I haven't really had a strong desire but always a curiosity about polar plunges. I definitely haven't ever sought one out--including this one. Instead, I was hanging with Dan Burns and friends after the Superbowl, was invited, and played tough like, sure, yeah, no big deal, obviously I'll do it.
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I got more nervous the closer the date got, but also, I became more committed as so many of my lovely friends donated to our team, or really, to the Chicago Special Olympics, an organization I've become more connected to now that I teach a course in adapted PE at DePaul.
We really lucked out on the weather. By that, I mean it was 41 degree and sunny. After months of Chicago winter, 40 feels almost like spring (not quite, but almost). I was amazed at the level of costuming and felt very under-festive. Our little team hung around and had some drinks for courage and then it was our turn to sprint into the water.
We all agreed that we'd fully submerge, but then Danny told us that the submerging happens in like 1-2 feet of water, so you really have to flop down into it. I became less certain I'd do that.
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But then we were in the water, cold and wet and looking for enough flopping room, and we all did a full submerge. I definitely wasn't glad I did that in the following 30 seconds, but once we got our towels and were walking back inside, everyone felt fine.
I will totally do it again and fully will regret it because it'll likely be a much more miserable day in terms of weather. But we had fun, so maybe it would be fun again?
