Category Archives: Weight Loss

Nude Numbers (#14)

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For reference, here’s last week’s data. Curious what this post is about? I’m tracking my training progress for the New York Marathon. Click here.

Summary

This was a bad week for my training as my right foot developed a sharp pain immediately upon returning to running. I let the depressing thought of not running the marathon weigh me down all week.

Thankfully part of the reason for “Running Naked” is to force myself to admit to folks when I stumble, and I woke up this morning more determined as a result (thanks everyone, even if you don’t believe you actually did anything!). I got an x-ray done this afternoon (no obvious breaks in foot), scheduled a few more specialist visits this week, got back into the weight room and I may have found a way to run at least short distances that keeps the pain away (I ran across the Queensboro bridge).

This week is all about figuring out what is wrong without getting annoying or depressed at the hand of cards I’m playing with.

Subjective Data

I rested on Monday after the ride, and then tried to run on Tuesday. Even though I had absolutely no foot pain during the ride, I got a half-mile into my Tuesday run and the same pain I had two weeks ago in the top of the foot returned. It’s was a very sharp pain, and not runnable-through.

The next day my scale broke.

And in general, I let myself feel a little depressed and annoyed at my body, and the things around me, breaking down. This led to me being very (relatively) inactive this week. I stopped going to the weight room. By Friday I convinced myself to try a short run (still painful) and did a low-key bike-ride supporting a long training run on Saturday. On Sunday I just hung out with friends.

But all week, I was annoyed at myself for being annoyed at myself. Sigh.

Objective Data

Click here for a PDF version of my dashboard.

Assessment

I went from a high to a real low when I couldn’t even run a half-mile without collapsing in pain. And I let the disappointment at that take me completely off my training track. Last week sucked, but in retrospect (as I write this) I know I’m going to have those weeks. For some reason the thought of publishing my “laziness” last week spurred me on today to resume my training, so thanks in advance to everyone for at least viewing this blog and giving me encouragement.

That said, I’m still shooting to win The Six Pack Charity Challenge, and finish the NYC Marathon. So I’m going to focus everything on the Marathon until told otherwise (by my body or a doctor).

As usual, if you have suggestions, leave a comment, or reach me at “art (at) abclarke.com”.

Plan

The big thing is remember to keep smiling, and that I’m doing this for charity. I’m going to slowly ramp up mileage as I test out the foot and try to find a way to run without pain, but where the marathon was “at risk” before, it’s now a long shot. But I’m also going to let everything else take a back seat to running and not worry if I don’t spend every spare moment at the gym. So:

  1. Short runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (no more than 6 miles on any run)
  2. Leg permitting, perhaps a long run (10+ miles) on Saturday.
  3. Swim if I feel like it, but don’t sweat it if I don’t.
  4. Keep the weight room work going, but again, only as I feel like it.
  5. Keep eating sensibly but continue gaining some weight.

Presentation Notes

No changes to data presentation this week. As with last week, data is presented in SOAP Note format.

– Art

Help me raise money for people suffering from cancer

Nude Numbers (#13)

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For reference, here’s last week’s data. Curious what this post is about? Click here

Summary

I successfully completed the New York to Providence bike ride to raise money for the Jack Brown Appeal. And I met Jack, who was so cool! I’ll write about it in a separate post.

I am sore from 3 days in the saddle, but seem to have emerged injury free and ready to switch to running. I also gained 1-2 pounds without adding a lot of fat, which is cool. Now, 7 weeks to go until the marathon, and time to get back to running.

Subjective Data

  1. Completed the NYC-Providence 180+ mile bike ride without any injuries. And had a blast doing it.
  2. Weight lifting was good this week, but admittedly it was stupid to do heavy leg lifting two days before the ride started.
  3. I ate whatever I wanted this week, but after spending over 25 hours in a bike, I’m not too worried.

Objective Data

Click here for a PDF version of my dashboard.

Assessment

The ride was a blast, I rode very well (for me), and I’ll write about it separately. My leg injury didn’t even play in, even the foot bruise I got last Saturday, and although I am sore today, it’s the good kind of sore. That’s one of the two major events out of the way (just the November marathon remains), which is awesome.

I will post photos later (we’re still gathering them together).

On the sad side, it likely means my bike goes into storage for the winter season. I’ll miss it.

I cut back on the swimming this week because of time pressure, but my form was good when I did get time and my speed is improving. My weight control was on track. I gained 1-2 pounds without a major increase in body fat.

I’m still shooting to win The Six Pack Charity Challenge, and finish the NYC Marathon.

As usual, if you have suggestions, leave a comment, or reach me at “art (at) abclarke.com”.

Plan

Time to switch over to running. I’ll do a short 1.7 mile run on Tuesday, and then work with my trainers to come up with a short-time plan to ramp up for the marathon. More details next week. I’ll also keep lifting, do some swimming, and eat around 2,875-3,125 calories a day to gain some weight.

Presentation Notes

No changes to data presentation this week. As with last week, data is presented in SOAP Note format.

– Art

Help me raise money for people suffering from cancer

Nude Numbers (#12)

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For reference, here’s last week’s data. Curious what this post is about? Click here

Summary

I may have reinjured myself slightly running, so I’m resting my leg just in case (yes Susan, you were right L ). My 200 mile bike ride starts this Friday so that’s the focus this week. Separately, given the consistent feedback on my CA trip that I was scary thin, I got professionally measured for body fat percentage this week. I’m actually around 9% body-fat when measured correctly. That means, my goal of 10-12% by November has been hit, and it’s time to start increasing calories and adding more muscle.

Speaking of goals, we passed $11,000 in fundraising this week. Thanks to everyone who has donated so far. You guys are awesome! But let’s keep going – anyone up for $15,000?

As promised J and I are matching the first $10,000 in donations with a $2,500 donation of our own.

Subjective Data

  1. Back to swimming and lifting after my rest week. My swimming form continues to improve. My lifting continues to be fun.
  2. The bad news is I did another run on Saturday, but wore the wrong pair of shoes (I have two pairs that look the same, one of which I meant to throw out). I appear to have bruised the top of my right foot, but hopefully that recovers in time for Friday’s ride.
  3. I was traveling in California for most of the week, and saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in over a year. The consistent feedback I got was that I’m too thin.

Objective Data

Click here for a PDF version of my dashboard.

Assessment

Last week’s rest did me good, and most of my (non-leg) aches and pains are gone. I returned to the weight room as planned. Due to traveling in California, I didn’t get any bike rides in. My swimming was on track though, and my balance and kicking has improved a lot. My running is still problematic, and even though I ramped back to just 5 miles this week, I may have reinjured myself. We’ll see, but I’m staying off my feet until Friday (I’ll do a test ride on Wednesday to make sure my foot is ok). Friday is the start of my 200 mile ride to Providence, RI.

My trip to California was eye-opening. Everyone was shocked by how much weight I lost, and their perspective was valuable. J and I (and our NY friends) have seen the change gradually, so the shock value wasn’t as high for us, but I was at 155 this week from 185 when I left CA. Still, the comments of folks in California convinced me to get professionally measured for body-fat %, instead of relying on my scale. The result is I’m at 9% body fat, when my goal was 10-12% by November.

So I’m switching my diet to “maintain and gain” from “lose” mode. I’m starting to eat more, which means I need to make sure I do good work in the weight room to really take advantage of the extra calories. Nice to have the “feed bag” on again though J

This may mean I’m blowing my chances to win The Six Pack Charity Challenge, but I’m still optimistic.

As usual, if you have suggestions, leave a comment, or reach me at “art (at) abclarke.com”.

Plan

This week is all about making the ride to Providence. There is a slight chance I’ll be visible on the CBS Morning Show this Thursday morning (around 7-7:30am EST) if you want to see the group of us doing the Jack Brown Appeal ride (we’re doing a little PR to try to raise extra money). I’ll be riding with 40 British Cops for the appeal J

  1. Stay off leg until Friday except for test ride on Wednesday. Do 80 mile bike ride on Friday, 80 mile bike ride on Saturday, 40 mile bike ride on Sunday, and collapse as an exhausted heap on Sunday afternoon.
  2. Increase swimming to keep pressure off the leg.
  3. Increase calories to 2,875-3,125 calories a day. Keep lifting to take advantage of this.
  4. Keep smiling.

Presentation Notes

No changes to data presentation this week. As with last week, data is presented in SOAP Note format.

– Art

Help me raise money for people suffering from cancer

Nude Numbers (#11)

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For reference, here’s last week’s data. Curious what this post is about? Click here

Summary

This was my first week of running since the injury, and it went well. I only did 10 miles instead of 17 because, well, read the assessment for why. My eating wasn’t good (despite best intentions) and so weight and body fat stayed constant. I still think I have a shot at the Sep 7-9 200 mile bike ride, and at the November 5th marathon.

Subjective Data

  1. This was a “rest week” and I did a good job on that. No lifting. And minimal swimming. On the swimming front, my balance continues to improve a lot with kicking.
  2. Did my first run since my injury. I didn’t do the 17 miles I’d planned; I did 10 miles (see the Assessment for why), and stopped then even though I felt fine. The good news is I was walking the next day, but it definitely caused my tendonitis to flare up a little (not much), so it’s still touch and go for November.
  3. My eating was not good this week (despite my plans). And I’m traveling on business this week, so it’ll be hard to stay on track. That said, I didn’t pig out during the week.

Objective Data

Click here for a PDF version of my dashboard.

Assessment

According to plan, this was a rest week with no lifting and minimal cardio. I stuck to that plan with a light swim on Tuesday and Thursday. The big event was a return to running.

My original plan had been do go from no running for 6 weeks to a 17-mile bruiser. I got lots of feedback from the Tubes that this was a, how to put it, spectacularly stupid idea™.

Wow.

I started publishing my progress to keep me motivated to work harder, but I wasn’t expecting to get the benefit of people letting me know when I was an idiot. And I’ll admit now it was a stupid idea. I discussed it with my trainers, and we’ve agreed to ramp me on a different plan with a more gradual ramp back, that hopefully still gets me to the marathon. Thank you to everyone!

So instead, I decided to try one 5.2 mile loop, and then only if I felt fine, potentially do a second. I ended up doing 10.4 miles at a 9.5 minute mile pace on Saturday. I had no pain in my leg, but I know with this injury the pain shows up the next day. The good news is by Sunday my leg felt a little sore, but not bad. I feel I might still have a shot at this.

I didn’t do well on the eating plan this week. I didn’t really pig out any day, but I was consistently 500 calories above target every day (except Saturday where I was spot on). This should lead to maintaining body fat, but not cutting. I’m not really going to be able to adjust much this week as I’m traveling on business most of the week. I’d love folk’s thoughts on what’s the best way to stay active while traveling (an increase in traveling was one of the reasons I let myself get out of shape originally).

For anyone who’s following, I’m also trying to compete in The Six Pack Charity Challenge to raise more money for charity. If you’re interested, go checkout that Facebook group.

As usual, if you have suggestions, leave a comment, or reach me at “art (at) abclarke.com”.

Plan

I’m making big changes in my plan this week.

  1. I’m traveling this week, so it’s going to be hard to keep to my schedule. Still, I plan to lift at least 3 times this week, do 2-3 swims, 1-2 bike rides, and a long run on Saturday.
  2. Keep 2,000-2,250 calories-per-day target to keep weight under control, especially next weekend. I’m going to shoot for staying within target all days except Saturday, but to be only off by 1,000-1,500 calories on Saturday assuming I get the 17 mile run in.
  3. Keep smiling.

Presentation Notes

No changes to data presentation this week. As with last week, data is presented in SOAP Note format.

– Art

Help me raise money for people suffering from cancer

The Story so Far…

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Did you know, you can sign-up for an e-mail version of every post by clicking here
(and you can remove yourself at any time).

This is my 3-month anniversary of starting this blog. How time has flown. Thank you to everyone for their support (both financial and emotional) as I’ve been attempting this. And major thanks to my wife who, on top of everything else she does, somehow finds time to support me in this by listening, editing, and being supportive of the time this takes.

For any new readers I’ve picked up I thought I’d update my cheat sheet for the blog.

This is Running Naked, a blog where I’m chronicling in public my attempts to “achieve contentment through the pursuit of perfection“. (Don’t worry; I have no misconceptions of ever achieving perfection, but I believe that attempting to become a better human each day is itself the worthy goal).

Here’s a summary of the major posts so far:

Article

What it’s about

The Cortez School of Management

Why I’m “Running Naked”, how I got here, and what I’m trying to achieve.

How I Lost 25 Pounds by Being a Manager

A series of posts where I discuss 5 rules I’ve used for managing change professionally, and how I applied them to lose weight and get back in shape.

The Pragmatic Path to Agnosticism

A series of posts where I “run naked” on how I approach Spirituality and the nature of an Awesome Universe.

Pain, Suffering and Financial Loss

A plea for your help to raise money for people suffering from cancer, and for your support as I train for a 200 mile bike ride (September 2007) and the New York marathon (November 2007).

Why Doctors Use Soap

An introduction to a way of solving problems and tracking progress in both professional and personal contexts.

Nude Numbers

Week by week reports where I “run naked” with transparent data on how well I’m living up to my training commitments. The data is presented in SOAP note format.

Daydreaming, Laziness and Looking at the Negative

How I tackle goals in my life. Seriously J

There are other posts smattered throughout the blog, but those are the major ones. We’ll see where the next three months takes this.

Per a request from a few weeks ago, the next series of articles are going to be about managing and running naked teams. Stay tuned for “Nudity and the Modern Manager”.

If you have other requests, please e-mail me at “aclarke (at) abclarke.com”. Thanks again,

– Art

Help me raise over $10,000 to help people suffering from cancer