Well, it turns out that scientists have discovered that sprinters lined up in lane 1 actually have a starting advantage of those lined farther away from the inside track. They measured the reaction time of sprinters in the 2004 Olympics and found that the closer you were to the starter gun, the faster your reaction times were. These hundredths of a second could be the difference between joggling for gold or stumbling for silver.

I know I’m going to try and get closer to the starter gun in these races. This Average Joggler is going to need all the help he can get.

Are you going to be at the IJA Joggling Championships this year?  Leave a comment below and let us know.  I want to get some more interviews.

How many bike riders out there could do 500 miles at a 4:20 pace?

This could provide further fuel for my dream of one day doing a complete joggling triathlon and maybe using a unicycle for the bike leg instead.

At the very least, it provides some inspiration for today’s workout. Instead of joggling 4 or 5 miles, I’m going to crack out the old unicycle and have a spin around the neighborhood. It’s been at least 8 months since I’ve gotten up on the thing so hopefully I don’t kill myself.

And here’s a video of it.  Of course I have a unicycle!  Every joggler should get a unicycle.

Do we have any other unicycling jogglers out there?

Advertisement: Gballz.com - custom joggling equipment

Researchers had students think about either the “reasons” they wanted to become more fit or the “actions” they could take to become more fit. For 8 weeks they had subjects write down their answers. The “reasons” group would write stuff like ‘to lose weight’ or ‘to be healthier’. The “actions” group wrote down things like ‘join a gym’ or ‘work out with a friend’.

It turns out the people who were in the “action” group ended up doing more exercising than the ones in the “reason” group. They also improved their cardiovascular fitness level.

What’s it mean for jogglers?

If you are just getting started with your fitness program and you are using running or joggling as part of that, try the following exercise.

1. Each morning for a month, think about 5 different places you could joggle that day.
2. Think about how you would fit your workout into your schedule.
3. After a month, see if you’ve run or joggled more than usual.

You may even surprise yourself and become a better juggler.

Joggle on.

Clearly, I have a problem of a lack of creativity and inspiration. I get bored because I couldn’t come up with new 3-ball tricks to challenge me. Tim Kelly just gave me a whole bunch to learn. Thanks Tim!

Well, according to this travel blog the Caliente Caribe in Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) has

“extensive walking/joggling nature paths.”

I can’t wait to go and see whether they are really joggling paths or an unfortunate typo.

Question 1: Which area of the United States are you most likely to find someone exercising on any given day?

A. Pacific
B. Mountain
C. West North Central
D. West South Central
E. South
F. New England

Question 2: Of the following 4 groups, who is most likely to engage in exercise?

A. People with a Bachelor’s degree or higher
B. People with some college education
C. People with high school degrees but no college
D. People with no high school diploma

Question 3: What is the most common exercise people report doing?

Question 4: Which sport is more commonly done than running?

A. Golfing
B. Soccer
C. Weightlifting
D. Basketball

Question 5: What exercise activity is done by more women than men?

A. Bowling
B. Swimming
C. Hiking
D. Cycling

Questions 6: What is the least popular exercise activity with people aged 15-24?

A. Aerobics
B. Yoga
C. Running
D. Golfing

Question 7: What amount of exercise time are people more likely to engage in?

A. Exercising 90 minutes to 2 hours
B. Exercising less than 30 minutes

Question 8: When is the most common time people aged 25 - 54 engaged in exercise activities (during the week)?

A. 6:00 AM
B. 12:00 PM
C. 6:00 PM

Question 9: When people are doing it, what sport/exercise takes up the most time?

A. Hiking
B. Basketball
C. Bowling
D. Swimming

Question 10: Who is more likely to exercise alone?

A. Men
B. Women
C. No difference

And for the answers…

1. A
2. A
3. Walking
4. C
5. B
6. B
7. A
8. C
9. A
10. C

This quiz was based on information found on the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics site.

So how did you do? And are you as disappointed as me that juggling or joggling didn’t make the list?

Everyone in this world has their own special set of talents. They are inside you just waiting to come out.

Waiting for you to discover them. Unfortunately, your talents are like the red suit in the Greatest American Hero. You know you have these powers, but you have no instruction manual to tell you what they are or how to use them.

Some people never search for their talents. They live a thoughtless life being content to just make it through each day. They never try new things which may help unlock a hidden talent.

Find your talent

If you’re smart, you’ll spend your lifetime searching within yourself for these talents or superpowers. And when you find them, no matter how stupid they happen to be, it’s up to you to use those talents to go out and be great.

I didn’t chose to be good at joggling. I just discovered it one day because I thought it was funny. But now that I know I have this talent, it’s my responsibility to go out and be the best joggler I can be.

And if your talent is joggling, then you need need go out into the world and be great at it too.

Suppressing your joggling talent robs the world.

Do you have a talent beyond joggling? Leave a comment and let the other jogglers and runners in this world know.

In my pre-retired days, it would’ve been easy enough to just get on the treadmill and do the distances there. But I don’t have treadmill access anymore so I have to improvise.

Enter Google Maps

The first thing I needed to do was find a track to run on. I knew of a couple in the city but I didn’t know where the closest one to my house was. So, I just went to Google Maps and just searched around my neighborhood until I found a track. You have to use Satellite View.

The closest one wasn’t a regular track so I used MapMyRun.com to calculate the distance. It worked like a charm!

If you ever need to find a place in your city or measure the distance, the combination of Google Maps and MapMyRun.com works great.

Joggle on

Advertisement: Gballz.com - custom joggling equipment

Before joggling, I also spat (I’m a smoker), but with joggling, it is too hard to get the timing right. - maybe If I can do a decent 5-ball, I’ll be able to place the spit through the 4 or 5-ball position.

Well, spitting is a habit that many runners do to relieve the nasty feel that can build-up in your mouth while exercising. As Flurpy points out, it is very hard to get the timing right. Unless you know the trick to spitting while joggling. Watch this video to see how you do it.

The skill of being able to throw one high and look away for a brief moment is an important one.  Work on it and you’ll become a much better joggler.

+ Julian Tam reports that he joggled the Bay and Back 5K race in Hamilton, Canada. He came in with a time of 27:37 in the most crowded race he’s ever done. Congrats on a great effort Julian! With some more experience you’ll be a sub 25 joggler in no time. He asked for advice on how to get faster. If you’re curious, check out these two jogglers posts.

1. 6 things to make you faster
2. Even more tips for running faster

Julian also graduated from medical school which just goes to show you how smart some jogglers are. He asked if anyone knew of any jogglers in Saskatchewan…anyone?

+ Barry Goldmeier reports that he did the Boston marathon this year. Even got his picture in the Boston Globe. He says that the race was fun and he made it the whole way without the streets getting closed. The life of a joggling marathon can sometimes be dangerous!

+ Quentin reports that he finally got his set of Gballz and went out for a joggle. On trying for the first time he says

“When I finally got around to reaching for that third ball, I was quickly able to realize how well juggling and running can work together. I couldn’t juggle for long without a drop or two, but this was all it took to sell me on the whole concept. I plan to keep at it.”

Great job Quentin!!

+ Greg Phillips reports from Canada on his initial joggling progress. According to him he’s done over 5 joggling workouts. And he’s shown some significant improvements already. The first one was an 8.5 K in which he had 58 drops. His second was a 10K with only 42 drops. By his fifth joggle he was able to go 8K with only 7 drops. Now that’s progress!! Greg actually came up with an interesting metric called the mP for measuring drops/meter. I’m going to do a separate post on this one.

+ Laura reports that she’s been joggling on the Mediterranean beaches of Spain. She says that she has Hong Kong joggler Bruce Foreman to thank for introducing her to the sport. She also recommends joggling with lemons if you are going near water. They float.

+ Dr. Joe Havlick reports that he’s finally tried joggling. He did a 5K and had about 20 drops. This is his initial training for the Philly Triathlon that he’s doing on Saturday. He may try joggling the third leg. Good luck Dr. Joe! Incidentally, he had put together an excellent juggling tutorial called Juggling is a Snap. He’s not sure how long it will be around but the hosting fees are paid through next March. Check it out while you still can.

+ Flurpy reports that his joggling in South Africa is making a real splash with the running community. You can see the extensive discussion about joggling over at this Runners World forum.

Around the US, Canada, Europe and Africa, joggling is truly an international sport. Are there jogglers from other places around the world?

Let us know you’re out there by leaving a comment below.