The Organic Climber – Vegetarian running, cycling, swimming, rock climbing and raw foods.

This update is a bit late, but life has been busy, but in a good way. This past weekend was amazing, it was a slower passed weekend than usual and I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my wife. We don’t have Internet at the apartment right now, so it’s difficult to make updates on my blog, but on the plus side, it allows us to spend more time together.

Anyway, I ended up driving up to Stephenville Texas to the Barefoot Market for the final day of Cleanse America to hang out with Paul, Penny, Daniel, and Linda. It was the best day of the Cleanse in my opinion because it took me out of my normal routine. I finished up work in the Bearded Brothers kitchen early that morning, and drove the 3 hours to Barefoot Market, where I was greeted by this sign…

Chris, the other Bearded Brother, was planning on making an appearance too, but had to stay in Austin at the last minute. I spent much of the day chatting with Stephenville resident’s, demoing bars, and hanging out with some of the Cleanse America crew. I even enjoyed my first durian experience with Paul Risse, something I would likely repeat, but not sure if I would buy the exotic fruit on my own. It wasn’t as strong smelling as I thought it would be, but the onion like taste topped with a custardy sweetness threw me for a loop and blew my mind. And, within an hour of eating the fruit the tryptophans had kicked in, giving me a very calm and relaxed feeling.

It was a good feeling to just let go of control for a day and not worry so much about work and what was and wasn’t getting done. I was even able to spend a few moments in the sun reading for pleasure. It’s not often that I just relinquish my day-to-day tasks and allow myself to relax. It’s something I need to learn and practice more regularly. One of the reasons I wanted to start my own business was so I would have more free time to enjoy personal recreation and time with family. But, sadly the nature of a bootstrapped startup means I’m working constantly. I really enjoyed giving up control for a day, though. I plan on doing it again for an entire week in May. It’s the last opportunity my wife and I have to take a vacation together before our baby comes in September, and it’s going to be the longest period of time I’ve taken off since starting Bearded Brothers.

The Cleanse was a great experience, and below is a summary of what I took away from the whole experience.

1. I got affirmation on something I already knew. A high raw diet is ideal for optimal energy. I had more energy during the 10 day cleanse than I had in a long time. This was primarily seen on two occasions. One, the day after I had a restless nights sleep of only 6 hours I still had loads of energy and lots of mental clarity to get work done. Two, was the final day of the Cleanse when I decided to drive to Stephenville, TX to the Barefoot Market. Again, it was another night of little sleep, as I had to start work early that morning then drove the three hours and stayed up until midnight hanging out with friends.

2. Mental Clarity. I found myself more productive during the week, able to focus for longer periods of time, was distracted less and got lots of work done. I also felt less anxious and stressed. I had more of a calm about me than stress and worry that I tend to carry with me.

3. Even a healthy plant based diet doesn’t compare to 100% raw. I don’t desire to maintain a 100% raw diet for a number of reasons, but I was surprised at how much my body detoxed. It just goes to show how much food affects the body. I have been vegetarian for 4 years now, and have always been high raw (in varying degrees). I had foggy head during most of the Cleanse, and experienced numerous bowl movements, expelling toxins from my body. I was really shocked at the amount of detox I went through, despite a very healthy diet. It’s served as a reminder I always, always, always need to be mindful of what I am putting into my body.

4. I was able to spend a lot of time in prayer and reflection during my trip to Stephenville and was reminded of how much God has blessed me. I was also reminded by friends that God has his hand in the things I am doing. It was comforting to know that I am being taken care of and to appreciate all the blessings I have experienced in the past two years. It hasn’t been easy not having an income other than my wife during that time. But the hard work is about to pay off. In just a few months I should be able to start paying myself and my wife will be able to leave her full time job to become a stay at home mother.

5. Discipline is something I am still capable of. I started off the year with a 7 day juice/raw food cleanse and gave up caffeine during that time. I told myself after the Cleanse was over I would mostly drink tea, rather than coffee. I quickly fell off the wagon though, but gave it up again for Cleanse America. Since then, I have had coffee twice, but the desire for it is considerably lower and I feel that I will be able to commit to less coffee. I felt much better without it and I truly believe that I’m capable of only having it in moderation. I find I’m less anxious and focus better when I don’t have high amounts of caffeine coursing through my veins.

I thoroughly enjoyed cleansing and enjoyed seeing how others benefited from it as well. I plan on making cleansing a regular routine in my life. I also plan on being more conscience of my every day decisions. Even though I already eat very healthy, there are still numerous things I can do to bring about a better balance in my life. I’m thankful that the Cleanse helped remind me of these things.

Did you participate in Cleanse America, or have you had a recent cleanse experience? If so please share it in the comments.

Health & Fitness, Life and Motivation, RAW Food by OrganicClimber
america, barefoot, bearded, brothers, cleanse, market, organic, RAW
1 comment

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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.

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.

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

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