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Stress-Free Marathon -- April 2023 Step Challenge and Photo Scavenger Hunt

A Marathon for Stress-Free April? Well, read on … 

 

April is Stress Awareness Month and exercise is GOOD for stress reduction, right? Ummm, maybe. Look, I know a lot of Fitbitters want to run a marathon, but if success is trying to accomplish that in a few hours, or even a day, it sounds a little crazy! So try a 30-Day Marathon instead.This April commit to one mile, walk or run, every day. Maybe (gulp) even if it is raining. But don't stress! If it is raining really hard step inside or take a day off. A marathon is only 26 miles.

 

I’ve always been a fan of getting my exercise outside where I can see the earth, the trees, the flowers, the bees, and for April, rain (likely) or shine, I’m going out to see that one stress-free day at a time. Come along and set up some month-long fitness goals as well — a little challenge is good, but for Stress Awareness Month, don’t push too hard. Focus on the joy of daily exercise.

   
How It Works

The primary purpose of these monthly challenges is to keep track of your daily step goals for the month; though many of us track other things as well, like body weight exercises, sleep, trips to the gym, logging food, etc. This is not a competition to see who can do the most of whatever, instead it is a challenge to measure your consistency. So whether you do 1k, 5k, 10k or even 40k steps a day, this is measuring how many days out of the monthly total you can hit your goal.

 

Some might have a constant goal of 10k steps every single day and others might have a variable goal throughout the week, (and some might even plan days off!) for example.
Monday -> Friday = 10k steps a day
Sat & Sun = “6k steps a day,” or “not tracking”

 

Regardless of how you structure your daily goals, the only thing that matters for the monthly challenge is whether or not you reach what you set out to do.

 

Suggested Posting Format    
1) Post either your constant or variable step goal.
2) Keep track of the # of daily goals achieved out of the monthly minimum and or monthly total

 

Picture Scavenger Hunt — 3 pictures

For Stress Awareness April how about some pictures of whatever brings a smile to your face? Here's one of my dog Jayhawk who wonders why it gets so dark when he goes for his kong.

Is there really food in there?Is there really food in there?

Posting

Although you certainly don’t have to post daily, you’ll likely stay closer to what you set out to do by updating the thread several times/week

 

Injury Notice
If you injure yourself during the month and need to scale back due to the injury, then all you have to do is adjust your goal for that period. If you normally do 10k steps a day but pull a hamstring and decide to do minimal walking (2k steps a day), then all you have to do is change your goal.

Scott | Baltimore MD

Charge 6; Inspire 3; Luxe; iPhone 13 Pro

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122 REPLIES 122

@NellyG (who already knows) @SteppingBooks @Jotex @4DB @Vidd @Better4Life @jantonini. I hope you all are having a good April.  But ...

 

Marvelous May Flowers is up. So go post your goals. Cheers!

Scott | Baltimore MD

Charge 6; Inspire 3; Luxe; iPhone 13 Pro

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Stress Free Day 27

 

17K steps/day for 25 days  24/25

1 pushup

 27/25

10 weight-lifting days 

 13/10

post 3 scavenger pics

 3/3

Sleep 6:00 hours + 15 days or more during the month 

 

17/15

1 pull-up (modified)

 

27/25

Unicycle: 15 mins/day for 25 days 

23/25

13 Dry (no alcohol) days 11/15
Beat April 2022 bike mileage (260.9 miles) 

410.2

 

This mockingbird made me smile. He's got some kind of hawklike attitude.

You lookin' at ME?!?You lookin' at ME?!?

Scott | Baltimore MD

Charge 6; Inspire 3; Luxe; iPhone 13 Pro

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Stress-Free Marathon April 27

17.7k Steps/Day Weekdays:-/20

9.5K Steps/Day Weekends: 5/10

2000 Calorie Limit/Day: 25/30

IF Daily (12 hr weekday/16:8 weekend): 23/30

Weights 2x/week: 3/8

Stretch 4x/week: -/15

Squats 30/day: 3/10

80oz Water daily: 4/30

Lose 3 pounds: --/3

Photo Scavenger Hunt: -/3

Total Steps: 299,964/450,000

 

@Baltoscott  Thanks!  

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28 April

 

1.6 km (1 mile) per day for 26 days               18/26   (marathon goal)

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                      14/20

12 days over 12,000                                         8/12                

5 days over 15,000 steps                                 3/5           

20 exercise sessions (swim, bike, vigorous walk, dance)   30/20

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                      3/3

250km on my bike                                          277/250

Community Council Member

Helen | Western Australia

Want to discuss ways to increase your activity? Visit Get Moving in the Lifestyle Discussion Forum.

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Stress-free Marathon April 28th update

 

13k steps per day - 16/16 days

10k steps per day - 4/4 days

16k steps per day - 3/4 days

18k steps per day - -3/3 days

over 20k steps per day - 1/2 days  #1-(24,789)

Weights - 12/12 days 

Yoga/pilates/stretch -  13/12 days

90 oz Water every day - 28/30

8 pound weight loss - 4.8 pounds lost  

3  (at least) for photo scavenger hunt. 3/3

 

I was very ill for 2 days last week, and still suffering from allergies...YIKES...I haven't felt that bad since I have been a little girl.  Covid was negative, Doc said probably viral infection with severe allergies-no actual firm diagnosis.  Thankful to be on the mend every day... our band has a gig Saturday, so I need my voice 🙂

Blessings to you all for a wonderful spring weekend!Our Peppa, our princess..although she is on borrowed time, she gives us mega love!Our Peppa, our princess..although she is on borrowed time, she gives us mega love!

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Stress-free April - Day 27&28

8,000 steps: 14/15 days

10,000 steps: 8/5 days

12,000 steps: 3/4 days

Rebounding: 13/15 days

Weights 2x/week: 8/8 days

Blue Days: 10/10 days

Lose 2 kilos (starting weight: 58.3): -1.3 (57.0)

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 3/3

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April Stress-Free Marathon, Day 28

 

150 floors every day that I'm at home in Shropshire

28/30
10 miles at least with Walter the collie every day, wherever we are.28/30
Play the piano to Walter every day.28/30
In bed by midnight ever day..28/30
..and by 11pm at least 5 days in every 7.  Caught up!24/28
Cleaning/DIY/gardening every day when I'm at home.28/30
30,000 steps every day.28/30
3 Scavenger Hunt photos4/3

 

Our local crochet queen has been at it again:

 

IMG_0811.jpeg

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And soon after, once on the hills, I saw this unusual and distinctive little feller:

 

IMG_0812.JPG

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29 April

 

1.6 km (1 mile) per day for 26 days               19/26   (marathon goal)

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                      14/20

12 days over 12,000                                         8/12                

5 days over 15,000 steps                                 3/5           

20 exercise sessions (swim, bike, vigorous walk, dance)   32/20

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                      3/3

250km on my bike                                          323/250

Community Council Member

Helen | Western Australia

Want to discuss ways to increase your activity? Visit Get Moving in the Lifestyle Discussion Forum.

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@Baltoscott yikes, May already??  Hope you end April having a great day!

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@jantonini for being under the weather, you did really well with your goals, good job!!  Look at the look Peppa is giving....if she could talk I think she'd be saying "are you taking another picture of me??"  haha

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Thank you. A couple of those days, I shouldn't have worked at our local
athletics gym where I lead 4 classes a week--that kept my step count up,
but didn't help my healing plan. So happy I took one of those days to be
home in bed!
And Amen to poor Peppa, she is pretty tired of pics 🙂
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Stress-free April - Day 29

8,000 steps: 15/15 days

10,000 steps: 8/5 days

12,000 steps: 3/4 days

Rebounding: 14/15 days

Weights 2x/week: 8/8 days

Blue Days: 10/10 days

Lose 2 kilos (starting weight: 58.3): -1.4 (56.9)

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 3/3

 

Thanks for the invite to May challenge @Baltoscott

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Stress-free April - Day 30

8,000 steps: 16/15 days

10,000 steps: 8/5 days

12,000 steps: 3/4 days

Rebounding: 15/15 days

Weights 2x/week: 8/8 days

Blue Days: 10/10 days

Lose 2 kilos (starting weight: 58.3): -1.3 (57.0)

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 3/3


Mostly happy with my stats for April. One more 12,000 step day was almost achieved, with only 49 steps to go. But I crashed and burned (exhausted and went to bed). Also not totally unhappy with my weight loss. The 1.3 kilos almost equals 3 pounds. I will keep aiming for my target goal of 55 kg before summer. And then down to 50 kg. before Christmas. “Slow and steady wins the race.”

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Stress-Free Marathon April 27 through 30

17.7k Steps/Day Weekdays:-/20

9.5K Steps/Day Weekends: 5/10

2000 Calorie Limit/Day: 27/30

IF Daily (12 hr weekday/16:8 weekend): 25/30

Weights 2x/week: 3/8

Stretch 4x/week: -/15

Squats 30/day: 3/10

80oz Water daily: 4/30

Lose 3 pounds: 1/3

Photo Scavenger Hunt: -/3

Total Steps: 314,481/450,000

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Stress-free Final update

 

13k steps per day - 16/16 days

10k steps per day - 4/4 days

16k steps per day - 3/4 days......1 sick day @8,000 

18k steps per day - -3/3 days

over 20k steps per day - 2/2 days  #1-(24,789); #2-(21,788)

Weights - 12/12 days 

Yoga/pilates/stretch -  14/12 days

90 oz Water every day - 30/30

8 pound weight loss - 4.4 pounds lost  

3  (at least) for photo scavenger hunt. 4/3

 

All in all, even after having a few days of feeling really puny, I feel as if I had a pretty good month... I probably pushed too hard a couple of days--and I wont' do that again!  I am lucky that my sore throat was at it's minimum Saturday for our awesome gig below (my daughter filled in for my sister, and it was really special!) The pic is a little blurry, but it makes me smile! 

Also, Thank you for accepting me into this group, I enjoy reading about you all, and you are all inspirational.  See you in the May Challenge.Backstreet with Ash.jpeg

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April Stress-Free Marathon, Day 30

 

150 floors every day that I'm at home in Shropshire

Total floors this month was 6595, nearly 12.5 miles

30/30
10 miles at least with Walter the collie every day, wherever we are.30/30

Play the piano to Walter every day.

We've moved from Bach Preludes and fugues to Beethoven Sonatas.  He complained a bit but has now got used the the different style.

30/30
In bed by midnight ever day..30/30
..and by 11pm at least 5 days in every 7.  Caught up!26/30
Cleaning/DIY/gardening every day when I'm at home.30/30
30,000 steps every day.30/30
3 Scavenger Hunt photos4/3
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@Jotex Let's hope May does bring May flowers because there was too much rain in April 😉

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Stress Free Marathon April 2023 Challenge @ April 30th

 

My challenge this month is to continue with my steps to accomplish my goal for the year of 3,650,000 steps  

Now that I have been with Fitbit for a year I would like to beat last years numbers

 

To date for the year I have reached  1,396,786/3,650,000 steps

 

Goals to beat:

April 2023/April 2022  (last post #'s were not correct, think I captured wrong dates on dashboard) 

    374,008/375,909 steps   

    323/324 floors 

    257.48/261.94 km

 

Bike Ride (once the snow goes away)

    2/4  (14 km bike ride one night after dinner) (5 km on stationary bike at the gym)

 

Loose 2 lbs

 8/2  Feeling good!!

 

Scavenger Hunt pics of things that make me happy

   4/3

 

See everyone in May 😉

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Stress Free Day 30

 

17K steps/day for 25 days  24/25

1 pushup

 27/25

10 weight-lifting days 

 13/10

post 3 scavenger pics

 3/3

Sleep 6:00 hours + 15 days or more during the month 

 

20/15

1 pull-up (modified)

 

27/25

Unicycle: 15 mins/day for 25 days 

25/25

13 Dry (no alcohol) days 12/13
Beat April 2022 bike mileage (260.9 miles) 

446.7

 

I'm happy with Stress Free April. My sleeping was better, my bike mileage was a big jump from last year, and I wrapped that up with a 30 mile Bikes to Beers ride on Saturday with my wife and some friends. Keep smiling!

Lets Go!Lets Go!

Scott | Baltimore MD

Charge 6; Inspire 3; Luxe; iPhone 13 Pro

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