Wednesday, April 9, 2008

New Blog

Check out my new blog at www.rawfoodfrank.wordpress.com
I will be fading this site out over the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy!!

Monday, April 7, 2008


It has been a long weekend with not much sleep. I have been spending a good amount of time at Glen's Cafe in West Haven. The vibe there is amazing and I am so happy to have a place to meet and connect with fellow raw fooders. Friday night we prepared a raw gourmet meal for 20. Last night i was back at the cafe for a potluck dinner and a viewing of The Future of Food. I look forward to my lecture there on April 22nd!!

I woke today, quite late-10:30am, but well rested. I immediately headed to the Quarry for a jaunt in the woods. I would put in about 1.25 hours and felt amazing. Today was one of those days when your body feels like a machine and you can just keep running for hours. Unfortunately I couldn't since I had to help my father do some yard work.

Today's run reminded me of a poem sent to me from Happy Oasis before the Javalina Jundred-

Bliss forth one light step at a time
You are a deer fleet of foot
You are a cloud light and easy
You run like a river cascading to the waiting
ocean
Swift as a gazelle, pouncing freely like the lion
You run without effort, filled with quiet joy

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Photo of the Day

Iggy after being told she was joining the BS crew on The Spring Loop

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Back In Branford

Although it feels strange being coming back to my hometown after 10 months in the high desert, I must say it is good to be home. Well....sorta

Yesterday I did a double run. In the morning I ran 1.25 hours through the Quarry trails, then met up with the Bs crew at 6:30pm for another hour run in the Supply Pond. I my body felt great and I am taking a liking to putting in 2 runs a day. I guess it is possible when one doesn't have a job.

Speaking of jobs, I have a few talks lined up which I am very excited about.
I will be speaking at the Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe on April 22nd in regards to my time spent at the Tree of Life Center as well as my quest for the 100 miler.

On Mother's Day I will be speaking with my dear friend Kai Hersher on the topic of Ten Ways to Protect Your Family. This lecture will be at the grand opening of Goose Lane Nursery, an organic garden center.

At this present moment,i am putting together a list of talks to present at the Center for Holistic Health in Guilford.

On another note, I have noticed that since leaving the Tree, i am down close to 5 pounds. Not that I am trying to shed any weight but without having all that wonderful foods at my disposal, I don't eat as much. But, with the exception of tahini, which I can't get enough of, I have completely dropped oils from my diet and most other fats.

Tomorrow I will be back at Glen's Cafe in West Haven to help prepare a gourmet raw meal for 20 guests. I am in charge of the Orange Cream Pie!!

Check me out on the web!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cRQ2Icewug

I forgot to mention, It's cold here!!!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

The HAT Run 2008

So I went into my second running of Maryland's HAT Run 50k, quite unsure of how I would fair. For one, Saturdays temperatures we around 35-40 degrees by time the race started. This made my body quite uncomfortable since coming from Arizona, where over the last month I was usually running without a shirt on. With close to 3000 miles of driving under my belt over the last week, my body was a bit tweaky and tight especially in the legs.

I thought I would take this race as a training run, but like always, when the race starts and runners start pushing, it's hard to just take it easy. My goal was to run the first half of the race so that I could give and equal if not better performance come the second half. Generally I do the opposite. I go out hard and seem to fade off come the latter part of the race.

As time went on and my body warmed up, I felt better and better. My legs felt loose and strong which enabled me to run more hills than I was normally use to doing. Fueled on rasin soak water and bananas, I finished the 32 miles in 5hrs and 5 minutes.

I also want to congradulate Iggy and SilentRunner for completing their first Ultra. Other finishers were Mr. Bimble, Forrest, Bounce, Downhill and Ultra. Much love to Guthrie, Oddjob and Karen for their support!!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Somewhat settled in Maryland

After a few very long days of driving through the south and a very cold night up in the Smokey's, I have made it up to Maryland. I have been staying with a old friend, whom I haven't seen in a few years. It is funny how sometimes you lose track of friends, but when you reunite, the friendship picks up where it left off. Eli is a good friend from a young age and has been living in Maryland with his girlfriend for over 5 years now. It was great to catch up with him and of course fill him in on my raw adventures of the past.

I have been spending the past few days slightly wiped out from the long drive and needed time to stretch out the legs and just relax. Located a few minutes from Eli's house is the Antietam Battlefield which we would spend a day exploring. Yesterday I got out for a 7-8 mile run along the Appalacian Trail.

I have been enjoying preparing Eli and Michelle lots of raw foods over the past few days. Raw chocolate, green juice and smoothies and the wonders of the Thai coconut!

Today I head out to the land of the Hat where I will be running a 50k trail race tomorrow. Once again, with no major training I will go out and run another ultra. This will be the real start to my training, for once I am back in CT, the training for the Vt100 will officially begin!!

Blessings!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Guadalupe Peak, Billy the Kid, and deep in the heart of Texas!!

With the radiant glow of the full moon beaming through my tent, sleep didn't come to easy. I gave it my my best to sleep in but quickly surrendered to the light at around 6am. I sluggishly removed myself from the warmth of my sleeping bag and took a few minutes to stretch before heading out for the mornings adventure. I got an early start to summiting Guadalupe Peak. The early start would avoid the potential for warm weather, high winds up top and the overwhelming amount of tourists on the trail.
I filled up 2 handheld bottles and began my assent. The trail to the summit is only about 4.3 miles long, but gains elevation rather quickly with 3000ft of elevation gain. The rocky trail is full of switch backs and beautiful views. On the way up I was able to catch a glimpse of 6 or 7 rams hanging out on the rocky cliffs. What a sight!!

Along the way, I would stop a few times to talk with a few hikers. One man, Tom Davis, whom just turned 70, was making his way to the top for the 65 time. His first summit, was at thee ripe age of 18 months when his parents carried him up on their back. Another lady had 40+ pounds on her back as she was preparing to summit Mt Rainer this June.

In about 1hr and 20 minutes I reached the summit and was greeted with amazing views!! I sat down for a moment, caught my breath and was ready to make my way to the parking lot. When you are hiking alone, summits and beautiful views aren't all they can be if you are with company.


Once I was back at the car, I prepared a breakfast of the following ingredients-
3 bananas
1/4 c raw+wild barberries
3T chia seeds
3 finger pinch of cinnamon
2-3T goji berries
2-3T bee pollen
6 dates
All where added to a bowl, mashed up and enjoyed!!

While I was preparing my meal, a man walked up and asked me what I was up to. I told him about my lifestyle and that I was training to run the VT 100. He thought it was great to see people pushing the limits of human endurance. I offered him a taste of my creation but he was happy just to observe.

Once breakfast was over, I jumped in the car and began my journey north. I was hoping to reach Amarillo, Texas by night fall. Along the way I made a pit stop to Fort Sumner, to the grave of Billy the Kid. I was always a fan of the movie young Guns, so I thought it would be neat to see where his remains lay.

I guess you know your in Texas when you see billboards like this-

At 9pm, Amarillo greeted me with gusty winds and a warning for snow in the evening. I guess I am in for a chilly night.

Next stop, The Ozarks!