The Organic Climber – Blogging about climbing, RAW foods, vegetarianism, running and cycling.

Starting a business is very time consuming. That is why you haven’t seen a lot of posts from me lately. But during these past two weeks I was able to get outdoors TWICE, and get some climbing in. Living in Austin has it’s advantages when it comes to rock climbing, so I thought I would share about the greatness of living in Austin when it comes to outdoor activity.

You may know from my previous posts that I was dead set on moving to Colorado, but Austin has always been my second choice in terms of where I wanted to live. Granted there are no mountains here, there is surprisingly a lot of climbing options nearby, as well as access to great trails for running and biking.

Just five minutes from my house is access to The Greenbelt trail, which includes access to rock climbing, mountain biking, running and even swimming during the Spring and early Summer. If you travel two miles north of where I live, you have access to running and biking trails around Town Lake. If you are into canoeing or kayaking, they offer that too. The University of Texas crew team even practices here.

The Greenbelt

With numerous access points in town it makes for a quick getaway into the outdoors. Early mornings during the week are the best time to go if you are looking for solitude. I’ve gone on morning runs and not even encountered another human being. If you are a rock climber like myself, there are numerous developed walls along the trail and there is usually a pretty good crowd at each wall in the late afternoon and early evening. If you don’t have a climbing partner, just show up and somebody is bound to give you a belay.

The trails are also well maintained and are often filled with runners and mountain bikers, but trails were wide enough traffic is not an issue when bikes come through. The total length of the trail is 8 miles, which makes for a stellar, long trail run or an out and back bike ride. The trail goes under two main highways in Austin, but it doesn’t take too long before you are away from the noise of traffic, feeling like you are miles away from civilization.

Reimer’s Ranch

This is where most local climbers go for their weekend climbing. There are also great mountain bike trails and the Pedernales River for fishing. This well developed crag (with even more climbs going up) offers climbs ranging from 20 feet high to 45+ feet high. The grades of the climb range from 5.5 to a very difficult 5.13. Climbers of all abilities flock here for their weekend climbing. My only complaint is that it can often feel like an outdoor gym when the weather is really nice. This past weekend the walls were full of boy scouts, church groups and hard core climbers alike. But there is plenty of room for everybody, and enough climbs at every grade to keep everybody happy.

Enchanted Rock

Perhaps the most pristine, beautiful rock formation in South Texas. This giant granite dome protrudes from the Texas Hill Country, just north of Fredricksburg. There are numerous other granite formations towering out of the ground as well. This is the premier destination for trad and three pitch sport climbs in South Texas. At Enchanted Rock you will experience fresh air, gorgeous scenery, and an amazing outdoor experience. This has been one of my favorite destinations, even before I moved to Austin. With a mere hour and a half drive, E-Rock (as the locals call it), makes for an easy day trip with excellent climbing.

Camping at Enchanted Rock is plentiful, but you better make a reservation. Spots often fill up weeks before. But, if you don’t mind a 2-3 mile hike in you can always camp in the primitive area. This makes for easier access to the longer climbs on the back side of the dome. It’s also more secluded – unless there happens to be a Boy Scout troop nearby. Enchanted Rock also offers miles of hiking trails, including an easy hike up to the top of the dome. It’s very popular amongst the tourists. And, if you are a rock climber, expect a crowd to be watching you climb. It’s almost unnoticeable though, especially on the back side of the dome, because most tourists are off the climbing trail, a couple hundred yards from the wall.

Town Lake

While Town Lake doesn’t offer any climbing. It’s an excellent place for a long or short run, or bike ride. You can chose a three, four, or eight mile loop – or make your run even longer by making another lap around the lake. The Town Lake trail also has numerous access points as well. Even though there are often crowds here, the trail is plenty wide for passing in both directions. There is also a boat rental shop on the lake where you can rent canoes, kayaks, and other water related crafts. The best times to run on the trail are mid day and late evening. I always find running during peak hours energizing though. I tend to run better when other people are around. I feed off the energy of other runners.

If you are an outdoor enthusiast like myself, Austin is a GREAT place to live. There is a huge fitness and outdoors community and plenty of ways to get involved. If you are a cyclist or runner most all the shops in town offer group rides and runs. There are also a couple of different rock climbing groups that make getting plugged into the climbing community very easy. The easy access to recreation is one of my favorite things about this awesome city. I couldn’t see myself living anywhere else in Texas. If I ever move away, there is a good chance it will be some place like Boulder where recreational access is just as easy and the landscape is an added bonus.

In other news, Adventure Naturals is now FULLY funded on Kickstarter, but please keep those donations coming. Our startup costs exceed the $5,000 we raised already. All excess funds will go directly back into the business. We especially need help with the advertising and promotion side of things. Especially in our early stages.

Climbing, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Running by OrganicClimber
austin, cycling, Enchanted Rock, greenbelt, outdoors, reimer's ranch, rock climbing, Running, texas, town lake, trails
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Okay, peeps. We still need your help to launch Adventure Naturals. We have 30 days left to raise $3,000 but I believe we can do it with your help. If you haven’t checked out our video yet, please do. If you haven’t donated yet, please consider making a donation of $35 or more, but anything you can give will help. Don’t put if off to the last minute either, your likely to forget

Our energy bars are 100% organic, all-natural, raw, vegan, and gluten free. Not only that, but they are very delicious. This air-dried bars are packed full of nutrients and are sure to provide you with an abundance of energy.

Health & Fitness, RAW Food by OrganicClimber

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Ok, now this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard… a zero calorie energy drink. Seriously? The only people that will fall victim to this gimmick is likely the average “health conscience” consumer who are somewhat clueless to what actual energy and food really is. Gatorade has a low calorie sport drink, but PowerAde is trying to one up them with a zero calorie beverage. They are taking the angle of carbohydrates as a source of fuel, and are claiming athletes don’t want, “wasted calories.”

Carbohydrates alone won’t continue fueling your body for long without essential calories. Simply put, calories translate to energy, but so do carbohydrates, right? So what is wrong with a zero calorie drink that has zero calories? Well, can you think of a high carbohydrate food without any calories? One medjool date alone contains 66 calories and is packed full of carbs (18 grams). To put it simply, PowerAde zero is highly unnatural.

Just look at the standard list of ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, salt, potassium citrate, phenylalanine, sucralose, sodium citrate, malic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, etc. Notice any natural ingredients in that list, other than water and salt? I sure don’t. Nothing in this beverage is natural, other than the water. This beverage is the last thing I would want to consume during or after exercise.

So what does make up a good energy drink? There are very few beverages on the market I would consider a good energy drink, but you can create your own, highly nutritious energy drink that packs a punch. Below is a recipe based of Brendan Brazier’s spots drink from his book, The Thrive Diet.

Homemade Energy Drink

• 2 cups of water
• juice of one lemon
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 4 medjool dates
• 2 TBSP of agave nectar (optional)
• 2 tsp of coconut oil (optional)
• pinch of sea salt

Directions: Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until mixture is drinkable

I have used the above recipe to help provide energy during half marathons and long bike rides. Combined with my shot blok recipe, the pack quite the punch. Not only is it 100% all-natural, it’s highly nutritious and good for you. Since discovering this wonderful recipe, I have always made my own energy drink. The taste is great too, it has plenty of carbohydrates, salt and coconut oil – to help replenish electrolytes, and CALORIES, to help provide you with lasting energy.

Also, on a side note. We are still raising funds for Adventure Naturals on Kickstarter, and we still need your help. We are currently close to 40% funding and have just over 30 days left to meet our $5,000 goal. So, help us bring our 100% organic, raw, vegan, gluten free, energy bars and seasoned nuts to market. Please consider donating at the $35 level or greater, but anything you can give is greatly appreciated and needed.

Recipes, Whacky Wednesday by OrganicClimber
beverage, calorie, energy drink, exercise, fitness, health, zero
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Every year around this time, I sit down with my journal and reflect on the previous year and journal my new years resolutions. They are always legit though, they are never cheesy, unattainable or campy. But, this year I thought I would go a step further and set some health related resolutions, or goals if you will. It’s hard to say how they will shape up for me since I’m in a crazy chapter of my life right now, but by far the best chapter to date. So, without further or do, here are my healthy goals for 2011.

Start Running Again
2010 delivered a hard hit, drastically diminishing my climbing, running and cycling time. On, October 1st I was hit by a car on my bike and have been suffering from bone contusions, torn meniscus, and a bulging disc ever since. I still haven’t fully recovered from those injuries. I actually wasn’t even missing running that much until I went on a few walks around Town Lake recently and saw runners all around. I longed to ignore the doctors advice and run my heart out. So, it is my hope that the Occupational Therapist will place me into physical therapy so I can get over these nagging injuries. A follow up visit should be in my near future.

Climb More

Since getting engaged in July, and married in November, life has been hectic. Even though I live in Austin, close to great rock climbing-  right in town; I haven’t had much time to climb. Life has been filled with wedding planning, visiting families, attending other weddings, and holiday traveling. Hopefully things will calm down in the new year, and I will be able to work climbing back into my schedule. It’s also hard because I can’t boulder due to the torn meniscus in my knee (the repeated falling would not be good for it), which means, no easy trips to the gym without a partner for an evening of enjoyment. The bright side of this is, I will be forced to climb outside more and meet people in the climbing community here in Austin.

Drink Less Coffee
I hate to admit it, it’s a pride thing. But, from August 2010 until now I have drank more coffee in that time than I have in 2009-July 2010 combined. How did this happen? Well, It started off as one cup a week, gradually increased to three, and then became five or more cups per week when I moved to Austin and began working in coffee shops daily on my startup business Adventure Naturals. But, in 2011 I hope to curb the “addiction,” which at this point is only mental. Too much caffeine, in addition to the added sweetener I pour into the cup is not exactly good for me. Additionally it’s dehydrating, and I can truly tell. After drinking 12-16 ounces I am left extremely dehydrated and feel a dry sensation all throughout my body. It isn’t exactly pleasant.

Launching Adventure Naturals
If you aren’t tired of hearing about this yet, you eventually will be! Actually, I hope you are not. I hope my excitement for creating 100% organic, mostly raw, energy bars and snacks becomes contagious. There is nothing better than fueling the body an all natural, raw, and organic foods. We are still raising our startup funds on Kickstarter and are working on refining our business plan while we get ready to start production in early March, but it will only happen if our project meets the goal.

I have had a huge passion for raw foods ever since I started including them into my diet back in August of 2008. Ever since then I have seen a HUGE increase in my overall health and fitness level. Raw foods really have changed my life, and I want to help them transform your life too.

Establish a good work-life balance
I spent seven years of my life working in jobs I hated. I was never truly passionate about any of them, so maintaining a work-life balance was not very difficult. I was always out the door at 5pm. Now, things have changed. I love what I am doing and am extremely passionate about it. I’m always anxious to start my work day and feel like I can work well into the night. So, far overworking has not been difficult, but I fear that as Adventure Naturals becomes a success it may not be as easy. So, my hope is that I will not let work rule my life, but I make sure I spend time with family, fiends, and exercising.

Stricter standards on my diet

Since moving to Austin, I sort of let myself go in terms of what I eat. I allowed myself to truly enjoy the wonderful eateries here in Austin after first moving here, and I certainly enjoyed my share of sweets during the holidays. But in 2011 I hope to start fresh and make sure I am only eating whole, nutritious food.

My wife has recently been reading the book, Crazy Makers, and through listening to her tell me about it I have been reminded just how much crap is in the food out there; I really has a huge effect on us and our children. I also reflect back on how I felt when my raw food intake as much higher and realize how much of a difference healthy eating can make in your life. If I was able to be strict about it before, I certainly can do it again. But at the same time, I feel “strict” is the wrong word. I think appropriate and good may be a better way to describe it. There is certainly a time and place for indulgence.

Healthy Reading
In 2011 I also hope to read more books about healthy eating as well as natural remedies. I’m already having a hard enough time being on prescription medication for a neurological disorder. I truly believe that we can prevent a lot of sickness through eating a healthier diet and we can also cure our general sickness with natural remedies, instead of using prescription drugs that fill our bodies with unnatural substances and have an acidifying effect on the body, thus reducing our immune systems in the long run. I find that reading about healthy eating also helps remind me why it is so important. I also learn through continued education. If I’m not continually learning about a certain topic I quickly forget about it.

20011 is definitely going to be an exciting year for me. I’ve never been more excited about a new year. What are some of your goals for the new year?

Climbing, Cross Training, Cycling, Health & Fitness by OrganicClimber

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