Man sets goal to go into Lake Michigan 300 out of 365 days
Challenge documented with video, selfies on Instagram
As of Monday, Justin Galloway had taken a dip in Lake Michigan 108 out of the past 113 days.
And yes, he does it even when temperatures drop to the single digits, like earlier this week.
Galloway, a Whitefish Bay resident, is challenging himself to get in there 300 times in 365 days. He started in September.
Galloway is big on goal setting. His past goals have included waking up at 4 a.m. for months and cutting out drinking alcohol for a year.
In late August, he and four of his buddies took on what they dubbed the “Five Guys, Five Great Lakes in Five Days” challenge. They drove up through Michigan, around Canada and jumped in all of them, he said.
“I was kind of looking for the next (challenge),” he said.
The momentum from that trip helped inspire his current challenge, which he calls “Jump in Lake Michigan 300 out of 365 days.”
Why 300? He said it seemed clean, big and attainable. Plus, it would give him a buffer if the lake iced up, preventing safe entry and exit, or if life circumstances popped up. But it didn’t allow so much wiggle room that he could take days off whenever he just didn’t feel like going in.
“For me, it’s creating that forcing function of getting to the lake as much as possible,” he said. “I just have better days whenever I do that.”
‘I always feel better getting out’
When the weather was warmer, he’d bike to Big Bay Park. Now, he typically drives. Occasionally, he’ll venture to Bradford or Atwater Beach.
He has a uniform of sorts: Swimming trunks, a zip-up hoodie, a winter coat, gloves, a hat and wetsuit booties.
When he arrives, he usually sets up his phone and starts recording a video.
“It’s my way of holding myself accountable,” he said. “That’s how I memorialize each one.”
Then it’s time to shed his sweatshirt, coat and gloves.
“I don’t want to get cold before I get cold,” he said. “I want to go in with good energy and feeling warm. I go down and then try to get into the water as quickly as possibly.”
Once he’s in the water, he said it’s all about relaxing, breathing through it and not letting the cold in.
“Your reaction when you get in cold water is you want to tense up and start shivering,” he said. “But it’s the opposite of what allows your body to do what it needs to do when you’re in there.”
Galloway isn’t new to embracing the cold. He finishes showers under cold water and also runs in shorts — even in the wintertime.
“There’s some science around that in terms of activating brown fat, it’s good for inflammation and energy,” he said. “I’m not super scientific with it, but those are just a couple examples of things I’ve done over the years and continue to do.”
Depending on the day, he’ll typically spend a couple of minutes moving through the lake water.
“This morning, I was laughing as I was getting in,” he said Monday. “There’s ice floating everywhere in the lake and it’s 4 degrees out.”
Then he gets out, dries off and layers
back up.
“I always feel better getting out than I do going in,” he said.
The best and worst conditions
His ideal conditions? A sunny morning with calm waters. The hardest days are when it’s dark out after work and he can barely see what he’s doing.
“There’s a placebo effect to the sun coming out, I think,” he said. “It feels 20 degrees warmer than it actually is.”
But so far, he hasn’t skipped a day because of weather conditions. Just a handful of life circumstances.
The coolest part (no pun intended) about going down to the lake every day is what he comes across along the way. He’s seen rainbows, eagles, steam rising off of the water and ice formations.
“I just feel very grateful and appreciative that we have this huge, beautiful body of water right in our back door,” he said.
He commemorates his lake trips by posting a video, time-lapse, selfie or picture of the lake on his Instagram account, @jgallowaymke. He also has the challenge listed in his bio.
“If this serves as some sort of motivation for other people, that’s awesome,” he said.
But that’s not the goal of it.
“For me, it keeps life interesting and I think that’s great,” he said. “It’s more of an internal thing than an external thing.”
He’s also had “guest stars” join him, mostly in the earlier months when it was a warmer out. His wife, three kids (ranging from ages 7 to 14), parents from Arizona, and some friends have all hopped in the water with him at least once.
“We love the lake as a family and use the heck out of it,” he said.
His connection to the lake
Galloway started “lake jumping” about five years ago when he organized an Earth Day celebration with about a dozen friends and neighbors, he said. It entailed a run to Big Bay, a jump into the lake, then bar-hopping on bikes while picking up garbage. The event was canceled the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long before he started the challenge, Galloway would swing by the lake for a quick swim after work as a way to reset.
Over the summer months, Galloway and his family are frequent visitors to Atwater Beach. They enjoy surfing and paddle boarding there, he said.
“We’re so fortunate to have the lake and the waterways we do here in this city,” he said. “We need to take care of them. The more time you end up spending in the lake and the waterways, you have this connection ... I would love if we could all just connect into what we have so we take good care of it.”