I’m not a vegetarian but every Monday (and sometimes on Wednesday) I eat no meat. Giving meat up completely is beyond me at the moment but philosophically, I am a vegetarian. This is for three primary reasons.  

A. Meat eating is environmentally unsound.
B. Meat eating is cruel.
C. Meat eating may be less healthy.

Ideally, I would go completely vegetarian but realistically it just would not fit into my lifestyle.

Plant eating athlete

As a frequent runner and active person being a vegetarian can be challenging. Here are some tips from Competitor magazine about what you have to do to be an athlete and a vegetarian at the same time.

1. Maintain your protein levels. If you are giving up meat you will be giving up a large source of protein which can have a negative impact on your energy levels. Compensate by snacking on protein throughout the day. Some good sources…raw nuts. I’m a big fan of peanuts and peanut butter.

2. Eat a variety of proteins. There are some essential amino acids you can only get from your diet so to ensure that you get them, try eating a variety of protein sources. This would include beans, nuts, seeds, tofu, quinoa and grains.

3. Use supplements. I’m not a big fan of this idea because the food supplement industry in the US is not regulated but if you are a vegetarian athlete you might need additional supplements to compensate for calcium, iron, and vitamins that you are not getting.

4. Eat Algae. Algae is one of those organisms that falls in between plant and animal. If you are ok with killing microorganisms then this could be for you. It has a high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids which has been shown to be good for overall health.

5. Don’t fall for quick fixes. Those mass produced veggie burgers and fake meats are too high in sodium and artificial fillers to be considered healthy. Stick with eating real food whenever possible.

Of course, you could add small amounts of meat to your diet if you want and avoid many of the problems associated with a vegan / vegetarian lifestyle. But if you’re smart about it, you might not have to.

I wish I could do this with my Gballz.  Time to do some more practice.

Sweat rolls down my face

Bean bags falling in my hands

Joggling in the heat

I just read this article about iPhone apps for runners. They list 50 of them and call them awesome. I’m not sure how awesome they are but there are definitely a few that are good for jogglers. Here are ones that I like best.

Runkeeper – It’s the one I use most to track my runs. This does require me to run with my iPhone but I have a system for doing that which has worked out well. My only complaint is that this thing could be a bit more accurate. The mileage always seems a little off. Also, it is hard to start and stop the clock so my times are always off due to the moments I have to wait at stop lights and things.

MapMyRun – If you want an alternative to Runkeeper, this one is a pretty good choice. I used to use MapMyRun.com to trace out my path prior to running but I found the ads a little annoying. I also stopped using it once I discovered Runkeeper. But the MapMyRun app is a good one.

BMI Calculator – You put in your height and weight. It tells you your BMI. It also tells a 194 lb, 6 ft 1 inch joggler that he is overweight. ugh!

JuggleFit – An excellent app for keeping track of your juggling records and progress. Recording your efforts is one of the best ways to become a better juggler.

iJuggle – This fun app allows you to put number sequences into it and then shows an animated character juggling the balls. It is great for finding new patterns and getting new challenges for yourself.

Wow!  This is amazing.  Here’s the latest development in robotic juggling.  It’s a one-arm, two ball juggling robot.

Interestingly, the robot goes with a circular juggling pattern rather than a column juggling pattern. I wonder how long it will be before they create a robot that can juggle better than the best humans. I’m thinking about 20 years. Why do you think?

While joggling the streets of Chicago I typically do a standard cascade juggling pattern keeping the bean bags below my eyes and in front of my face.  But there are times when you need to change it up to avoid a drop.  Here are the top 5 things that might cause you to drop and what to do to avoid them. 

1.  Pedestrians – The number one thing that will cause a drop is pedestrians and other runners.  Often people do not pay attention or they otherwise don’t notice a joggler moving along the sidewalk.  Bumping into them can cause a crash.  Pedestrians also provide an audience which may induce you to try a trick.  This increases your chances of dropping.  To avoid this obstacle, joggle in areas away from pedestrians and stop trying to show off!!

2.  Cars – I’m an urban joggler and have to cross streets and blind alleys.  Surprisingly, cars sometimes do not pay attention to pedestrians (and jogglers).  On a number of occasions I’ve been bumped by cars coming out of alleys.  A few weeks ago I was nearly run over by a car that was running a red light.  All of these instances caused drops.  And if you have to choose between getting hit by a car and dropping a bean bag…drop the bean bag!  To avoid this obstacle stick to running paths and be cautious when crossing streets and alleys.  In fact, it’s a good idea to gather the bean bags in your hands and stop juggling while crossing a street.

3.  Dogs – I used to get startled by barking dogs all the time.  This caused a number of drops.  But over time you just get used to them and eventually you can completely ignore them.  In the vast majority of cases a dog will not bite or attack you.  If they do, remember you have bean bags as your weapons.  To avoid this obstacle just spot the dog early and prepare yourself for it to unexpectedly bark.

4.  Weather – If you joggle through rain, wind and snow you have no doubt experienced a weather related drop.  In fact, when I was joggling the 50 miler most of my drops were the result of a stiff wind off of Lake Michigan.  To avoid this problem make your juggling pattern shorter keeping the bean bags closer to your chest.

5.  Fatigue – If you joggle a long distance you’re going to start to tire.  This can lead to a ball collision which could ultimately lead to a drop.  Many of my drops these days are related to fatigue.  To prevent this you need to juggle a lot.  Hours on your feet will train your body to adjust to your level of tiredness.  When you are tired, try increasing your level of focus on your juggling.

I’ve joggled a few marathons where I made it the whole way without a drop.  But it is a truism of joggling and juggling…eventually you’re going to have a drop.  Hopefully, you can keep them to a minimum.

Joggle on.

 

Hot Joggling

 

Shorts in the summer

Sweating and dehydrating

Better than winter

When I was working a regular job we had a gym with a small (1/4 mile) indoor track. Occasionally the treadmills would all be occupied so I would joggle around the track. The trickiest part…remembering how many laps I did.

Building your memory

I first tried the technique of just remembering the number. This is not easy. Numbers are too abstract for your memory to hold for any length of time. Pictures are much more easy to remember. So, the trick is to convert the number into a picture.

There was an excellent book that I read called How to Develop A Superpower Memory. In it, they introduce the notion of the Peg System. To use the peg system you essentially substitute a word for each number, all the way up to 100. So, here is a portion of the list…

1 = Tie
2 = Noah
3 = Ma
4 = Rye
5 = Law
6 = Shoe
7 = Cow
8 = Ivy
9 = Bee
10 = Toes

Step one was to memorize this list.
Step two is to see these pictures in your mind’s eye. When you have finished a lap, imagine the image is exploding or torn up or otherwise in tatters. So, if you were on the 1st lap, you might imagine a tie being put through a paper shredder. The 9th lap, you would imagine squashing bees with your feet. When you wonder what lap you are on you can just check to see which number/picture hasn’t been mutilated yet.

Memorizing things is actually quite fun and a great way to build your mind while joggling. If you’ve never read a book about the subject of memory, I wholeheartedly suggest you do.

There’s a notation system in juggling called Siteswap. Essentially, it is a way to represent juggling patterns with numbers. I’ve never been able to quite figure it out but I continue to read articles on it. I own the book The Mathematics of Juggling but it is not a very readable book.

Perhaps this article from Juggle.org might clear things up for me.

Here’s an interesting video which demonstrates a 4 ball joggler who is running in reverse.

I have joggled backwards only once in a race. It was at the end of a half marathon that I did with a friend. Pretty fun. I got the idea to do that in a marathon some day but haven’t been able to train properly. It would be pretty tough.