101,428 Steps In One Day.
I actually got this done! My personal best was probably ~33k in a day several years ago before I retired. I saw people attempting 100k steps in a day online so I decided to try it on Saturday, May 16th, 2026.
I walked my neighborhood & the surrounding area from 12:01am to 11:59pm with food & bathroom breaks every few hours, three sock changes, two shoe changes, a shower w a change from cooler weather sweats and a hoodie to warmer weather shorts and a tee shirt. I put Vaseline on my feet before putting on my socks to help with chaffing. I took a one hour midday nap (I overslept by like 40 minutes). Between a Star Trek audiobook, music, a couple of podcasts, a phone call from a truck driver friend & my family members walking with me it got done!
Everytime I came home to use the bathroom, eat, shower, etc, I put my Apple Watch on charger and even then it ran out of juice near the 9pm mark so I put the Apple Watch on charger for a hour and kept the iPhone in my pocket. From 10pm to 11:59pm I finished the walk with the Apple Watch. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life!
By 830pm I was so drained I was just going on sheer willpower. But then my son and his wife arrived at 9pm like Thor arriving in Wakanda! They stayed with me for two hours until 11pm. Right before they left me my son told me that as long as I kept my pace I could mathematically hit the 100k and as it turns out, he was right! Out of everybody, they truly got me to the end.
I got in the house after I hit the number, ate a turkey and cheese sandwich with mustard, drank a protein smoothie and had two Advils with a tall glass of water followed by a warm (not hot) shower, crawled into bed & my wife elevated my feet on a pillow and I slept like the dead!!
Sunday was kinda rough being extremely sore. Today is the Monday after and I’m starting to feel almost normal. The swelling has gone down a lot, my feet don’t hurt nearly as much but my calves and thighs still are pretty sore. I’ve been doing gentle stretching movements and those seem to be helping. I took a slow 1 mile walk today on flat neighborhood paved roads averaging 25 minutes per mile so yes, VERY SLOW.
I will do a repeat of today on Tuesday and will be more active on Wednesday. I’ll get back to my usual ~15k steps on Thursday and I’ll go back to the gym on Friday or Saturday and do a light workout. I expect to be back to my normal routine of walking and lifting by next Monday.
I’ll be 63 this year so I’m going to take it slow getting back to my normal activities because being older, I know that my body needs time to heal. On a side note, now that it’s done, I’m going to do other things that I find challenging (like finally learning to swim!). Thanks for reading!