What a beautiful day for a plunge into Holmes Lake!
I want to thank everybody who donated (there's still time!), raising a total of $385.00 (so far) for Special Olympics Nebraska. I didn't quite hit my goal of $500, but the original timeline was tight, and I didn't do any more begging after the original plunge date passed (until now).
The weather was perfect for running into a frigid lake. Temperatures on land were downright balmy (relatively speaking). The water, on the other hand, was nicely chilled. Most of the lake still had a thin layer of ice on top, and I heard an unofficial report that the water temperature was 34 degrees. Turnout was great, including plungers, spectators, and dogs. Even my parents and Daisy were on hand.
So what is it like to go running into 34-degree water? Chilly. Very, very chilly. You get it in your mind that it'll be like taking a really cold shower. Wrong, it's much colder than that. Even still, before your body has a chance to really freak out, you're already on your way out of the water. And once I was back on land, it only took a minute or two to ditch the "holycrapi'mfrickin'freezing" feeling. The (relatively) warm sun kept me plenty comfortable for the ten or fifteen minutes I stood around in soaking wet clothes.
Before you ask, yes, there is a video. I will post it soon. In the mean time, I'm sure Mr. T will start ranting in the comments about how I didn't really do it, which is why I haven't posted a video, and how if I really wanted to help the Special Olympics I would have tasered myself while rinsing my eyes with pepper spray and munching on raw habanero chiles. After you, Mr. T.
[Sunday update: I see the Journal Star ran a story about the Polar Plunge in today's paper. I was even mentioned ... sort of. I can only assume that the article's reference to "soccer hooligans" was aimed at my referee uniform, since I don't recall seeing anybody else with an outfit even remotely resembling anything soccer-related.]
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Oh come on! You really didn’t do it. If you really wanted to help the Special Olympics, you would have let us tase you. If you did do it, post the vid now!
did the missus attend or was she too embarrassed?
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