100-Day Swim Challenge Update
I first posted 100-Day Swim Challenge in November 2015. In case you are still wondering, I am still participating in this challenge, and the work I do during this challenge directly feeds the Kwitchyerbellyakin Fitness Challenge. I am losing weight, getting stronger and developing good habits that will help me achieve my 100-pound weight loss goal in 2016.
100-Day Swim Challenge Update
On November 1, 2015, a brave few of us that signed up for Redbeard’s 100-Day Swim Challenge started. We set daily goals of swimming 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile and 1 mile distances, and most swimmers chose to swim 1/2 mile.
A couple of brave souls reached for the 1-mile ring at the start. Needless to say, it is better to build up to a 1-mile distance over time because those longer distance swimmers have moved on to other exercises (i.e., running and lifting weights)!
Julie and I have been the most consistent swimmers in the Swim Challenge, and our average distance per week is 1/2-mile or more. Typically we swim 3/4 to a mile per session as we have gotten stronger in the pool. I am finding that swimming a mile is taking me about 60 minutes (more or less depending on the day), and it is taking Julie about 45 minutes. I tend to warm up with a paddle board for 10 lengths to focus on improving my kicking technique and working out those kinks and stiff joints. Using the paddle board adds a minute per length to my swim time (I have measured it using a stopwatch). Yes, ladies and gentleman, I am an engineer geek underneath the charm and good looks.
Swim Challenge Results
So…..the question is: how is it going?
The easiest way to answer that question is to show a chart of my progress from November 1, 2015 to January 18, 2016. This chart represents almost 80 days of swimming. The green line shows the 1/2-mile mark while the red line is the 1 mile mark.

100-Day Swim Challenge Progress Chart – 1/18/2016
I am very proud of the results and work I have put in to get this far. Data backs up this chart, and some of the numbers that stand out to me are the following:
- 52% of my total swim sessions were longer than 3/4-mile
- 32% of my total swim sessions were over a mile
- Overall, I have swam 3,290 lengths in the pool
- With an average of 25 strokes per length, that is 82,250 strokes
- 3290 lengths is equal to 82,250 meters (the Ridgedale YMCA has a 25-meter pool)
- 82,250 meters is approximately 269,849 feet
- 269,849 feet is 51.1 miles
Yes, you read that correctly.
I swam 51.1 miles since November 1, 2015! Incredible!
That is pretty amazing if I stop and think about it for a minute. That means I swam from our house in Oswego to Chicago, Illinois. THAT is an amazing statistic!
Timing is Everything….
Meanwhile, I am participating in the Kwitchyerbellyakin Fitness Challenge, and Redbeard rolled out a couple of new twists with his post below:

Kwitchyerbellyakin Fitness Challenge – It is Beastmode Week! 1/18/16
I am looking to move up the rankings in this challenge. This week I am getting stronger in the pool, and I am also adding some work on the treadmill. I will keep working, and I will continue to get stronger and work on that weight goal.
Stay tuned! A big Kwitchyerbellyakin Fitness Challenge update is coming this week!
Learn. Do. Grow.