Since I have gotten a number of occasions to joggle long distances on beaches, I’ve come up with a few tips that might be useful to would-be beach jogglers.  Add your own if you see any I missed.

1.  Running barefoot can cause blisters.  The first time I ever joggled on the beach I did it in bare feet.  Since I don’t normally run barefoot, the combination of the heat and wet sand really tore up my feet.  I ended up with blisters.  Now, I run on the beach in shoes.  I just don’t like blisters on my feet!

2.  It’s easier to joggle near the water.  Don’t try to joggle on the beach away from the water.  It will be super tiring.  Better is to get as close to the water as you can without getting your feet wet.  Hard sand is much nicer to run on than dry, shifty sand.

3.  Joggling near water can cause knee pain.  If you run for an extended amount of time near the water on the sand, you will likely start to feel some pain in your knee closest to the water.  It gets more pressure on it than normal because it will slope towards the water.  Just be sure to run back the way you came to even out the pressure on each knee.

4.  Watch out for jelly fish & other wildlife.   There will be lots of wildlife washed up on the beach such as jellyfish, starfish, and horseshoe crab shells.  Take a look but don’t touch it or step on it.  Jellyfish especially can leave a mark.

5.  Play to your audience.  People on the beach will be fascinated to see someone joggling along the beach.  Be sure to wave and smile when someone calls to you as they inevitably will.

6.  Use water proof bean bags.    Of course you never plan on dropping but you might so be sure to use your “ok to get wet” joggling bean bags.  In my case it is my old set of Gballz that work great but just don’t look pretty any more after 8 years of outdoor joggling.

7.  You will be slower.  Don’t be disappointed that you aren’t setting any speed records while joggling on the beach.  Beach running is tough and you will naturally be slower.  Don’t fret.  Just enjoy the experience.

8.  Beach joggling is fun!!  It really is.  I’d suggest you leave the headphones at home and just enjoy the surf, the sand and the sounds of the beach.  It really is a great activity and adds some spice to your joggling life.

Do you have any tips or suggestions to add?  Leave a comment below

Today I am in Boston and things happened such that I wasn’t able to get my run in until 10:30 pm.  That was cutting it pretty close but I made it.  My workout was awful as I moved pretty slow, but after a day of traveling, sightseeing, and hobnobbing at a scientific dinner meeting, it wasn’t surprising.

As I joggled outside along the dark Massachusetts sidewalks, I thought about why I didn’t have too many drops even thought there wasn’t much light.  It turns out over the years I’ve learned a little something about juggling at night.  Here are ways that I keep from dropping.

How to prevent drops while juggling at night

1.  Use the shadows.  While it’s possible to juggle in complete darkness, you almost never have too.  Rather there is some light in the sky that you can use as a contrast to your juggling balls.  If you’re having trouble with your regular pattern, throw the balls up slightly higher and use the contrast with the sky to keep track.

2.  Use lighter balls.  It’s always helpful to have bean bags which contain some light color.  The light color reflects dim light better and will aid you in picking up the pattern.

3.  Don’t look at the bean bags.  You should get to the point where you don’t have to look at the bean bags while you’re joggling.  And when you’re joggling at night, be sure to look through them.  Sometimes you can be fooled by the light and it will make you miss. Just don’t look directly at the bean bags and you should be ok.

4.  Use glow in the dark balls.   If your normal bean bags aren’t cutting it.  Try some glow in the dark joggling bags.  Like this set that Joe Salter has done.

This is a guest post by Aaron O’Connor

If you find yourself bored with the treadmill, there are some popular strategies to make it more interesting. In fact, some of the amenities mentioned in treadmill reviews alone may give you ideas. For example, you can try adjusting the speed, incline or one of the many other settings on your machine to create a tougher workout. You could also listen to music, do sprints or watch TV. However if these things are not interesting enough to hold your attention, you could always try joggling.

Jogglers

Joggling is a competitive sport that combines juggling with jogging. There are people all around the world that joggle, and though it is a little known sport, it is gaining in popularity. The International Jugglers’ Association and Guinness World Records recognize both joggling events and records. Juggling while jogging may seem impossible at first glance, especially if you do not know how to juggle, but juggle and become comfortable with it. The most common juggling pattern, called a “cascade pattern,” uses three balls, but the first step to learning how to juggle is to practice throwing just one ball in an arc, with the highest point at about eye level, from one hand to the other. Once you have mastered that, you are ready to add a second ball.

Begin with a ball in each hand, tossing the ball from your right hand to your left. When the ball reaches its highest point in the arc, toss the ball in your left hand to your right, crossing the balls over to the opposite hands. Repeat the exercise, but start with your left hand this time. Keep alternating hands in this fashion until you can complete the exercise smoothly. During this practice, do not toss both balls at once, or toss them in a circle, dipping below the starting point.

The final step includes all three balls, with two balls in one hand and one ball in the other. The hand you hold the two balls in should be your dominant hand. Throw one of the two balls over to the opposite hand, while throwing the single ball from the opposite hand when the first one reaches its highest point. While this second ball is coming down, throw the third ball to the opposite hand. Continue this pattern, from hand to hand; focus on keeping the arcs at, or slightly above, eye level.

Practice!

Take your time, be patient and practice. Once you get the technique of throwing and catching down, you will become more and more comfortable with the act of juggling. Then you can start practicing marching in place to get the feel of the leg movement in relation to your arms. The next step is to practice walking and joggling in a safe area before taking your routine to the treadmill.

Begin joggling slowly

Once you are ready, begin with a walk on the treadmill to warm up. Establish a comfortable pace, and then begin joggling. Time your pattern so you are catching a ball when the opposite foot is landing. For example, right hand catches when the left foot hits the treadmill. Make sure you look straight ahead and pay attention to Incline intervals are a great way to strengthen your muscles and burn calories. Since inclines are quite intense for jogglers, increase the incline to suit your comfort level. The increase in incline will boost the intensity of your workout, and the speed of the treadmill will stay consistent for these intervals. A programmable treadmill will be helpful when joggling by eliminating the need to set down the beanbags or balls you are using.

One good routine is to warm up for five minutes at a brisk walk with the incline set to one percent. Joggle for five minutes at this incline, and then increase the incline to two percent for two minutes. Return to the one percent incline for two minutes. You can repeat these intervals as is, or you can bump the incline up by one percent every two minutes until you find a comfortable maximum incline. Halfway through your workout, begin decreasing the maximum incline by one percent per interval. As always, finish with a five-minute cool down and some stretches.

Jogging is popular for its cardiovascular and lower body benefits, but with the addition of juggling, you are also getting a great upper body workout. When using a treadmill, people frequently look for ways to either increase their intensity or refresh their workout in some way, and joggling on the treadmill is a great way to do just that.

I saw this question posted on rec.juggling.org (a juggling discussion group) about joggling. I answered the question there but I thought it would be good for people who don’t frequent that site to see.

Dave Cheetham asked…
What’s the best way to get into joggling?

Is it simply a matter of putting on some shoes, picking up the balls and
heading out the door? Or should I put in a bit of effort to learn the
best throw height/speed for my stride? Should I start with shorter runs
of actual joggling? Or should I put intervals of joggling into a longer
run?

Any thoughts, suggestions or advice would be great.

JYAJ answers

I think the best way depends on your juggling skill level.

Runners turned jogglers

If you are more of a runner, you’ll need to first practice the three ball pattern and get to the point where you don’t have to look at the balls. To be a fast joggler, you have to be able to look through the balls and see the road ahead of you.

This is crucial especially if you plan to joggle in a race. You have to keep drops to a minimum to ensure that you don’t bother or hurt non-jogglers around you.

Jugglers turned runners

But if you can already juggle pretty well then all you have to do is go out and try joggling. Find yourself a straight sidewalk, path or a track and try joggling for about 100 meters. Once you get the 100 meter distance down, you’ll find it gets easier.

Once you get the drops down to a minimum, you’ll find it gets much more fun!

Good luck with the marathon training.

For an October marathon, I usually begin my training in the beginning of July.  This gives me about 100 days of training.  If you are just starting out as a runner, you probably need more like 150 days of training.  The key for marathon training is to run enough to make the distance but not too much that you get injured.

In truth, for my first marathon the longest training run I ever did was 12 miles. The longest pre-marathon race I did was a half marathon. My finishing time was 4:02. I train a lot more now but that’s because I’m interested in getting faster and my times have shown it.  (~3:25 marathon).

Fellow jogglers, do you have any advice to share?  Leave a comment below

Joe Salter has put together a video which gives you three great tips on getting better at joggling.  He also demonstrates how good he’s getting at joggling himself.  He does patterns while joggling that I’ve never even attempted.

Cool!  Great work Joe!

I’ve been joggling for many years and it has gotten fairly easy for me. All the hours of joggling have programmed my muscles to work automatically. Sometimes I don’t even notice that there a juggling balls in front of me.

But Saturday’s joggling work out with Jonas made me feel like a complete newbie joggler. Joggling rods is much more difficult for me. It was like starting from scratch. So, here are a few things I noticed that you might feel as a new joggler.

Biggest joggling challenges for a beginner

1. Looking at the juggling equipment. The number one problem is when you first start out, you’ll likely have to look at the juggling equipment. When I’m joggling bean bags I am able to look around and see what’s in front of me. As a new joggler, you’ll be looking at the equipment and only using your peripheral vision to see the path in front of you. This can be tricky so be sure to practice joggling on a known path so you don’t twist an ankle.

2. Drops Nothing is more frustrating than being an adept juggler but dropping juggling equipment in a simple 3-object cascade. But if you haven’t practiced juggling non-spherical things, you can’t expect to be good. And if you can’t easily juggle three bean bags, don’t be surprised when you drop. As a new joggler, practice on a wide path away from people who might get hurt if you drop.

3. Worrying about drops. Perhaps just as bad as dropping is the uneasiness you’ll feel when you worry about dropping. This is not something I do now when joggling bean bags but joggling sticks and pins is much more challenging for me. I think about dropping which increasing the probability that I will drop. If you want to get good at joggling you have to get to the point where you don’t worry about drops at all.

Joggling can be lots of fun but when you’re first starting out it can be frustrating. All I can say is stick with it and your brain and muscles will eventually catch up. I’m going to keep practicing with these joggling sticks until I get to the point that I can joggle them without looking. Hopefully, that won’t take too long.

Joggle on!

Today, I fly out to sunny Florida to joggle in the Tampa Bay Marathon. I’m already registered. My flight and hotel has been booked.

While packing I thought it would be useful for aspiring marathon runners / jugglers to know what kinds of things you should pack. So here it is

25 Things Jugglers Need for a Marathon

1. Two pairs of Running Shoes. I’m currently running in a pair of Sauconys. But I’ve had success in Brooks and Reebok. You’ll want the second pair for after the race.

2. Shorts. I like a good set of Spandex to reduce chafing.

3. Two pairs of socks. One for the marathon, one for after the marathon.

4. Running shirt. A nice technical shirt made with advanced fibers is best. Cotton shirts get heavy when you sweat.

5. After race shirt. You’ll want to have a shirt to change into after the race. I’m going to be wearing my Gballz shirt in honor of my sponsor.

6. Warm-up clothes. An old pair of sweat pants & sweatshirt that you don’t mind getting rid of. It’s tradition to strip down just before the gun and throw the clothes off to the side.

7. Sunscreen. Important especially for a run in Florida.

8. Sunglasses. Even if you choose not to run in them, you’ll want them for after the marathon.

9. Watch. Mostly useless for a joggler because you can’t look at your watch too easily. But you can check it at the water stops so I like to have one. I use a Timex Ironman watch.

10. Camera. You want pictures after your big event right? So bring a camera. I’m bringing a Cannon Powershot SD450.

11. Identification. I have a Road ID that has all my information on it. Helpful if they ever find a joggler sprawled out on the road and don’t know what to do.

12. Money. You’ll at least want $5 in case you want to buy a drink or candy bar after the race.

13. Gloves. Probably not needed for a Florida marathon but you never know. It can get chilly in the morning. But bring a pair you don’t mind losing because you’ll want to throw them off before the race starts.

14. Hat. Sometimes I run in a baseball cap and sometimes not. It’s good to have on a sunny day.

15. Petroleum Jelly. Good for lubing up before the race. Although you might want to try something like Body Glide. This stuff works wonders.

16. Race Bib. Can’t juggle the marathon without this.

17. Safety Pins. You’ll need these to hold the race bib on.

18. Joggling Bags. I use custom suede bags from Gballz. These things are great!

19. Energy Bar. You’ll want something to eat after the race. Usually, there is a nice spread of food but after you’ve left the finishing area, you’ll get a second round of hunger. That’s when you’ll want the energy bar.

20. iPod Nano. When I joggle a marathon, I put a headphone in one ear only. That way I can hear the cheers of the crowd but still hear music (or a book) when the crowds are sparse.

21. Directions to the start. Figure this out the day before the marathon. You don’t want to have to worry about it marathon morning.

22. Shoe timing chip. Tie this thing to your shoe the night before the marathon. And make sure it’s secure. Without the timing chip, it’s like you didn’t even run.

23. Water. You’ll want a bottle of water to drink while you wait in line for the start of the race.

24. Gear Check Bag. You’ll need somewhere to put all the clothes you’ll wear after the marathon. Check them at gear check.

25. Reservations for dinner marathon eve. If the marathon is anything like Chicago, good luck finding a pasta place to eat the night before. Pick a place and make a reservation. You’ll be happy you did.

Well, that’s it. I’m off to the airport and away to Florida. Joggling marathon #22 hear I come.

Current running streak…33 days.

Joggler Joe Salter put together this series of introductory tips for joggling. In his 6+ minute video he covers the following 5 points.

Joggling Technique

1. Learn to look through the balls
2. Maintain good form with throws – keep throws low
3. Throws & catches match leg speed
4. Be relaxed
5. Have fun. Try tricks

These are good tips. One of the only things he doesn’t cover is what you use for joggling. In a previous video on equipment for joggling, I covered that one.

In 2005, I consumed 144 donuts. Sugar dusted, custard filled confections were my favorites, but coconut encrusted ring donuts were great too.

The next year, I just stopped. The great donut nix of 2006 is what it was called. I mostly stopped eating breakfast except occasionally 2 pieces of half-toasted bread schmeared with Country Crock margarine. The result of skipping breakfast? Well, in 2005 I weighed 191 pounds (86.8kg) at the end of the year. In 2006, I was 195 pounds (88.6 kg). This was despite joggling 150 more miles.

Certainly, the weight gain could be attributed to different factors like eating more, sleeping less, and getting older. But according to this article about the importance of breakfast, The great donut nix of 2006 could’ve also been a factor.

Why you should eat breakfast

According to the article, here’s why all world class jogglers should regularly eat breakfast.

1. Breakfast is linked to lower body mass. Less mass takes less power to move. Therefore, running and juggling is easier if you weigh less. You also can run faster without exerting more energy.
2. Breakfast reduces your risk for obesity & insulin resistance. Suffice it to say that obese jogglers are generally slower than the non-obese jogglers.
3. Breakfast is proven to help in maintaining long-term weight loss. Hey, if it’s proven it must be true, right?

So that’s it fellow jogglers. Feel free to keep eating those donuts. Granted cereal, oatmeal, eggs & toast may all be better choices, but even donuts are better than skipping it all together. Now, I think I’ll go have some cereal. For some reason, I’m hungry.

Fellow marathon joggler Joe Salter put together this video tutorial on joggling. He’s got some great tips here.

Nice work Joe!