Polar Plunge 2008

Brrrrrr. It's cold in here. Yesterday, I joined my roller derby leaguemates in the Madison Polar Plunge to support Special Olympics. Our team raised over $5000. Amazing! I raised $600 of that making me the recipient of the team's first Golden Plunger Award/Trophy. Cool! We jumped through a hole in the frozen lake. Crazy! Would I do it again? Absolutely!

Wes and I arrived at the Coliseum Bar shortly after 11:00 to meet up with the rest of our team. From there we all walked across the street to Olin Turville park to sign our waivers, strip down to our bathing suits, and take our place in line to jump into the lake. When I went intot he changing tent to get ready, I began to wonder about what I signed up for. Wisconsin has had record breaking snowfalls, many days of near or below zero temperatures, and here I was, a girl from the Sunshine State, getting ready to step outside the tent in my bathing suit, t-shirt, knee socks, and tennis shoes.

Standing outside in the sunny 18 degree afternoon my body began to adjust. Jessica and Hoi Ming showed up to give us their support and to film us. It was cool to see them while we were standing in line. By the time we took our spot on the platform to jump I was ready. Expecting the worst - everyone said my lungs would shut down - I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the icy waters and it didn't feel as cold as I expected. Don't get me wrong. It was cold. So cold that my body was numb as I made my way to the wooden steps to get out. Once out of the icy lake, we made our way to the hot tubs. The hot tub water didn't feel scalding hot (although who knows how hot it was since I was so cold). The water in the hot tub helped warm me up before we made our way back to the changing to tent.

Thanks to everyone for their support in making the Polar Plunge a success!

P.S. That's me in the middle in the black/white striped socks making the plunge in the top picture. The middle picture is os me and Wes after the plunge with my Golden Plunger award. The last picture is of the ice cut out of the lake to make the hole we jumped into.

To check out more pictures go these other sites---

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stechschulte/sets/72157603920634480

http://www.madison.com/tct/polarplunge/video/