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

Sometimes the unexpected happens, and it’s always unexpected! Sometimes it’s something as small and petty as running out of gas or losing your car keys, thus making you late for an appointment. Other times it’s mind blowing; like your former ex-girlfriend traveling 235 miles (four hours) just to tell you she loves you!

This is exactly what happened to me recently. It was unexpected because I had spent that last four months moving on and focusing on a move to Colorado as I posted here. We had previously dated for 4-5 months two years ago, but broke up after she moved to Austin. I had never truly gotten over her. After a recent attempt to reconnect back in October I decided it was time to cut off communication the following January. It was a very difficult decision, as I cared a lot for this girl. But wanting to be able to move on and love again I decided it was best. I didn’t know it at the time, but she took the cutting of ties fairly hard, but at the time it still didn’t change how she felt about me.

During the time we didn’t communicate I began to “get over her” and eventually got to a point where I could see myself dating somebody else seriously. I had also begun to feel like I was called to Colorado as well as to make a huge career change. In hind-sight I feel like these things were a divine distraction as I had never totally forgot about her. At times I would ponder ways that God could potentially put us back together, such as her getting transferred out to Colorado at the same time I moved, but none of that was even possible considering the organization she works for, and their location.

Four months after I had cut off communication is when I had the surprise of my life. I was at home on a Friday night packing boxes and getting ready for my move to Colorado, even though I didn’t yet know when it would be. At one point I had picked up my cell phone and saw that I had a call from her. I was pleasantly surprised, but at the same time wondered why in the world she was calling after I had cut things off. The ironic thing is I hadn’t even deleted her from my phone (even though I almost did at one point), so I knew it was her.

Her voicemail stated that she was going to be in town for business the next day and wanted to see if it was okay for us to meet and talk. I figured that she had just heard I was moving to Colorado and wanted to talk to me one last time before I moved. For a moment I thought maybe she was going to tell me she wanted to get back together, but I immediately dismissed it, not wanting to dwell on it and get my hopes up.

The next morning we meet up and ate breakfast at our favorite breakfast place Old West Café. It was here she sprung on me a somewhat long story about the changes she was going through in her life and how she had been given a change of heart. It was even unexpected for her. It sort of come out of nowhere, but we both believe it was God given. She proceeded to tell me that she loved me. I also found out at this point she had made the four hour drive just to tell me she loved me. THAT was her “business”.

Being bewildered and guarded I didn’t say much. Out of nowhere the girl I had loved for so long shows up out of the blue and blew my mind; and in my mind, at the time, wasting away my plans to move to Colorado. But, I pretty much instantly knew I was no longer going to Colorado and I would be staying behind in Texas. Even though I had said I would never again, not move because of a girl, this was different though – it was love!

So over the next few days I thought and prayed a lot about it. I didn’t want to make a rash decision and wanted counsel from friends and family. I didn’t want to admit at first that I was going to abandon my plans to move to Colorado, but a friend pointed out that it sounded like I already knew in my heart what I wanted to do. He was right! So, the following Wednesday we talked for about an hour on the phone and decided to pursue a relationship again, but were going to take it easy at first. She also came back into Denton that next week and by the end of the weekend I was positive I wanted to be with her again. The only thing that was holding me back was fear of future rejection and leaving behind what I thought I was supposed to do. But I had to let go of that fear and step forward in faith, and so far it has been amazing.

One thing this has already reminded me of is that we often have our own plans and ideas, but that is not always the best. There is an often a better path for us to take even though they may not seem like it at first and other times the better path is obvious. When doors just open and things fall into place, you just know. But in both situations the end of the road makes you a better person and brings you joy, even if it’s through trial.

So, all this to say; my plans to move to Colorado are temporarily on hold. For now I have decided to move to Austin, Texas to be with the girl I love. I’m excited about moving forward, not just because of Kristy, but because of Austin. Although it has always been my second choice I still see a lot of great opportunities here and there is quality rock climbing close by in addition to great hills for running and biking. The future looks bright and lots of change surely lies ahead. And as a side note if you need a freelance web designer or photographer in Austin let me know. I’m available for work!

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
austin, Climbing, Colorado, life, love, texas
3 comments

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For some reason I have always been a person that wants confirmation about their decisions. I want to know that it’s the right thing to do. I fear being wrong or making the wrong choice. For years I have been crippled with fear about various decisions and happenstances in life, but lately I feel like I have been making a break through. I have been making some really big decisions lately. One is selling my house and the other is making a career change and leaving Texas.

I have recently been working with a Career Coach in regards to making this career shift. It’s something I have felt I needed to do for years, but was just afraid to. Mainly because it felt impractical and I had built up certain skill sets that I felt were my only marketable skill. I have since learned though that is not true, and in order to find work that is truly satisfying you have to be bold. You have to step forward in faith, even be willing to fail in order to learn what will not work.

For as long as I can remember this Texas born child has wanted to move to Colorado, I have just felt called there. Perhaps it’s the climber in me, or maybe it’s in my blood, my mom lived their when she was younger. Either way, I have denied this calling for years. It has largely been out of fear – fear of leaving the City I have spent my entire life – fear of leaving friends and family and having to start over.

But, I am finally overcoming that fear. I have taken the first big step by selling my house, and now I begin stepping out in a new direction in terms of my career. I have never been that good at graphic design, there are parts of it I enjoy, but lots of it drives me crazy. I’m finding I’m more of a people person, I’m to relational to be spending a majority of my time pushing pixels. So, I will be taking some big risks this year – risks that I feel will be rewarding.

I will essentially be starting over with my career, or what I am now calling my vocational calling. Rather than just looking for a job, I am seeking out what I am truly called to do. I plan on seeking work that will fulfill and bring me excitement. I used to think it was extremely selfish to plan your life around your career, but I am learning that isn’t true. We SHOULD plan the life we want to live around or career, not our job around the life we hope to live. Life itself is more important than work, but at the same time I believe work should really be an extension of who we are.

I believe I posses God given talents and skills that I can use to fulfill what I am truly meant to do. To an extent there is still a discovery process of what that will be, but I have a much clearer picture now of the direction I need to go in life. One of the first steps will be moving to Colorado.

Lately it seems like that dream is unfolding before my very eyes and yet doubt and hesitation enters my mind. That crippling fear I thought I was overcoming starts to take a hold again. But when I was out on a run this evening an overwhelming since of peace overcame me, maybe it was just a runner’s high, I don’t know, but I felt confident about my decision. I even began to tear up a bit as I ran.

Currently there are still a lot of unknowns, like when or will I actually move, will I have a job, will I have a place to live, what will I do with all this crap I own before I move – I don’t feel like taking it all with me. I’m confident though that everything will pan out just right. It’s just frustrating when you can’t see the details. As much as some people may tell you that you are in control of your destiny, the simple fact that I can’t see how things are going to happen is proof that ultimately we are not in control. But that does not stop us from having to make decisions, even if they are risky.

I’m likely going to have to sacrifice some comfort with a lot of these decisions, but I think in the end the payoff will be huge! I’m thinking five year plan here, not instant gold mine. I’m psyched about the next several months to come. I think they are going to be very exciting. I know this post is somewhat vague, but I will reveal more details as things become more concrete. But I can say it looks like I will be moving to Colorado, and it looks like I have a job lined up.

In other news, I will be running the Big D Half Marathon this Sunday. This is possibly my last race in Texas, unless of course I come to visit for a race. I was also planning on climbing in Arkansas the following weekend, but that has been postponed for a visit to Colorado… who knows, maybe I will get a pitch or two of climbing in there – I definitely won’t leave home without my gear.

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
career, Colorado, dream, job, success, vocation
6 comments

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I apologize for neglecting the blog lately. Life has been extremely busy lately, I have not even been to the climbing gym in over a week, and struggle to even get my runs in, although I have managed to work in the last two days, but at the expense of not going to the climbing gym. I will make up for that tomorrow evening though and next weekend when I head back up to Arkansas for some more crag development.

I’m sort of sad I have been neglecting things lately because I have several blog ideas spinning around in my head, one of them will require a lot of time to work on, but the post will be good once it’s complete. It will be one all you aspiring raw foodies will love.

I have also been preoccupied with Career Coaching. I recently hired a Career Coach to help me find my vocational calling. I have known for quite some time that the work I have been doing full time is not what I am truly cut out for. So far my coaching has affirmed that and I now know without a doubt I need a career change… my well being and livelihood depends on it. I am looking forward to the ongoing coaching at what it will reveal about my true calling in life. I look forward to sharing more about this with you as well.

There is also other potentially exciting news as well, but it’s really way to early to share it, but it is partly why I have been so busy and neglecting the blog. But once I am able to tell you the reason I suspect you will be psyched for me! Anyway, enough with the excuses. One bit of news I can share with you is that I will be Running the half in the Big D Marathon on Sunday, April 11. This will be my third half marathon. I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to my first run over 13.1 this weekend. I will be heading out to White Rock Lack with a couple of other running friends to run 14-15 miles. They were only wanting 14, but I casually suggested 15, so we shall see what happens. Hopefully we all don’t break down at 13.5.

Well, I better get to bed now, it’s nearly 10:30 and I actually wanted to be in bed a half hour ago. So please forgive any typos or misspellings. I didn’t proof anything.

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
Big D, excuses, half marathon, lame, Running, sorry, update, White Rock Lake
No comments

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Wow, I can’t believe I let an entire week go by without posting any other content. Life has been pretty hectic lately. Last week I think I only ran once and never even once made it to the climbing gym! I spent last Thursday – Sunday night at the NX35 Conferette in Denton, Texas. It was quite amazing. Flaming Lips, Midlake and StarDeath and White Dwarfs headlined the festival. But anyway, on to the smoothie recipe.

This was another little “accident” because I thought I was out of bananas, but turns out there was a batch hiding in a canvas grocery bag sitting on the counter. After  three nights of being up late going to shows I found myself scrounging for fruit Sunday morning before church and rummaged up half a bag of frozen mangoes, some frozen strawberries I stole from my roommate (Phillip if you are reading this I’m buying more) and some frozen grapes. So, I tossed them all in the Vita-Mix along with some hemp milk, agave nectar, vanilla extract, hemp seed powder and greens powder and then blended it all up.

The Recipe

• 1/2 bag of frozen mangoes
• small amount of frozen strawberries
• hand full or two of frozen grapes
• 2-4 TBSP of agave nectar
• 1 small cap full of vanilla extract (note: my cap is very small)
• Optional: greens powder and/or hemp seed protein*

* another option is fresh pinach, I made this smoothie twice already, second time was using fresh greens.

RAW Food, Smoothie Tuesday, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
grapes, hemp milk, mango, mangoes, RAW, smoothie, strawberries, vanilla extract
No comments

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The Cowtown was my second every Half Marathon. The first being the Dallas White Rock. This race was marked by significant improvement. I knocked about six minutes off my previous time, and kept a very consistent pace throughout the entire course. My previous half had a very sporadic pace, but this one was pretty even across the board. This of course is assuming the data that RunKeeper gave me was accurate. Below is the elevation profile of the course (in green) along with my pace (in blue). And below that are my splits for the run.

Notice I briefly ran 44.5 mph, that felt great

RunKeeper Data

My goal going into this race was to finish with a time of 1:50. I was also fortunate enough to be able to start off my run with an awesome runner named Erika from New York who I had meet the night before at our DFW Runner’s Tweetup at Button’s in Fort Worth. She had come down to run the race, and visited friends and family. I actually don’t think I would have run so well if it hadn’t been for her. We started off running together, but she expected me to break away at any minute. Erika even asked me when I was going to speed up, I felt as though I needed to and planned on kicking up the pace up around mile two.

So, after crossing the mile-two marker I made my break, but not to long after that Erika was right there with me again. After talking to her later after the race she had felt I was going slow and wasn’t going to be able to make my pace, but little did she know we were at an 8:30 pace. But after running with my new friend a bit longer I speed off again but soon found myself gradually slowing down without realizing it, or Erika just kicked it into high gear, because soon after I found her in front of me sometime after mile four (it was probably Erika speeding up though as my pace in mile 4 was the fastest at 8:17. Determined to not let her fall out of sight, I kept up pace just a few strides behind and was back by her side again around mile five.

We probably stuck together again for about .75 miles until we hit a nice steady down hill and one of my favorite running songs came on through my headphones, so I kicked it back into high gear and began a passing frenzy. It was also around this time the raw energy bites and gel I had been consuming kicked in and gave me my second wind. It wasn’t until just after mile eight that I saw Erika again on the other side of a switchback waving and smiling as we passed each other.

Throughout this run, I was experiencing a lack of motivation from the spectators that I had enjoyed during the Dallas White Rock Marathon. Only on occasion would you see a small group of people standing and cheering you on. The highlight of the run was the Thriller Dancers (dressed as the dead from the famous Michael Jackson video) along mile 10 or 11.  I have realized one of the biggest parts of these runs is having fun. So, seeing characters like this brings a smile to my face, and I was grinning from ear to ear while giving them hand slaps as I ran by.

But just before seeing these friendly dead guys I was attempting to reference my GPS, which was in my back cycling jersey pocket, and in doing so I pulled out my fuel bites, dropping them on the course, but rather than pick them up I kept going. Around mile 10 I was wishing I still had the fuel bites, as I was nearly out of my raw energy drink. I had even taken water from a few aid stations this time, something I only did once during the White Rock.

Despite being a bit energy depleted I was determined to finish strong in the last three miles. So, I gave myself two goals; one, let as few runners pass me as possible, and two focus one one runner ahead of me at a time and then pass them. This proved to be pretty effective, as I continued to maintain a steady pace. It helped keep my mind of things like side cramps that would occasionally hit, dehydration, shoulder pain and fatigue.

The final 1.1 miles was perhaps the most brutal of the day. I opted to pass up water at the last aid station so I could keep up my pace. I had about two squirts of energy drink left at this point and finished them off pretty soon after passing the aid station up. I also thought I still had a chance of making my 1:50 goal as well.

With about .75 miles left to go I checked the GPS again, only to see that I was probably not going to quite meet my goal. I was still determined to try thought and did my best to kick up the pace a bit, but the effort to do so felt futile. No matter how hard I tried, it felt like I wasn’t going any faster. But as I rounded the last corner I had .20 miles left to go and began to pick up the pace even more.

Once I hit the 13 mile mark I put forth my best effort of a sprint. Crossing over the finish line I nearly tripped over a kid that decided it would be a great idea to just stop as soon as he crossed the line. Thankfully I had already crossed the chip check point so I wasn’t slowed down any, but I did stumble over him. After my near fall I checked my GPS to find I ran exactly 13.1 miles! You laugh, but you may remember I ended up running 13.27 in the White Rock Half Marathon. My finish time was 1:51:55, official chip time was 1:51:54 making this a personal record. Feels kind of weird saying that, considering I have only run two half marathons so far.

Even thought I didn’t meet my goal, I was still very happy with my time. I shave more than six minutes off my previous half marathon time. I guess the bright side of this is that I can keep my goal time at 1:50 for my next half marathon, but if I happen to beat that then all the better. After grabbing my finishers metal and a cup of water I waited for Erika to cross the line because I knew she wouldn’t be far behind.

And sure enough, she crossed soon after and we congratulated each other on a great run. We also had another friends near by that had run in the 10K race, so after talking to them a bit we grabbed our race shirts , goodie bags and food and checked into the expo tent where more race friend were hanging out. This was definitely a better race in terms of having support from other fellow runners. The last race I only really had one other friend running, but now because of Twitter, I have a whole slew of friends running races and providing encouragement. As stupid as it sounds, social networking really is amazing. It has allowed me to meet so many new people.

After we were done hanging out in the Expo tent Kris, Melissa and I (also friends from Twitter) headed down to the original Fuzzy’s Tacos on the campus of TCU for a great post race meal. I had a couple of black bean tacos along with tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa and queso.

I capped off my day with an afternoon of slacklining with some climbing friends at a park in Richardson. The weather was gorgeous, it was so nice to be outdoors barefoot in shorts and a t-shirt. I think I really wore myself out that day, but it was worth it.

p.s. next race I will try to remember to take some iPhone camera photos. I intended to do that at the start of the race and at the finish, but totally forgot.

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
Cowtown, dallas white rock, Fort Worth, half marathon, marathon, personal record, PR, slacklining
3 comments

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Last night I was running the Cowtown Half Marathon, but something was strange. I was running with my Patagonia puffy down jacked, but even more odd, I was carrying my sister’s little annoying chihuahua named Daisy. I hate this do, so I have no idea why I was running with her. But, along the way I realized I was running by my house and I could quickly run by, ditch the dog and take off the jacket that was making me hot.

As I approached the front door of my house I realized I didn’t have the key. I thought about just ditching the jacket on the front porch but then remembered I had that annoying dog taking residents in my coat. So, I ran to the back door to find my spare key, quickly unlocked the door, tossed the dog inside along with my coat and was back on course as quickly as I could get there.

I had lost way more time than I wanted to though by the drop-off. I began to wonder if I was going to even meet my goal. To make this matter even more difficult I had to stop along the way during the race to talk to a friend. As we sat chatting I saw the pack of runners start to dwindle to the point there was nobody else running. Looking at my watch I saw that time was slipping away, so I referenced my GPS which appeared out of nowhere and had the course map on it, but the screen kept doing funny things and I couldn’t figure out how far I had run or how much further I had to go.

At this point I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to meet my goal but knew I still had to finish the race. As I began making my way up a large hill from the place I was meeting with a friend I noticed there was no longer any road closures ahead and that people that had been watching the race were heading back to their cars. Now traffic was another hindrance to my progress in the race. I was extremely frustrated and couldn’t understand why so many things were keeping me from running.

The bright side of the race though was the sky’s were completely clear, the sun was shining and the temperatures mild. It was a perfect day for running. I even wore my large aviator style sun glasses which I always feel a tad bit goofy wearing when participating in sports. I would much rather be wearing a cool stylish pair of Oakly Flak Jackets. It was around this time that reality kicked in… I woke up. Ahh, thank God it was all just a dream. My first ever dream about running, and bad one at that. I have had numerous climbing dreams which are ironically usually always bad, not a horrific type bad but just things you would never want to happen in real life.

This all makes me wonder, does carb loading cause bad dreams? Perhaps it does, but possibly no more than cutting carbs out completely as this article suggest about people on the Atkins diet. I recently read that carbs increase your serotonin levels, which also helps you stay asleep, I can see since eating mostly all raw the past few days I have slept better. There could be some sort of link here, but not likely. I guess it’s just race anxiety. Fellow Twitterer @jldrunner also had a “bad” running dream last night as well.

Today I will be truly carb loading though, eating more than twice the amount of fruit I ate yesterday. It should be interesting to see if any more crazy dreams occur tonight as a result of the increase intake, but even then it would be hard to determine if that was the cause. I have always been interested though in what causes dreams and what things we consume that contributes to them. I would be interested to know more. So, if anybody is aware of any studies published out there in the world wide web please share them below in the comments.

Anyway, happy carb loading to all you runners out there racing tomorrow, and to all you climbers I hope the weather is nice to you. Oh, and try loading up on fruit the day before and during your climbs. You will be surprised how much more energy it gives you.

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
carb loading, carbohydrates, carbs, Climbing, Cowtown Marathon, dream, dreaming, dreams, Running
No comments

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First of all, I apologize for not bringing you Smoothie Tuesday yesterday. The Holiday’s have me all out of whack. Even though I was at home all evening, I was too busy relaxing and enjoying the third snow of the winter, which is very unusual for North Texas.

Today I thought I would share you my tips for staying green and reducing your carbon footprint. These green tips are all things I practice myself or will be implementing in the very near future. Feel free to comment and add your own green tips.

• Use less paper products. Did you really need to print out that email? What about that article online you wanted to read? Think twice about printing documents from your computer. Another way of saving paper that I plan on implementing in the new year is using less paper towels. I plan on buying several cheap cloth towels to use instead of paper towels. This will also save money in the long run.
  

  Canvas bag from greendaily.com

• Stop using plastic grocery store bags. It is now a pet peeve of mine when a store clerk bags up my one or two items I can easily carry out with my own two hands. I almost always catch this now and let them know I don’t need a bag. Canvas bags are great to use when you have a larger load to haul out of the store. I have collected a few over the past year and keep them in my car so I always have them when I go to the store.
• Recycle produce bags. One can not help but use the plastic bags provided in the produce department to carry their lot of apples or bulk salad greens, but there is no reason you have to take a new bag every single time. I save as many of them I can and reuse them until they form holes in the bottom. They also make small reusable canvas bags for produce as well. The only thing I don’t like about them is they weigh more than a plastic bag and you will pay more for your produce or bulk food item.
• Reuse those glass jars and plastic containers. No need to immediately toss every glass jar and container you use. Rinse out those jars and salad containers and reuse them. I have lots of jars saved that I use as smoothie glasses and holding salad dressings. I reuse salad containers for storing things on camping trips. They are very versatile. A friend of mine told me a story about a house she visited and the family only had recycled glass jars to serve drinks in – not a single store bought glass existed in the home.
• Paperless Billing – This goes right along with using less paper products. Most credit card companies offer paperless billing now. I also know that AT&T offers this to cell phone customers. Almost all my bills are electronic now. This is not only better for me in that it reduces my carbon footprint, but I’m less likely to forget to pay the bill since I don’t pay a lot of attention to the mailbox these days.
  

  Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb

• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) in your home. Almost every single light fixture in my house has a compact fluorescent bulb in it, and once the incandescent bulbs go out they will be replaced with a CFL. These bulbs really do cut down on your energy bill, and they last A LOT longer than your standard light bulb.
• Turn out the lights. As a kid my parents were constantly yelling at me to turn out the light in my room when I wasn’t in it. Granted, the main reason was for saving money on the utility bill, having lights turned off in rooms that are not in use reduces your carbon footprint. I am still guilty of leaving them on from time-to-time, but I always strive to follow this rule.
• Wash all your clothing in cold water. For years now I have been using only cold water to wash my clothing – yes, even my whites. This not only saves on your heating bill, but also your water bill because you can now wash your whites and colors at the same time.
• Take a four minute shower. I’m not very good sticking to this one myself, but some friends of mine actually have an hourglass type timer in their shower timed for four minutes. It doesn’t seem like long enough, but it actually is. When sticking to the 4 minute shower limit I have time to soap up really well, wash my hair rinse and still have about a minute left to just enjoy the water pouring over me.
• Recycle. This one is the most obvious, and almost everybody does it these days. When I first started recycling my main reason was to save money. I was throwing large bulky items into the recycle bin and I was buying less trash bags. But later in life as I became more green my reasons for recycling have changed. I also save lots of cardboard boxes as well. I do this so I have boxes to ship things in and store items in future moves.
  

  Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap

• Use environmentally friendly soaps. My favorite is Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap. I really love the peppermint scented option. These soaps are all natural, good for your skin and environmentally friendly. I also use a “green” laundry detergent as well. About the only soap I don’t use something environmentally friendly for is dish soap, just because I have found them highly ineffective.
• Go Vegetarian. Not many people draw the connection, but going vegetarian reduces your carbon footprint dramatically. By not eating meat you are dramatically reducing greenhouse gases and helping combat global warming. By eliminating (or reducing) meat from your diet you are being a good steward of the environment.

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
carbon, enegy, footprint, global warming, green, greenhouse gases, re-use, recycle, recycling, reuse, savings, tips
3 comments

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This is one of my all-time favorite smoothie recipes. It was one that I made countless times when I first started eating raw foods. This simple green smoothie is brightly colored and is sweet and tasty to boot. All you need is spinach, bananas and water. It’s that simple! Alternatively you can use almond or hemp seed milk to add to the flavor and provide additional nutrients.

The Recipe

• 2 hand fulls of spinach
• 2 bananas
• 6 ice cubes (or omit if your bananas are frozen)
• 1 cup of water or your favorite “milk”
• 2 TBSP of hemp seed protein (totally optional)

Directions: Throw it all in a blender and WHIRRRRR

If you want to spice it up even more use a chocolate greens powder such as Amazing Grass, or just use cacao powder. One of my favorite things about this drink is how much it freaks people out when they say it. Their reaction is always, “eww, your going to drink that”. But I promise, what looks like it flowed right out of a nuclear waste dump is one of the most delicious smoothies you will ever taste.

RAW Food, Recipes, Smoothie Tuesday, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
almond milk, banana, cacao, green, hemp seed, protein, RAW, smoothie, spinach
1 comment

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I’m not sure how else to describe my new found addiction to running and cycling that is now competing with my climbing regime. I never in a million years thought this would happen to me. I mentioned before in other posts how I couldn’t understand my other climber friends lust for anything other than climbing, but now I am right there with them. Climbing is STILL and will remain my first and primary love. Even thought I am running and cycling more, it is simply because it’s easier to do without killing an entire evening.

Anyway, since purchasing my road bike for the purpose of endurance training as I previously posted I finally got go head out on a long ride today. I also left the homemmade gels at home and only brought a bottle of water with the juice of one lime, some agave nectar and sea salt for the purpose of replenishing electrolytes. The reason for doing this is to deprive my body of carbohydrates and teach it to burn fat as energy.

By teaching my body to burn fat for energy I will be able to perform better in a carb depleted state, maintain more energy for a longer period of time and build up a higher tolerance for pain as Matt from No Meat Athlete mentions in his Running Shorts blog.  This is important because there is more energy available in stored fat, this energy source is also more readily available; not to mention sugar burns a lot quicker.

I was also recently reminded of this concept in Brendan Brazier’s Thrive, an amazing book on sports nutrition from the standpoint of a Vegan. Brendan is a huge advocate of eating a highly alkaline diet, which I am also a big proponent of. Our bodies maintain a constant PH level of 7.35, but it has to work hard to maintain that level of PH. We can help our body out thought by eating less acid forming foods and more alkaline foods.

The cleaner and more alkaline foods we eat the less our body has to work to maintain a PH level of 7.35, thus making our bodies more efficient machines and giving us more energy. This is why I tend to eat more raw foods close to race days. I usually shoot for a 100% raw diet in the three days before, but so far have fallen short, mostly due to Holiday parties at work. In the future temptations to deviate will be minimal (at least I hope).

You can find Alkalizing / Acidifying food chart here.  Its best to avoid as many acidifying foods as you can, but many of them are still healthy for you, so it’s important to balance them out with more alkalizing foods.

As far as today’s ride… it was tough. It was extremely windy and there were lots of hills. You can view the elevation profile below the route map. I rode just over 35 miles in about 2 hours and 20 minutes. My time and speed weren’t too bad considering the conditions. I also was feeling a bit light headed at times because of the lack of carbohydrate intake. It was all for the good of endurance training though.

After getting out of the winds on more rural roads without having cars whiz by be at 60mph, the course become enjoyable and I had fun soaking in the quiet countryside, seems like I saw lots of farmers out working too. There were a number of hills though I didn’t get a lot of momentum going up and barely made it to the top. One of them I actually thought I might have to get off my bike and walk, thankfully I pulled through though. Somehow I was able to do quite well on the hills though and powered up them pretty will, which was surprising since I haven’t been on a ride in over a month.

I am looking forward to more and longer rides like this thought. I plan on riding the Hotter than Hell 100 in Wichita Falls in August 2010. I don’t know if I will do the 100K or the 100 mile yet though. More than likely it will just be the 100k. There are a couple other guys I climb with in the Texas Mountaineers that ride the race every year so I will more than likely have somebody to ride with.

On a side note I should be getting back into the climbing grove starting in January, so I will be able to start bringing you some climbing content for a change! Something I am excited about. Also, be looking for the announcement of a new climbing area I know about as well. It will likely excite a lot of trad climbers in North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. That is all I can say for now, but if you dig through past blog entries you will see more information I have leaked!

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
100K, acidifying, alkaline, alkalizing, Brendan Brazier, carbohydrates, carbs, Climbing, cycling, endurance, energy, fat, food, Hotter Than Hell 100, Running, Sports Nutrition, sugar, Thrive, training, vegan
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Well, I wold have to say my first race was a success. I ran with close to 40,000 participants; 5,000 of them being timed runners. I was quite amazed at how so many people could be corralled right in front of City Hall in Downtown Dallas. The timed event was slated to begin at 9 a.m. sharp and the air horn sounded not one second later.  However, I was kind of irritated that there were numerous un-timed runners mixed in with the timed runners. I also initially started out lined up according to my expected pace of 9:15 (finishing time of 1:20) but as I scanned the crowed I realized nobody was actually lining up where they were supposed to, there were little kids with their parents and runners with their dogs (however I was passed around mile 4 by a woman with a stroller), so I pushed myself closer to the start gate and found a favorable spot in the sea of serious runners.

After the horn sounded the mob slowly began to move forward and I noticed the runners on the left side of the street median were moving faster, so I ran across the median and worked my way into the faster group.

Mile 1

The first mile was easy. My pace was 9:35, but I felt slower until I crossed the first mile marker and saw the time clock was under 10 minutes. I knew at that point I was already running faster than I thought I was. I was also surprised that I was passing a lot of people, but at the same time was getting passed a lot as well. It was difficult to work my way through the pack at times, but as faster runners passed me I would file in behind them and follow through the lanes they opened for me. This proved to be pretty efficient. As I neared the first turn I decided to join other runners that had jumped on a sidewalk to pass others in turn. I didn’t feel bad about this, as I read an article in Runners World that said the courses are measured by the shortest distance, so taking the corners only works to your advantage.

Mile 2

It was during mile two that I wasted half the raw energy drink I had made. I began to feel moisture seeping through my glove and when I looked down I saw my pants and glove were covered in the sticky sports dink mixture that contained dates. It was pretty gross, but I jut pressed on through. I had forgotten to push the cap down on the water bottle during the last drink I took. I learned my lesson on that one pretty quick. At this point I also felt slow. I had passed a little girl that couldn’t have been older than five or six and then moments later I found myself passing her AGAIN! At that point I decided I had to pick up the pace, and in doing so I finished that mile with a pace of 8:25.

Mile 3-4

Somewhere during mile three I began to think how in the world am I going to finish this eight mile course, much-less the 13.1 I have coming up in a couple weeks; so I slowed down the pace a bit so I could recover a bit. But I was going way faster than I had thought! I ended up with a 8:25 and 8:22 pace on those two miles. I had no idea how much adrenaline would play a part in the race. I had been told by other runners that it would, but I never would have thought I would feel slow when I was actually pacing faster than I normally run on shorter distances. As I neared the end of mile three I faced a short steep uphill and then a long steady uphill across the aqueduct that goes over the Trinity River. It was here I decided I would take the raw energy gel I had made. But to my dismay the gel wouldn’t come out of the flask. It was too thick, so I unscrewed the cap and scooped out what I could with my tongue and then continued pounding on. About half way through mile four I started experiencing a side stitch and groin pain, but managed to fight through it. It was only the side pain that would eventually leave me, the groin pain stayed with me the rest of the race.

Me, between mile four and five.

Mile 5-6

Even though miles five and six were mostly downhill (after the long gradual uphill) I started feeling really slow, I was getting passed by racers left and right, but mostly left since I took the far right hand side of the road until I neared the turns towards the end of mile five. I thought I was surely losing a lot of time here. I had no idea I was still running pretty strong. I did slow down, but was pacing 9:13 and 9:20 respectively.  That is still faster than I typically run this distance in. Once I got to mile six the clock was broken so I really didn’t know how much time was lost, but this was only to my advantage as It helped motivate me to speed things up.

Mile 7-8

Miles 7-8 went by pretty fast, and I have Rage Against the Machine to partially thank for that. My two favorite songs to run to ended up playing back-to-back on my iPod, and that gave me that extra motivation to speed things up. At this point I began passing lots of people, even those that had previously passed me in miles five and six. Although I did not pass the one person that I wanted to pass. In mile four a woman pushing a baby in a stroller had passed me – THAT made me feel slow. I felt good thought that I had conserved enough energy to pound through the last two miles hard. This was exactly what I hoped I would do.

The start of mile seven was another long gradual uphill across the other side of the aqueduct, but ended in a long steady down hill to just before the finish line. According to my GPS data the last little stretch, that was entirely uphill to the finish line added about 1/10th of a mile to the eight I had already run. Even the route I had traced on Google Pedometer indicated the course was slightly over eight miles. I’m guessing they just wanted it to end right in front of City Hall. But, miles seven and eight ended with a pace of 8:08 and 8:01 – I had no idea I was flying so fast. The last little uphill push to the finish line clocked a pace of 6:54, which was even more of a shocker since it was a steep uphill.

The Finish Line

As I neared the finish line I saw the clock read around 1:10:15. I was stoked; I was going to be able cross the finish line in under 1:11:00, my goal was only 1:20:00, which would give me a pace of 9:15 (what I need to finish the White Rock Marathon Half in 2 hours). So, I kicked it into high gear hoping to cross the line before the clock passed the 1:11:00 mark, I didn’t quite make it, I crossed the line at 1:11:12, but it didn’t dawn on me until later that I actually had crossed the line in less than 1:11:00. My official chip time ended up being 1:10:10, with an average pace of around 8:40.

After I crossed the line I was in pain. The side stitch came back and the groin pain went through the roof. I just wanted to sit down right there, but knew I needed to find some water. As I looked around I didn’t see the water table in sight, but God was looking out for me. I looked down on the ground to see a full unopened water bottle. I quickly scooped it up and consumed the water fairly quickly as I sat at the finish line waiting for some friends to come across.

I am very pleased with how this race turned out. I only hope I can do this well in the Dallas White Rock Marathon in a couple weeks. I am currently recovering from a cold though (that developed the afternoon of the race) so have not been able to get any more runs in. I am hoping to be well enough tomorrow to start running again. I don’t think it’s likely I will get in a single 13 mile run before the race, but I have hit close to 12 already so I know I can finish. Just hoping I am able to finish strong!

Race Results

Chip Time: 1:10:10
Male Age 30-34: 153 out of 342
Overall: 1,618 out of 4,462 (timed runners)

Complete RunKeeper Data

Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
8 mile, dallas ymca, race, run, Running, thanksgiving, turkey trot
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