3 Things I learned walking 100,000 steps (48 miles!) in a single day, plus tips on long-distance walking:

katty143

New member
Edit: I have now done this three times! Most current post with tips here

Yesterday, I set out to walk 100,000 steps in a single day. I did it.

Proof 1

Proof 2

Proof 3

Back in December, I attempted 50,000 steps and did it with ease. I didn’t plan this 100,000-step journey out ahead of time. I had a vague idea that I wanted to do it eventually, but on Sunday night, I randomly decided I would actually give it a shot. I went to bed around 10pm with the intention of waking again at midnight to start.

Unfortunately, I could not fall asleep quickly enough due to the excitement of what would come the next day and ended up sleeping until around 3:45am. I got going to the gym (because it was dark outside) and started my journey. I did the first hour and a half on the treadmill. I then went home and did another hour and a half there. Luckily, my neighborhood is quite large and a few laps around is time-consuming.

After I dropped my daughter off at school, the real adventure started. In a nutshell, my day was spent walking from store to store to pick up food. It’s what motivated me: having a destination in mind where I knew I would be able to refuel with a tasty snack. I did do quite a bit around local trails to get out in nature more and vary my scenery.

I finished around 11:00pm.

Things I learned:
  1. I did not know boredom before. I do now.
  2. Coconut water is the nectar of the gods.
  3. It’s all a mental game.
Tips if you’re insane like me and want to do this:
  1. Decide to do it and don’t stop. If you get in your own head, you won’t finish.
  2. Have destinations in mind. This keeps motivation higher.
  3. Vary your walking. This means picking new types of destinations (for me it was to various stores for food, various nature trails, and around my neighborhood, alternating types of walking areas so I never got too bored of one type).
  4. Vary your entertainment. I listened to audiobooks, music, and podcasts of all sorts. You will get bored. You’re walking for 12-16 hours. It’s bound to happen.
  5. Take breaks. A lot of them. Just don’t sit for too long or your muscles will try to fight you.
  6. Eat a lot of small snacks. I ate several Clif Bars, bananas, and lots of oatmeal. Eating more than 200-300 calories at a time will make you sick.
  7. Use an anti-chafing agent. I like Squirrel’s Nut Butter. It prevented all chafing, even in this cold winter weather. I'm sure there's other good brands out there. Test them out ahead of time to see which works best for you.
  8. Drink often, but not a lot at a time. Every few hours I had a coconut water (6-12oz at a time).
  9. Carry with you extra bandaids, a cell phone recharger pack, two pairs of headphones (mine lasted 8 hours each), your ID, and a credit/debit card.
  10. It’s seriously a mental game. Remember that. Your body can do it. Each time I thought I couldn’t push on I thought to myself that I’ve already come this far and I’m never going to attempt this again so I just have to keep going, and then I took a break and just kept pushing through.
In all, it was a good experience and a test to my mental strength. I feel good today, some stiffness but I suspect tomorrow is when it will really hit. If you have recovery tips, that would be great.

Edited for formatting.
 
@katty143 Dude, my highest step day ever was 32k at Disneyland and I thought that was a big deal.

Holy crap, take my respect, internet stranger! You’re amazing!
 
@katty143 I saw this post a few days and I am now walking in Spain, the last two days I had to walk 50000 steps and I can't imagine doing double that! I did get blisters though, so that did make it pretty painful (also wearing a backpack)
 
@katty143 I first read your post when it was at the top of my reddit page (like, earlier yesterday) and I am STILL thinking about it!! You've totally inspired me to work towards this goal! Go you!!!
 
@stephygirl777 Today was amazing! I was able to run four miles. I looked like a newborn fawn and it took 45 minutes but yesterday I collapsed getting out of bed, so it’s progress.
 
@katty143 This is so inspiring. My area is going to be warm(er than this week) on Sunday and now I'm considering just trying this! 50,000 steps in a day is currently my top, but why not go for it?
 
@faith2hope Today I literally collapsed to the ground when I tried to get out of bed. My legs just... gave out. It was super weird. Got myself back in bed, rested more, and then was able to hit the gym without issue. I felt normal the rest of the day but my feet are pretty sore/swollen still.
 
@katty143 This is an awesome feat.

Hopefully unnecessary PSA though - if you’re very overweight, or unconditioned, please don’t try this as your first or even fifth effort. Build up your capacity first.
 
@wilaywaly For sure. I started my fitness journey in February of last year. I started doing 10k steps a day until about July when I started running and bumped up my average daily steps to 20-25k.

Then in December I attempted the 50k (successfully), and then this 100k. It was definitely something I worked up to.
 
@katty143 Omgosh that’s so funny. I started watching a show called You on Netflix and only allowed myself to watch it when I’m on the treadmill. Thanks for calling me a bad*ss! You made my day!
 
@stardreamer Yes! I watched all of You in the treadmill too. It actually made me run fast because it was slightly scary. Haha!

It took me a year, but Parks and Rec was another fun one to watch on the ‘mill.
 
@katty143 This is awesome! I hit 145,000 in one day in 2017 during an ultra marathon. I remember being a bit sad when the clocked turned at midnight and though I was still running, all my steps for the day were gone (it was easier to focus on than versus the miles I still had ahead at the time lol)
 
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