggestions for joggling-related purchases?