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

Bee Cave Bike Ride

This past Saturday, I went on my first bike ride since moving to Austin. I teamed up with a group ride that left from Mellow Johny’s bike shop in downtown Austin – the shop is owned by Lance Armstrong. I was torn between two different rides they offered, one of them being a slower paced ride that explored the bike routes of Austin, the other being a faster paced ride that leads you outside of town through the scenic hill country. I ended up opting for the second ride, because I figured I would be bored riding 12 mph and having to wait for people every few blocks. I’m very glad I chose the faster ride, we ended up getting back from our 35 mile ride around the same time the other group got back from their 15 mile ride.

The ride left from the bike shop in downtown Austin and headed out west, down Bee Cave road. The highway eventually ends up in the town of Bee Cave where we turned around. I don’t know the exact distance for the trip out, because I accidently paused RunKeeper at one of the stops. The ride was a “no drop ride”, meaning that no rider is left behind. We had about three stops total through the course of the trip.

Coming from North Texas, I expected the hills to be a bit of a challenge, but surprisingly I found myself doing fairly well. I never had any problems making it up the hills, and often times I was at the head of the pack going up the hills. I did however end up getting passed on a few of them towards the top of the hill. I am definitely not as efficient at attacking the hills as I could be. I’m sure I will learn though the more I ride. Throughout the course of the ride we had well over 2,00 feet of elevation gain.

The scenery was amazing too. It beats riding down the flat lands of North Texas. The surroundings themselves make the ride more enjoyable. I can hardly wait until the next ride. I look forward to trying out other routes and pressing my limits. I’ve already been tempted to upgrade my bike to a carbon frame after visiting another local bike shop and learning of the advantages a carbon frame brings. During this trip the faster people in the group had a max average speed of 18.5 mph. On a carbon frame I would probably easily be riding 21+ mph. However, with climbing and running being a huge hobby of mine too, I’m unsure if I will ever make that investment.

To fuel my ride I consumed a delicious smoothie and drank lots of water. I did however feel lacking in the energy department during the ride. I felt I would have performed a lot better had I brought a little bit of food with me. On my next long ride I will be sure to pack some raw snacks with me. I had planned on doing that for this ride, but never got around to making anything.

The bike community here is pretty huge. There are numerous bike lanes and excellent bike routes. Just check out this bike route map of the city. I plan on riding my bike around town for general commuting purposes a lot on the near future. The first week I spent just getting used to being here and this week it has been raining every day. Hopefully, I will begin my bike commuting habit very soon.

I am very excited to live in such a bike friendly city. Not only do I look forward to more bike commuting, but getting plugged into that community and meeting other people that are passionate about cycling and bike commuting.

Cross Training, Cycling by OrganicClimber
austin, bee cave, biking, community, cycling, hill country, ride, texas
1 comment

Both feet after my first ever barefoot run. The grass was nice and wet and the earth damp and moist.

Last night I had my first taste of barefoot running. Prior to last night I had pretty much dismissed it completely and never saw it as something I would ever want to do. This sort of surprises a lot of people seeing as it’s often referred to as “natural running,” and I’m all about the all natural thing. But last nights experience was quite pleasant.

This week has been, and will continue to be a very busy week. The week ended up being short due to visiting my girlfriend in Austin, so I was a bit shocked when I realized late on Monday that it was actually Tuesday. My time frame for getting things done was dwindling. Still needing to get a lot done last night I decided to just go on a short run rather than a longer run.

Seeing how I was only planning on running two miles I thought it might be nice to change things up a bit and give myself a challenge since I was running a shorter distance – I decided to give barefoot a try. After getting a bit of advice from my roommate who only goes barefoot (even to work) I threw on my running shorts and shirt, and was out the door.

Close up of my left foot after my first ever barefoot run. Four miles and the little piggies don't look too bad, eh?

About one mile into the run I was feeling pretty good and decided to run another quarter mile or so – keep in mind I still have the return trip to the house. After finishing the extra quarter mile I was feeling great and decided to keep going. I was alternating back and forth between the sidewalk and the grass. Mostly because of dark areas in the grass where I could not really see what was there.

When running in the grass I felt alive as I felt the wet grass and earth crush between my toes with each step. I hadn’t felt this alive since the first time I ran six miles, which was the launching pad for me getting into running seriously. I spent the next mile alternating between sprints and jogs, It felt great. It was a great experience because I needed inspiration to keep running. For the past few months I have been out of routine and less motivated to run.

The newness of barefoot running was exactly what I needed to get my head back in the game. I believe I bit off more than I could chew during my first run tough. When I got back and calculated the miles it turns out I ran four whole miles! Usually when I read other’s blog posts about their first experience with barefoot running, they only run a mile or two at the most.

Needless to say, my calves are barking today. I’m wobbling around all stiff legged and slow. I’m surprised nobody at work has asked me what’s wrong yet. I will have to make sure to stretch those suckers out good tonight. Hopefully I will be able to get one more barefoot run in before I leave for Colorado. I can see this becoming an obsession.

Vibram Five Finger Shoes

Oh, not only did I run further than I probably should have, I was completely barefoot. Most people transition into barefoot by wearing shoes such as the Vibram Five Fingers. But, I can be stubborn about stuff like that. I wanted to do it, so I did it. However, I do think I might eventually buy a pair so I can go trail running when I move to Austin. It would be awesome to go zipping past hikers and clumsy mountain bikers in a pair of those!

Who knows, eventually I may even run the trails completely barefoot. But, I will more than likely stick to something like the Five Fingers for trails since I am first and foremost a climber. I wouldn’t want to go tearing up my feet and not be able to climb. I’m actually glad I didn’t really tear up the bottom of my feet before my Colorado trip. Had I done that, the six mile hike in to the base of Crestone Needle would have been pretty brutal.

Cross Training, Running by OrganicClimber
barefoot, inspiration, Running, virbram five fingers
3 comments

Raw Shot Bloks before going through the dehydrator. The battery went dead on my camera before I could snap the finished shot.

Over the past month or so, I have heard numerous runners talk about or tweet about Cliff Shot Bloks. After finding out what the were, I decided I could make my own raw homemade version of them. What I developed was based on the energy gels and drinks I have seen in Brendan Brazier’s Thrive Diet, but I went the extra mile with mine and added chocolate flavoring!

What I developed was a calorie rich droplets that provide carbs, protein and electrolytes. Each droplet contains: dates, agave nectar, cacao powder (for a yummy chocolate flavor), chia seeds (for a longer release of energy and protein), lemon and lime juice, and ground sunflower seeds for their anti-inflammatory effects. The dates are a good source of carbohydrates and are also high in calories. The chia seeds help slow down the break-down of glucose, thus giving you longer lasting energy, the lemon and lime juice assist in replenishing electrolytes. The sunflower seeds were sort of added on accident because I didn’t have pumpkin seeds, but I’m thinking the sunflower seeds were the better option because they are high in protein and have anti-inflammatory properties.

I used the shot bloks the next morning on my 10 mile run. I didn’t cary any energy gels, just the bloks and a raw energy drink I made. I felt pretty charged the entire run, I think things really started kicking in around mile five; at this point I had consumed around five of the ten bloks I carried with me. I brought 10 bloks with me, but probably only consumed eight of those ten because I dropped the bag I was carrying them in at some point.

The only draw back I found was that the bloks mash together fairly easily. I had placed them in the back pocket of my bike jersey that I wore for the run and ended up sitting back on them on the drive to the trail, what I ended up with was shot mush instead of bloks,  but they were still fairly easy to consume. I would suggest dehydrating the blocks for longer so they harden up a bit more than they did for me, but also proper storage will help keep your blocks in tact.

These tasty little treats would be great for taking on long runs and even climbing trips. I plan on making another batch on my next trip to the crag coming up here in March. The cost to make these is pretty low too. Eight dates will run about about $1.67, the other items are bulk items (aside from the lemon and lime) so the cost there is very minimal. My guess would be that 24 bloks will cost you around $2.75.

The Recipe

• 8 pitted dates
• 1/8 cup of agave nectar
• 1 TBSP of cacao powder
• 1/2 TBSP of chia seeds
• 1/8 cup of sunflower seeds ground into powder (using coffee grinder)
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• juice of 1/2 a lime

Directions: Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until thoroughly mixed, scrapping the sides of the walls periodically. When finished you should have a fairly thick consistency, if not, add a couple of more dates. Once you have a thick consistency, using a spoon, dish out small dollops of the mixture onto a non-stick dehydrator sheet, you should be able to get about 24 shot blok size drops. Once you have the dollops on the sheet, wet your fingers and shape into squares as best you can.

After you have shaped your bloks, place in the dehydrator at around 110 degrees for 12-20 hours. I pulled mine out at around 12 for my morning run, they probably could have been left in a lot longer. These should keep well for several days, but I recommend using them as soon as possible, so if you are not going to use all of them in a few days I would cut the recipe in half.

Climbing, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, RAW Food, Recipes by OrganicClimber
Cliff, Climbing, electrolytes, enrgy, gel, homemade, homemade cliff shot bloks, RAW, Running, Shot Bloks
4 comments

A climber on Orange Peel (5.10) during the 2007 Granite Gripper in Enchanted Rock State Park. E-Rock is my favorite place to climb in Texas.

I have had a goal to blog more this year, but so far I have not been successful at that. In fact, I may be blogging less. I really do hope that starts to change. I have several ideas rattling around in my head, one of which is currently in progress; it’s going to be about where Texans climb. There are a lot more locations than people might think.

Anyway, I have already mentioned I am registered to run the Cowtown at the end of the month, and this time I have a pretty lofty time goal. I want to run the race in 1:45 – 1:50, but after calculating the pace I would need to meet that goal I am skeptical I can meet the 1:45 goal, but 1:50 will definitely be attainable. For the 1:45 I would need to run 8 minute miles, but for a time of 1:50, I only need to run 8:23 minute miles. Seeing how my race pace is faster than my training pace I think this will be attainable.

Lately my training runs have been in the 8:19 – 8:50 minute mile range. Granted these runs are way shorter than 13.1 miles. When I ran the 8 mile Turkey Trot I was averaging over 9 minute miles and ran an 8:45 minute mile. The same was true for the White Rock Half Marathon; during training I was running no faster than 9:15 (except for a hand full of shorter runs) and finished with a 9 minute mile.

Once the adrenaline kicks on during the race you are able to perform at a much higher level. My raw food intake is also a lot higher on the days leading up to the race. I think this plays a huge factor in the better performance. So, it should be interesting to see how well I do this time around.

This weekend I will be climbing in Enchanted Rock, but still plan on getting a long run in. Last year when training for the White Rock I ran 9 miles one morning before heading out to teach a beginners climbing clinic and do a bit of climbing myself. So, I will either get my run in this evening when I arrive at the Park or tomorrow morning before heading out to the rock. I think I will most likely run this evening so I don’t have to wake up super early. Just hoping I have some daylight left when I arrive and clear skies so I can enjoy the scenic landscape.

A climber works a boulder problem during the 2007 Granite Gripper in Enchanted Rock State Park.

Climbing, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Running by OrganicClimber
Cowtown, Enchanted Rock, half marathon, rock climbing, Running
1 comment

New Kicks

For any athlete, there are always firsts; our rights of passage of sorts. For me, last night I purchased my first “fitted” pair of shoes from Luke’s Locker near Uptown in Dallas. When I say fitted, I mean somebody who actually knows what they are talking about and sat down with me: analyzed my foot, asked me questions about my running, watched me walk and run, and then made a couple recommendations for shoes. I tried on two pairs of shoes. The first pair were Asics, and the second Brooks. Both were brands of shoes I have never owned before, but based on the professional from Luke’s this was exactly what I needed.

Both shoes felt pretty good, but the Asics GT-2150 won out. As soon as I slipped them on, I felt instant comfort compared to my old shoes. I hadn’t been running long before Twitter friend @theclimbergirl of RockClimberGirl.com offered me a discount code with END Footwear –  a now defunct shoe company. I got the shoes at the low low price of $30, regularly priced at $95. The shoe was super light and comfortable. I felt fast in them, even though I was new to the sport. Prior to that I was running in my claud hopper North Face trail shoes. So, to slip on a pair of shoes that were meant for my feet felt quite amazing.

I also recently learned from looking at the wear pattern on my old shoes that I heel strike and overpronate a bit. This was confirmed when the sales associate at Luke’s Locker was helping me out. However, I’m not sure my problems are all over. When I had started this post I had yet go to on a run in the shoes. But today, I ran 3.5 miles on an indoor track. By the time I was finished my arches were hurting, as well as the outside edge of my foot.

I’m not sure if I didn’t have them laced tight enough or not, but I have a long run scheduled for Saturday, so if the problems persist I will be returning to Luke’s Locker for further evaluation of my foot. The nice thing about Luke’s is they have a 30 day return policy on their shoes. They are more interested in getting you the right shoe than just selling you something. But one thing is for sure, my old shoes are definitely done for.

Old Shoes. Left shoe indicating I'm a underpronating heel striker.

The Tweetup

The reason for my trip to Luke’s wasn’t just for shoes. I was meeting fellow running Tweeps from the DFW area at the DFW Runners Tweetup. The event was organized by The Running Couple, who also organized a small Tweetup before the start of the White Rock Marathon, which I unfortunately missed due to not being able to find parking in time.  It was nice to put Twitter handles with faces and get to actually hear them speak more than 140 characters at a time.

During the Tweetup, Luke’s educated us on how the fit people for shoes and even used several of us as an example byplacing us on a treadmill provided by Landice Fitness. It was a very educational experience, and I learned a lot about how important it is to not just find a shoe that fits, but to find a shoe that fits your running style, your personality, and falls in line with your running goals. I never knew so much went into fitting somebody for a shoe.

After the meeting at Luke’s, several of us went across the street to Snookie’s – a local pub, and continued the Tweetup there. We swapped running stories, talking about different run tracking devices and even venting about other Tweets out in the Twittersphere that seem too good to follow back other fellow runners, even when they are engaged in conversation.

It was a really fun time, and I look forward to the next meeting. Hopefully our next gathering will involve a group run. As a result of going to the Tweetup I was inspired to go ahead an run the Cowtown Marathon (half) at the end of February. Originally I was planning on running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon, but the price was becoming an issue, but seeing as how Cowtown was $25 cheaper I decided to bite the bullet and register.

The best part of this is I will now have to be more disciplined in my training. I have three weekends left to get long runs in and I plan on using every one of them. One of them will be squeezed in to a climbing trip. It shouldn’t be a problem though; I have squeezed in 9 mile runs before going climbing in the past. I just have to wake up well before everybody else.

Cross Training, Running by OrganicClimber
asics, Cowtown Marathon, END, heel strike, overpronate, Running, shoes, tweetup, twitter
2 comments

Inspired by Matt over at No Meat Athlete, I thought I would post a recent running mix I created. I have also used this as my “kick in the pants” mix when I need motivation at work, and it is sure to be used on upcoming climbing trips for road music. The current playlist is nearly two hours and twenty minutes long – enough to get me through a half marathon, and then some. I wish I had time to go through and provide iTunes links to each of the songs, but alas, I don’t have time right now. Perhaps I will go back in and add them later.

The songs highlighted in red are ones that never fail to get me moving faster. Now, if only I had a way to immediately jump to one of those songs when I feel like I’m lagging

My Ultimate Running Mix

• Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
• Ben Folds – Rockin’ The Suburbs
• Ben Folds – Dr. Yang
• Ben Folds – One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces
• Blindside – Invert
• Flaming Lips – Kim’s Watermelon Gun
• Foo Fighters - Breakout
• Gomez – Airstream Driver
• Green Day – American Idiot
• Mates of State – My Only Offer
• Mates of State – The Re-Arranger
• Midlake – Kingfish Pies
• Midlake – Roller Skate (Farwell June)
• Modest Mouse – Truckers Atlas
• Modest Mouse – It’s Alright All Nice On Ice, Alright
• Modest Moue – We Were Dead Before The Ship Sank
• Pearl Jam – Comatose
• Pixies – U-Mass
• Primus – Laquer Head
• Primus – Ballard of Bodacious
• Radiohead – Bodysnatchers
• Radiohead – Idioteque
• Rage Against The Machine – Bullet in The Head
• Rage Against The Machine – Township Rebellion
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Funky Monks
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Suck My Kiss
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – Get On Top
• The Shins – Fighting In A Sack
• Stavesacre – Threshold
• The Toadies – Little Sin
• Vampire Weekend – Campus
• Vampire Weekend – Walcott
• Wilco – Casino Queen

Now if only I can find time to get a lot of my other music imported into my iTunes library I can have an even BETTER mix.

For all my climbing friends, be sure to check back next week for a trip-report on Arkansas ice climbing. A small group of us from the Texas Mountaineers are headed to Arkansas where the temperatures have been well bellow freezing for a solid week or more in hopes of finding some iced over water falls to climb. We think we know of a couple locations. Either way, I will provide a trip report – ice or no ice.

Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Running by OrganicClimber
best running songs, iPod, iTunes, mix, music, play list, playlist, Running
3 comments

Here is a video talking about acids and bases, and how to balance them in your diet. As a vegetarian I don’t personally have to worry about this much, but I do have to watch my carbs. The video is short and informative.

Cross Training, Health & Fitness by OrganicClimber
acid, alkaline, base, diet, food
1 comment

Last weekend was my first half-marathon, The Dallas White Rock Marathon. I have been training for this event since late Summer, my goal time for the race was two hours. A few weeks before the start I was starting to feel unsure I was going to be able to meet my goal; I had yet to even run 13 miles during a training run, and that didn’t change before the day of the race. The furthest I had run was just over 11 miles with a pace just over what I needed to meet my goal. On top of that I came down with a horrible cough after the Turkey Trot that never completely went away.

Race day morning was a bit hectic. I meet up with my friend Trish who was also running the race to ride down together. We meet up at her house, which meant I had to wake up at 5 a.m. in order to make it to the American Airlines Center by 7 a.m. – the race start time was 8 a.m. Despite leaving early, we barely made it to the starting line on time. We tried to find shortcuts around traffic, which only made us have to wait even longer. While sitting in traffic we began seeing runners getting out of cars on the highway and make their way to the starting line.

After having enough of the stand still traffic waiting to get into the parking lot I thought of a place we could park about a quarter mile from the starting line, but during the process of heading over there we saw the traffic on the other side of the road was just as bad, so we made our way through some roads behind where the race started until we came upon an area I was familiar with. Our parking place was almost a mile away from the starting line, so we ended up having a nice little warm up jog to the start and had only 10 minutes to spare before the gun sounded. The worst part of this was I had not stretched yet, it didn’t even occur to me either until it was too late. I paid the price for it too during the run.

Just over a mile into the run I was already starting to feel my calf muscles tightening up. This wasn’t good. I kept plugging on though – trying hard not to thing about the tightness. Shortly after that I was distracted by a guy dressed as Michael Jackson running by me with a boom box strapped to his belt playing all the King of Pop’s greatest hits. There was a number of other costume bearing racers along the way that helped lighten up the run a bit.

I was also quite surprised by all the articles of clothing I saw ditched on the ground in the first three miles of the race. I saw gloves, hats and shirts runners had taken off once they warmed up. It seems the smarter ones wore trash bags, others stepped off course and hid articles of clothing in bushes. Me, I just sucked it up and was cold until my body warmed up. But, if one wished to make a few dollars they could have easily walked the first part of the course and picked up articles of clothing to pawn off on Ebay or a garage sale.

In addition to my calve muscles feeling tight I was just feeling out of it. I didn’t feel like the adrenaline was rushing like it was during the Turkey Trot just a couple weeks ago. Early on in the race I didn’t even think I was going to meet my goal. Even though my pace in the first mile was 8:50 it felt like 10 and I really did think it was closer to 10 than 9, even after checking the GPS.

Around mile five the urge to go to the restroom that hit me around mile two had already passed and I was starting to feel a bit more solid, but knew I still had a lot more to go. I was also feeling the effects of the course; there were a lot of hills. In fact, more than half of the course was uphill. Fortunately though the last 5K was pretty much all downhill. The elevation profile provided in the race packet was really deceptive. I faced a lot more uphill than I expected, but in the end I was really pleased with my pace considering that.

Things continued to go well, I enjoyed the bands playing throughout the course, the funny signs people were holding to cheer on family members and just runners in general. This all helped break up the monotony of the run. But then mile seven hit me. Even though my pace was still fairly consistent, I felt like I had slowed down a lot. I was even passed by an old lady twice during that mile; I finally ended up ahead of her (and staying there) sometime during mile eight.

The bright side of mile eight was I calculated that I only needed a 10 minute pace to complete the half marathon in my two-hour goal. At this point I was pretty sure it was a done deal, but still knew my legs could give out at any minute, the calves were still tight and I was feeling it. I felt they slowed me down a lot. It was though they had turned to concrete and I was throwing around all that extra weight.

So, after this I allowed myself to relax into the run a bit and save some energy for the last 5K that took me down the Katy Trail back to the American Airlines Center where the race began. Once I hit the trail I knew I was almost home. At this point I began to pick up the pace a bit, but started feeling fatigue again after a mile of this so I relaxed into the run again until I regained some energy. I later learned through the race statistics I passed 53 runners during the final 5K, and 127 passed me. That feels about accurate too.

Once I got to the final mile of the race I was finished drinking my homemade sports energy drink so I grabbed a cup of water from the aid station, drank it on the run and then kicked it into high gear for the last 1.1 miles of the course. Even though I was going pretty fast It didn’t feel like it. I felt like I could be going faster but just couldn’t make myself go any quicker. Turns out, my pace for that final mile was 8:11, the fastest of the 13.

As I neared the finish line all I could think about was crossing. I wasn’t even looking for the time clock; I did however raise my fist into the air and pump it wildly for the camera as I crossed over the line. I had my priorities right here I think, it was after all my first half marathon. I avoided stopping my RunKeeper app right away too. I waited until I was completely across the line.

After pulling the iPhone out of my back jersey pocket I was ecstatic to read 1:58:17 – 13.27. My official time ended up being 1:58:10. I did it! I beat my goal by running a sub two in my first half-marathon. At first I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but from what I hear others telling me my time was really good, especially for a first timer. That gets me really pumped. I am already thinking about my next race. I will likely run another half sometime in the spring, and possibly a 5K in the near future.

I currently don’t have any aspirations for a full marathon, but that could always change. For now I want to give me knees a bit of a rest and spend more time cycling and climbing. I feel right now my body needs a bit of a rest, so I am taking most of this week off and will resume lighter training either late this week or early next week.

For those interested, here are screen shots of my stats from the run.

Cross Training, Running, Trip Reports by OrganicClimber
13.1, dallas, half, katy trail, race, run, run the rock, Running, white rock marathon
7 comments

White Rock Half Marathon Course

Well, it’s finally here – well almost. This weekend I will be running my first half marathon. Sunday morning at 8 a.m. racer number 9661 will run the Dallas White Rock Marathon. It just hit me today that the race is almost here. For the past week and a half I have been battling a horrible cough, this has been the first time I have actually been sick in over a year and a half (since going vegetarian).

Today was the first day I felt truly well enough to run, and seeing as how it was the last possible day for me to get training in before the marathon I decided to go for it. I ran a fast 4.4 miles in 8:54 (RunKeeper data here), which included a lot of walking through one stretch when I was getting a side cramp. I was happy though that my final run before the race was pretty strong. I feel confident I will meet my goal time of two hours. I may even beat it!

As you can see from the map above the half marathon route actually goes nowhere near White Rock Lake. Only the full marathon circles the lake now. Sometime in the past few years the route was change when the numbers grew too big and the start was moved to Downtown Dallas. Despite the fact the half will not be going around the lake I am excited about the route. The elevation profile shows the first half to be a gradual uphill and the second half to be all downhill – that, I am excited about!

I also recently discovered the Marathon is offering Participant Tracking. Just follow the link and enter in your cell phone number to get text message updates on my progress along the course. At several checkpoints a text message will be sent updating you with my time, mile and pace. A final text will be sent at the finish line.

So, for the next few days I will be taking things easy, getting sleep, drinking lots of water and eating lots of raw foods. I’m getting even more psyched about the race just typing up this post. But, I’m not sure what I am looking forward to most; running the race or eating as much food as I want after the race! I will be sure to post a race recap as soon as I have the energy to.

Be sure to click the link above and register for Participant Tracking so you can follow my progress. Just wish I could set it to tweet my updates

Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Running by OrganicClimber
dallas, half, RAW Food, run the rock, Running, white rock marathon
1 comment

Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot eight Mile Course Map - Click to enlarge

Wow, it really crept up on me! Tomorrow will be my first race ever. The Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot. This is also significant because I work for the YMCA and this will be my first time participating in the event. It dawned on me this morning that even though I updated the course map myself I didn’t really even know where the route went, so I decided to map it out on my own using Gmap, just for grins. I’m now very aware of the route in my mind and know where the half way point is. I already have the whole course visualized in my head aside from a couple unfamiliar streets.

Sticking to a completely raw diet these past couple days has been fairly easy. Although I did crave something cooked last night, I settled for raw falafel and warmed up the patties and the sprouted grain tortilla in the food dehydrator. After they warmed up I slapped a nice big romaine lettuce leaf in the center of the bread then slathered some raw tahini across it along with red onions, red peppers and the two remaining kalamata olives I had in the fridge. The wrap was quite delicious.  The falafel patties were bought from Whole Foods in Austin at the flagship store, that place is really something else. I hope to try and re-create these on my own seeing as how all the ingredients are listed right there for me.

Anyway, for the Trot I will be sporting my Texas cycling jersey. For two reasons: one, it’s just fun (and this entire event is fun), and two, I can carry my iPhone in the back pocket and remove my gloves during the run once I get warmed up. I really don’t know why running shirts don’t make use of a back pocket like cycling jerseys do. It makes a lot of sense to have them – but I don’t mind running in the jersey at all, even if I do look odd.

As for dinner tonight I have yet to decide what I will eat. I will probably do some research later today to figure out what foods will be best – something high in carbs for sure, but I’m not even sure what raw foods would provide me carbs. It will be a learning experience and I will likely share with you what I learn.

I also plan on making a raw energy gel and drink tonight for the run. I could likely do with just taking water from the aid stations, but I don’t want to have to stop at all. Running the full eight miles won’t be a problem for me at all. I have yet to try an energy gel during my runs, but I recently bought a gel flask from Luke’s Locker in Dallas. I’m excited to try out both the flask and the raw energy gel. Some of you runners may be freaking out over that – trying a new “product” on race day. But, this is raw food, I won’t be putting anything new or foreign into my body. The fuel will do nothing but help me.

As far as Turkey Day itself goes, this year will not be spent with my family; at least not my biological family. I will be volunteering with a local Church at a community Thanksgiving Dinner that is put on every year for the homeless and less fortunate families in the Denton community. I am excited about helping out. I will likely find myself on clean up duty since I won’t even be leaving Dallas until at least 10:30 a.m., and that is if I go straight to the car after crossing the finish line.

I am looking forward to the holiday break though. I desperately need the rest from work, but more importantly I think is emotional and spiritual rest. I’m glad I will finally have a weekend to just relax and possibly catch up on a few things as well. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Cross Training, Health & Fitness, RAW Food by OrganicClimber
RAW Food, Running, thanksgiving, turkey trot, ymca
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