Category Archives: Personal

Nude Numbers

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I’ll post these on Mondays on my way to the Marathon. This is a view of the stats I track as I’m trying to change my overall health.

Subjective Data:

I’m probably being too aggressive in my calorie control, as I felt quite tired and weak on my Thursday spinning ride. My shoulder continues to nag me slightly, so I’ve switched to mostly core and leg work in the weight room to give it more time to recover. I didn’t get any bike time in this weekend because I was in Jacksonville all weekend and didn’t have my bike.

My running improved as I worked on my stride, and I’m starting to feel comfortable with my new, less pounding, way of running. My ten mile run on Sunday was actually ‘easy’ – jeez.

Objective Data:

Weekly Stats 20070618

Assessment:

Well, I recovered (mostly) from my shoulder injury and you can see that in the time spent back in the weight room. I did a 10 mile run on Sunday in 90 minutes, which I’m quite happy with. I’ve decided to adjust my calorie intake upwards a little to give me more energy during the week, so I expect that my weight will start to creep up a little. We’ll see.

Plan:

1) Continue to ramp up running mileage. I’m cheating on the bike stuff at the moment given I spent most of the winter spinning, but I need to make sure I get some long rides in on the weekend to get my ass used to the seat.

2) Slightly tweak up my calorie intake – I shouldn’t fade in energy as the week goes on.

3) Get one long ride in this weekend.

– Art

p.s. I have weight and fat tracking back to last September if folks are interested, but only started breaking out the run and bike data four weeks ago.

Help me raise over $5,000 to help people suffering from cancer!

Inflation-Adjusted Pictures

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At my heaviest…

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Personally I give this one 35.This is me in 2004, weighing over 180 lbs.

I’ll try to post photos along the way to the marathon.

Pain, Suffering & Financial Loss

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I began my fund-raising work today.  So far, I’m at $250 of my $5,000 minimum (and my $10,000 big hairy goal).  Thanks to all who donated so far.

If you’re curious why I’m doing this, it’s because I’m a Student of the Cortez School of Management.  If you’re wondering, why I’m writing about it, it’s because I’m Running Naked.

I posted the following on my web-site: www.abclarke.com:

If you donate money to Team Continuum, an organization dedicated to caring for people with cancer, you will force me to:

  1. Bike over 170 miles one weekend in September.
  2. Run 26.2 miles another weekend in November.
  3. Pay out up to $2,500 of my own money to match 25% of your donation.

Interested?  Read on for more.

The Details

You are included on this email because you are special to me…and I feel close enough to hit you up for money.  I need your help.  I’ve been trying to change a lot of things about how I live my life over the last year, including giving back more to the world that has given so much to me.

As part of this goal, I committed to raise a minimum of $5,000 by November for Team Continuum, a charity that cares for the immediate needs of cancer patients.  They do things like give gifts to children in cancer hospitals during the holiday season, help patients pay for travel to get treatment, and fund a nutritionist for a cancer center (Continuum Cancer Center) that did not have enough resources.  Most donations to other cancer causes support research that won’t really benefit people suffering today.  Team Continuum does an excellent job of helping fill that gap, and so I’m excited to support them.

How am I supporting them (and hopefully earning your support):

  1.  I will ride my bike from New York to Rhode Island (about 170 miles) in 2 days in September with 16 other team members raising money for the cause.
  2. I will complete the New York Marathon in November with over 30,000 other runners.
  3. J and I will donate $0.25 of our own money for every $1 you donate, up to $2,500.

Please sponsor me either to support me, or in support of someone you know that is battling cancer or a loved one that you have lost. All donations are tax deductible.

The Benefits to You!

Think about it!  If you donate to the cause you’ll get the following benefits:

  1. You’ll support an awesome cause.
  2. You’ll get a righteous tax deduction (with matching receipt). 
  3. You’ll be directly sponsoring a lot of physical pain for me – which (especially if you’ve worked with me) is something you know I deserve J.
  4. You’ll force Jenny and me to spend money as well!

It’s a no lose proposition!

How to Donate

You can donate directly by clicking here, or if you’d rather not donate online, send me e-mail and I’ll send you a form to print out.Lastly while $5,000 is the minimum, I’d love to blow that out of the water.  Whatever you can give, I truly appreciate your support.

How to Play Along at Home

You can track my progress on my blog: https://blog.abclarke.com/, where I will attempt to be transparent (Run Naked) on my progress. 

Thank you, – Art

When it rains, it purrs

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I did my first group training run today.  It was a short run; 1 mile warm up, 1.8 mile race, 1 mile cool down.  I did the race in 14’20, which is an 8-minute mile pace.  I’m pretty happy with that — ya gotta start somewhere.  There were 3 people in the group today and I came in 2nd.

On the really cool side I’d gotten about a quarter mile into the race when the heaven’s opened and it started pouring rain. 

Not little drops; more like the Forest Service was dumping helicopters full of water on Central Park to put out a fire.

You could see people running for cover everywhere except for some runners.  They just started smiling and kept running.  And it was infectious.  I couldn’t stop grinning for the entire race.  I’m still smiling now. 

The rain didn’t stop the race, it just cooled me down and helped me run faster.  Now if I can just apply that philosophy to the other times when life rains all over me…

– Art Clarke
Help me raise $5,000 to help care for people with cancer!

Some Times Running Naked is Embarrassing

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It is now official.  I am signed up for the New York Marathon, and have committed to raise at least $5,000 for Team Continuum (a really cool foundation that works to help care for current cancer patients, and does a lot of work at J’s hospital).

I’m going to post my training status here so people can see how I do.  And right off the bat, the answer is not good 😦 I injured my shoulder in the gym a week ago (bouncing a ball… when did I get old?), and couldn’t move my neck for about 4 days.  Net is my training fell off.   The good news is I feel better now, and was back at it starting last Thursday.  The first official group training run is tomorrow (6/12) and I’m looking forward to it.  I know I have a lot to learn about how to run.

June 4 – June 11

  • Miles ran: 8
  • Miles biked: 8 (really sad…)
  • Avg weight: 159.5
  • Avg body fat: 16.1% (crept up as activity decreased and those morning bagels caught up with me)

– Art Clarke
Help me raise $5,000 to help care for people with cancer!