And it is the end of another month. I think March was a good month overall. I was able to get a few answers regarding my shoulder pain, and it makes sense. At work, my promotion was finalized this month, and I am getting used to the new role. I have traveled less this month than I have in prior months, and I am starting to see some results with my tech coaching. However, this promotion did come with an increase of work load.
My fitness this month has actually been awesome. I did not get as much swimming in as I wanted to, but I was able to complete all of the Garmin Connect+ fitness challenges this month.
- March Calorie Burn
- March Battery Booster
- March Photo Share
- Low Stress March
- March Heart Walks
- March Speed Walking
- March Epic Hikes
- March Time To Swim
- March Walking
- Active March
- March Step Month
- 2026 Walking – Stage 1
- 90K Step Challenge (x4)
On Swim.Com I also completed several fitness challenges:
- March 1K Challenge
- March 2K Challenge
- March 3K Challenge
- 5 Swim Activities in March
- 10 Swim Activities in March
- 1 Hour of Power Challenge
I finished out the month with a decent swim today. Did a 1750 Yard swim, 36 minutes, 32 of those are the actual moving time. I felt pretty good about it when I was done. The only reason I didn’t get to 2000 yards is that I started to get worried about time.
Anyways, as we wrap on the month of my fitness, some things to share:
133 miles of walking – 38 hours
18,925 yards (10.75 miles) of swimming – 6 hours
41 miles of hiking – 11 hours
I also have some health gains as well. Significant loss of weight while maintaining muscle tone and bone mass. I lost 10 pounds over the course of the month, and for the most part my blood pressure has stabilized in the normal range. May have something to do with my traveling as well as the fact that we are really trying to watch my salt intake and balance out the diet as well. In terms of weight, we hare wondering if I have been not eating enough. It sounds stupid, but the weight watches diet that we try to follow may not be aimed at really active people. We are starting to follow a different version of the diet that is heavier on the protein intake. It is really possible that I may have been not taking my fitness activities into account. We will see what happens over this next month.
So, what is happening this next month? I have several goals, all with the aim of being ready for the Mountain Swim Series in June. First, I am cutting back on my non-swimming activities. Believe it or not I think this may have been part of my shoulder tightness and pain. I am limiting the Garmin fitness challenges in April to mainly swimming:
- April Swim Week – 3281ft of swimming in the first week of April
- April Swim Month – 13,123.4ft of swimming in the month of April
- April Battery Booster – Maintain a body battery of 76 or higher for 7 days in April
- Low Stress April – Maintain a daily average stress level of 50 or lower for 7 days in April
- April Calorie Burn – Burn 8,000 active calories in April
- April Photo Share – Share photos on 3 activities in April
I am also going to make sure I complete the Swim.Com fitness challenges:
- April 1K Challenge – Complete 1K of swimming in a single activity
- April 2K Challenge – Complete 2K of swimming in a single activity
- April 3K Challenge – Complete 3K of swimming in a single activity
- April 5K Challenge – Complete 5K of swimming in a single activity
- 5 Swimming Activities in April
- 10 Swimming Activities in April
- 20 Swimming Activities in April
- One Hour of Power – Complete one hour of swimming in a single activity
- 10 Hours of Power – 10 hours of swimming in multiple activities
And then, finally I am going to complete the following US Masters’ Swimming challenges:
- 2026 USMS April Fitness Challenge – 1000yards of Freestyle in a Single Session
Anyways, that wraps up today, I have some end of month cleanup to do on my laptop, I move my Download directory to a archived Download Directory, I clean out my mailbox and start a new month of work related emails. I move my sent mail to a monthly sent mail folder. And in general do some regular maintenance so I can find things. Keeps me out of email and download hell.
Anyways, I think that is about it for the day. We are home, all is good, and I will see you tomorrow.
