The Polar Bear Plunge

Growing in San Diego, hearing about Polar Bear Plunges did not happen very often. I really think the only time I heard about such a crazy event was from a show about people in the second happiest country in the world, Denmark, jump into freezing cold water in the middle of winter. Sounded insane to me at the time.

Since moving to New England adjusting to the weather has been a bit difficult for me. I am used to sunny and warm 365 days a year. Here, it's been cloudy/snowy/wintry mixy and freezing temperatures for quite some time now. I am always cold and even keep my jacket on when I am inside.

So when my boss asked me to do a polar bear plunge, I amazed myself when I said yes. It was so not like me. But I was desperate for some friends, so it sounded like a good idea. I even got Brandon on board too!

Prior to the plunge, my boss and I even went in search of the most awesome costumes we could find. I have to stay they pretty freakin' awesome. All tie-dye? I mean, who can beat that, really? We had our team name silk screened onto our outfits - The Housatonic Supersonics.

The spot - on the frozen lake!

A few Saturdays ago we met on a cold morning at Onota Lake in Pittsfield where we prepared to jump into freezing cold water. The lake was frozen over and the fire department had to cut a hole into the lake so we could jump in. Not what I imagined. I imagined running into the lake from the shore and then dipping my body under and then running out. I did not expect to be jumping into the water from the ledge of the frozen over lake. It was all so new to me that lakes even freeze over! Who knew?

The hole was so tiny!

About to jump in! So nervous!

Trying to get out as fast as I could!

After getting out of the water, they handed us trauma blankets, you know, the kind they put on people who just had an accident. They were awesome! As soon as someone put one one me, I was golden. I never felt better. The blankets saved the day, especially because we had to walk a couple hundred feet to the bathrooms to change.

After jumping in the lake, I had the biggest adrenaline rush. I was so pumped. I kept saying, "That was the best thing ever!" and "I can't wait do to this again next year!" It was really interesting how happy I was afterwards.

After changing, we got dressed in nasty bathrooms and proceeded back to the meeting room. We thought they were going to announce the best costume award (which we for sure had in the bag) but once they started packing up the speakers, we decided our dream of winning wasn't happening so we went home.

The Polar Bear Plunge was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. I am putting it on my bucket list, just so I can cross it off!

All warm again and ready for home!