Note to self: bring beanbags nex time

If you're trying to set a world record for joggling, don't forget your balls.

I discovered this the hard way on the ferry ride on the way to the Longboat Toronto Island Race. Dianne and I had successfully packed up the whole family for the day out, including raincoats, sweaters, snacks and drinks. But I forgot three important items: my Sport Juggling Co. Sportball beanbags.

"D'oh!" I said.

"Maybe you could use apples," Dianne suggested.

Sadly, the apples weren't going to cut it for a new 10K joggling world record, so I ended up running it as a normal runner. It was a tough adjustment and I ended up finishing fourth in 35:00, three minutes slower than my PB, but a good effort.

Ed Whitlock was there, but didn't race because of a knee problem. In fact, he's not running the Toronto Waterfront Marathon either. Ed did tell me that his knee issue comes and goes and he is back running again, just not ready to race. I'm sure he'll be back soon enough to set some more 75+ age-group records. I needed a gimmick to set world records, Ed is just pure guts, speed and endurance.

Up next for me: On Tuesday morning, I'll be joggling my final super-mega long run before the marathon.

Join the f–ing circus? I wish!

As I was joggling home from work today, a guy yelled out the window of his car at me: "You should join the f–ing circus!" The tone was one of distain, but his words were funny to me on several levels.

First of all, I had just seen Cirque du Soleil the previous weekend and still had images of this dazzling circus fresh in my mind. Secondly, it was a complete flop as an insult – I'd jump at the chance to join the f–ing circus! And lastly, joggling acts as a litmus test to get a glimpse of the personalities of complete strangers. This guy thinks he's putting me down, when in fact he's just demonstrating to me that he's a total numbnut.

Cirque du Soleil's Kooza: a short review

Kooza was a magical mix of everything that can be good about a circus.

The clowns were actually funny, the live music was right on cue and filled the tent good vibes, the costumes were over the top but not freakish, the acrobats performed impossible stunts and the juggler was ... Anthony Gatto!

My kids were enthralled. Both girls sat through the entire two-hour-long performance with boogled eyes. The show was a seamless mix of stunts, artistic beauty, magic, laughs, lights and sounds. The closest thing to a dull moment was the magic act by the Pickpocket, who's routine seemed to plod compared to the zing of the other performers.

The highlight of my night was of course seeing my juggling idol perform live. Anthony was dressed in a suit of tiny mirrors and looked like a disco ball. His routine went straight into five balls with another ball bouncing on his head, progressed into clubs and culminated in a good run of nine rings and then seven rings put around the neck while he bounced a ball on his head. He dropped one thing: a beach ball that he was tossing on top of a metal post he had balanced on his chin.

These tricks might be easy for Anthony, but the audience was obviously flabbergasted to see someone juggle seven clubs, and frankly so was I; it was the first time I've seen someone do this in person. I liked how compact his act was – he jumped straight from one thing to the next and moved around the stage with ease while doing tricks. You could tell he was a joggler.

The only disappointment was not seeing the act that got rave reviews: the guy who stacks chairs on top of each other and then climbs to the top and does gymnastics.

But I was blown away by the "Wheel of Death," a giant metal contraption that consists of two human-sized hamster wheels that rotate is a big circle around a centre point by the momentum of the guys inside, or sometimes outside, the wheels. These guys had no safety nets and performed truly death-defying leaps, bounds and somersaults as the wheels spun around at a ridiculous pace.

If you're considering going to see Kooza, I have one word for you: go.

Kooza craziness

A full review will follow shortly, but for now let me just say that the Kooza Cirque du Soleil show did not disappoint. And neither did Anthony Gatto.

New world record bid: the gum-chewing joggling marathon

SPECIAL BULLETIN:

I have officially decided to run the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September 30 while juggling three beanbags ... and while chewing gum every step of the way.

What remains to be seen is whether or not I will have an official gum sponsor for this gum-chewing joggling marathon.

I've experimented with various chewing techniques and tested out several different types of gum and have determined that not only is it possible, but that I actually enjoy chewing gum while I run. It helps calm my nerves, it keeps my mouth from drying up, it tastes good and the thought of doing this makes me laugh. And I like to laugh.

The Joggler would never do this

I may occasionally trip over the odd parking barricade or bump my head on a low-hanging tree branch, but I have yet to joggle into a lamppost.

My friend Matt once walked into a hydro pole in Ottawa. This was particularly funny because just before he collided face-first with the post, he was trash-talking a group of guys playing a video game on their front lawn on Canada Day.

Wearing a giant backpack filled with 36 bottles of beer and carrying a huge Canadian flag over his shoulder, Matt turned to the guys playing the game and said: "I'm going to come over there and kick your a** at that game," at which point he plastered his jaw directly into the centre of the post. After unglueing his cheek from the metal, he turned back the video-gamers and said: "But not just yet!"

A busy day in the life of a joggler

This is a long clip of Kenenisa Bekele's 10,000m world record, but it's worth skipping to the end to watch his final lap. How is it possible to run that fast in the final 400m of a 10K?

Bekele just won the 10,000m in Osaka, his third World Championships win in a row.

On Sunday, I had a killer training day. After 2.5 hours of sleep, I dragged myself out of bed at 6 am for my long run. I left the juggling beanbags at home because I was planning to run with my friend Mohammed and didn't want the joggling to get in the way of converstion.

After an espresso and a 5-mile warmup, I met Mohammed at the park and we covered about 10 miles together. I then hooked up with the Shirtless Gang, a bunch of very fast (and shirtless) masters runners who do a regular Sunday 10-miler at a very good pace.

By the time I arrived home I had covered just under 26 miles in under three hours. My run was longer than my sleep. But there was no rest for the weary joggler, because I only had time for a quick shower and snack before I had to head out to the Toronto Buskerfest.

Teaching kids how to juggle at the Buskerfest was so much fun that I forgot how tired I was. If I can keep up with the high-quality training even if my weekly mileage isn't what I had hoped, the record may be still be within reach.