Pretty impressive, even if he wasn’t juggling while doing it…

Voices from Russia

______________________________

On Thursday, Georgian record-holding strongman Lasha Pataraya set a new record by pulling an 8.28-ton truck attached to his left ear by a cord. Pataraya pulled the truck a total of 71 feet (21.5 metres) at Rustavi International Motorpark near the country’s capital, Tbilisi. A special commission verified the record. He said, “It took me two months to prepare for this record. I expected [to pull the truck] to a distance of 10 metres, but the result surpassed my expectations”. Pataraya added that he didn’t expect to carry out such an achievement. Gvandzhi Mania, head of the Georgian Union of Sporting Achievements and Records, noted that this was Pataraya’s seventh record. After he set the record, Pataraya’s friends threw him into the air several times. A special medical team then checked his medical condition. Free-style wrestler Pataraya set his first record for dragging heavy weights with strings attached to…

View original post 113 more words

What goes through the mind of a joggler?

Besides how cool and awesome it is to joggle?

Contrary to what many might think, it doesn’t require deep concentration. The experience is somewhat meditative, but not really all that different from what goes through the mind of a runner. The juggling is almost totally automatic, although I may have to correct myself every now and then if my mind wanders or becomes distracted. Or if I am changing speed or doing tricks.

Rhythm is everything in joggling. The running is what sets the rhythm and the juggling follows it. It is almost like making music; I often have glorious music playing in my head(I never listen to recorded music while running), music which roughly fits the rhythm of my joggling. Sometimes I even hum or sing a little to give a melody to the rhythm. I rarely focus on the rhythm as closely as I used to. It’s there, but I only have to pay attention to it when I need to make adjustments. Beginners need to pay much closer attention.

Being one of the few people in the country who regularly joggles(there are none in my immediate area) adds a certain mystique to the activity, both for me and onlookers. Like I am just that much closer to unlocking the secrets of the universe. It is running meets esoterica, the next stage in evolution for running and fitness. Above all, it’s hard to not feel special while doing it.

But at the same time, I often feel it is rather mundane – it is just a type of exercise, that’s all. I’m just running with a little something added, it’s not like I am saving the world. It’s just that I am better coordinated than most, although to what degree this is genetic rather than due to training is difficult to figure out.

Joggling seems to makes life’s problems much smaller, much more so than mere running. It shrinks an angry elephant to the size of a mite. I believe it is the “joggler’s high” which accomplishes this. It adds magic to running, and beauty and stimulates parts of the mind that I didn’t know exist.

All this, from running with a little something added.