What does a joggler juggle during a marathon

Today, I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot for Time Out Chicago magazine. It was a nice sunny day but really cold and windy. And although Chicago is actually called the windy city because of the politicians, it certainly gets to be windy! Juggling was a bit challenging. The photographer, Caroline, was great and the whole shoot was enjoyable.

The experience did give me the opportunity to look through my bag of old juggling stuff. I thought it might be interesting to post pictures of all the retired bags. I have such a hard time throwing away old stuff: running shoes, joggling bags. Eventually, I will so here are some pictures just to remember my old friends.

Here is the only remaining bean bag from my very first marathon. A Juggle Bug bag. This one didn’t have a coating on it so it tended to absorb sweat and get really heavy. The companion yellow and blue bags got holes and slowly lost all their filling. The yellow one just kept getting lighter and lighter until I was just juggling felt. I don’t even know what happened to it or the blue one.

My second set of joggling bags. These juggling bags were made by Juggle Bug and made it through about 6 marathons. The yellow and red ones are still in pretty good shape. But the poor green one; he got smooshed by a car. I was running around Oak Park (a suburb of Chicago) one evening. I crossed the street in front of a car and accidentally dropped the green one. The car was not stopping. I jumped out of the way and heard a loud POP! When I went back for the bean bag I found him lying on the street with beans spilling out. He was retired that night along with the red and yellow bags. I guess I like to juggle these things in a set.

After retiring the Juggle Bug bags, I moved to these More Balls Than Most bags. These bags are more like “professional” juggling equipment and almost twice the weight of the Juggle Bug bags. In some ways it made joggling a bit easier because I didn’t have to worry about the wind as much. On the other hand, my arms got a lot more tired. I joggled with these for about 7 marathons. They finally had to be retired because as you can see the middle one split at the seam and started to leak filling. I liked these bags, but my wife got me a new set of Juggle Bug bags, so I went back to them. If you are a new joggler starting out bags like these are a good choice. They are just easier to juggle under adverse conditions.

That brings me to my current set of joggling bags, another set of Juggle Bugs. This set has been with me for the last 2 years and 6 marathons. They’ve picked up lots of dirt, grime and sweat. They’ve been drenched in Gatorade, slush, and mudpuddles. Never been washed. They have a great “feel”. I even like the smell. I can juggle these babies with my eyes closed. Somehow they just know where to fall into my hands.

Admittedly, I’m ready to get a new set. These are wildly effected by the wind and their colors have dulled considerably. But I’m slow to buy new things. I’ll likely have these until Christmas. However, maybe a fine juggling supply company will want to sponsor me and supply me with my next set.

Ah, a joggler can dream can’t he?