And for a special dueling proverbs...

The good folks over at Complete Running have put together a list of 25 gift ideas for a runner (or joggler).

I think the following are pretty good.

1.  Body Glide:  We wrote about this in a previous chafing post.

4.  Magnetic Runner Night Light:  Good for joggling in the dark.

6.  Lock laces.  My shoelaces do come undone on occasion.

7.  Warm Gloves..:  These are a must for Chicago joggling.

8.  Warm Socks..:  Another must for winter running in Chicago.

13. Snot Spot Wiper:   Good idea, although I'm not sure how good it will be on the Gballz.

14.  Snacks..:  They call these healthy.  You might also consider one of the many fine candy bars for runners and jogglers.

23.  Sport wash..:  Because you know your joggling clothes smell.  This post tells you why your running clothes smell.

That's all that I'd want off that list.  To this list I would add some joggling specific items.

26.  A set of 3 Premier Gballz bean bags (Red, Sassy, & Baltic Blue).
27.  The Mathematics of Juggling ..:  This sounds like an interesting book.
28.  Video camera:  For taping your best juggling routines.
29.  Jim Kweskin .. CD:  Some of the best juggling music around.

Personal Manifesto

Objective:  To live a long, happy and fulfilled life.

Primary areas to help achieve objective. 

1.  Health:            

The fact that I'm alive is the only thing I know for certain, so staying alive as long as possible is of primary importance to achieving my life objective.  I believe that maintaining good health is a controllable key to longevity.  Good health is also important because it directly affects my feelings of happiness and my ability to accomplish goals that create a fulfilled life.

2.  Relationships:

The human condition is inherently lonely.  Left unaddressed those feelings of loneliness will lead to unhappiness and depression.  These feelings are in direct conflict with my life objective so preventing them is important.  I believe that building strong relationships with other people is a key activity that can reduce loneliness and increase happiness.  Since the presence of other people in my life is inherently uncontrollable, building relationships with a large number of people is the best strategy for ensuring a constant supply of strong relationships. 

However, building relationships requires an investment of time and attention (limited resources) so the number of truly strong relationships must be limited.  I believe the best relationship strategy is to focus most efforts on developing one truly strong relationship.  The rest of my relationship effort should be spent on developing a small number of moderately strong relationships and a large number of good (and potentially strong) relationships.  I believe this strategy provides the best chance for relationship success and thus staving off loneliness.

3.  Personal Development:

The desired state of human existence is one of happiness and contentment.  But time and life experiences naturally erode this state into one of unhappiness and anxiety.  I believe that achieving the primary life objective requires a constant effort to combat these negative forces.  Since I am most happy when I am acquiring new skills, knowledge or experiences, I believe that a significant amount of effort should be dedicated to doing these things.  This is the best strategy for maintaining a happy and fulfilled life.

4.  Service to others:

Our world is one of great wealth that is unequally divided.  While I accept this inequality, I believe that all people in this world deserve a minimally acceptable standard of living.  This means a life that includes clean drinking water, food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education and hope.  I believe it is the obligation of the fortunate people in this world to do what they can to help improve the living conditions of people in need.  I believe that the problems of our world can only be solved by us.  Doing my part to help achieve the world envisioned here will directly help increase my happiness and sense of fulfillment.

5.  Money:

Living in our world requires certain basic necessities including food and shelter to be satisfied.  Money is the currency by which those basic necessities are fulfilled and this reason alone makes acquiring money a worthwhile activity.  However, money has additional benefits.  Money makes it possible to purchase things that can help make me happy and healthy.  Money also allows for freedom to control how my time is spent and thus directly affects the amount of things that I can accomplish.  Since the amount of freedom and purchasing power is directly related to the amount of money I have, I believe the best strategy in this area is to maximize the amount of money that I can generate in my lifetime.

Did you know that the Earth is closest to the Sun in January?  This seems strange to a guy from Chicago because it's so dark and cold in January.  Then I remember that seasons are more related to the tilt of the Earth than they are to the closeness of the Sun.  However, that does mean that outdoor running will be a bit colder and darker.  Previously, I've written about joggling in the cold.  In this entry we'll look at joggling in the dark.

A recent article in Runners World suggested that there are actually some benefits to running when it's dark.  For some, performance is actually improved by nighttime running.  Two factors for this fact have been suggested.  First, at the end of the day body temperature is increased.  A higher body temperature is linked to an increase in strength and reaction time.  Second, you have a higher level of energy metabolism related hormones, cortisol and throptopin.  With more of these in your body, you're joggling is bound to be better.

For me, my life schedule just requires that I do some of my running at night.  That 8 hour job right in the middle of the day gets inconvenient at times.  If you are going to run or joggle when it's dark, here are 4 tips to consider.

1.  Experiment first.  Since running when it's dark is a bit different than light time running, do a few short runs first just to see what it's like.  In the city, stick with streets and sidewalks that you know.  And be prepared to have a few extra drops.  Joggling in the dark is more challenging.

2.  Be prepared.  There are some obvious things you should be doing if you're going to workout at night.  Wear reflective clothing, carry an ID and carry a cell phone.  Also, tell someone where you'll be running and how long you expect to be gone.  Incidentally, these are good things to do when your just going out for a solo run.

3.  Run with a group.  It's safer to run with a group, or at least one other person.   If you can find someone go together.  Your more likely to be seen by cars and less likely to get attacked by raccoons, bears, and muggers.

4.  Wear a headlamp.  If you're doing trail running there won't be any lights so a headlamp is a must.  But they are tricky to run with so get used to it before going out on long runs.

5.  Use light colored bean bags.  You can joggle at night but it will be a bit tougher to see the juggling bags.  Using a lighter colored bag like yellow or white will make things easier.  You can pick up a great set from Gballz.