Madison Marathon wrapup – When bags are dropped
While I wasn’t terribly excited about my performance, I was happy to have done the Mad City Marathon. The organizers were helpful and sincere and the small crowds were all
quite enthusiastic.
Through the whole race I only had 2 drops. The first came at exactly 1:59 into the race. The yellow bean bag came out of my left hand smoothly enough, but when I put my right hand in the normal position to catch it, it was just out of reach. The slight brush of the bean bag against my right index finger piqued my attention. I looked down at my hand just in time to see the yellow bag crash on the asphalt path and roll 2 inches forward. The brief disappointment was quickly squelched by the incredible pain I felt bending over to pick the thing up. You will find about two hours into a marathon, it hurts to bend over picking up bean bags. It’s much better if you never drop.
The second drop happened at a water stop somewhere around mile 23. At that point in the race I was much more excited to get some critical fluids to care about my blue bag wading in a sticky pool of green Gatorade. I finished my three cups of water before bending over to pick up the bean-filled bobber.
As a marathon joggler in training you should be prepared for your bean bags to get pretty beat up. You will drop them occasionally and you never have much control where they land. It could be on a dirt track, a sweaty treadmill, in the middle of a Gatorade puddle, in a Chicago-style snowdrift or even in the middle of a street.
One time I was running across the street and I dropped a green bean bag. A car was coming so I kept running to the curb. As it passed, I heard a distinct “POP” and looked to see my fallen bag oozing tan pearls onto the ground. It was a sad day. The paladin was crushed and his joggling days of were over.
If your bags get too beat up, you should get some new ones about three weeks before race day. This should give you plenty of time to get a feel for the new bean bags. Joggling is funny like that. When everything is clicking you don’t even think about the joggling, you feel it.
I’m off to the Wondergirl 5K this morning. Still using the Reeboks. I gotta get some new shoes!
This Post Has 2 Comments
I have recently purchased a set of 3 T-balls from a sports store for $6. They have several advantages…
– Right size
– Slightly heavier than a beanbag for wind resistance, but not nearly as heavy as an exerball
– Leather covering makes them almost indestructible. (I’m sure a car would do them in, but landing on pavement at whatever speed just isn’t going to damage them)
– They were $6. If one of them dies or gets lost, I’m not exactly cryin’
The only disadvantage is that they will bounce and roll, which I expect square beanbags won’t as much.
Hey Gokmop,
Thanks for stoppin’ by the blog. Feel free to add this site to your links page if you like it. You must be talking about tennis balls. Tennis balls are pretty good for juggling but the bouncing & rolling thing is a huge drawback! Unless you are incredibly good (like Albert Lucas) you are going to have a drop every so often. In a running race you don’t want to have to chase too far to get an errant ball. I still like a nice broke-in set of Juggle Bug cubes.