It was warm in the PNW today. Middle of July warm. So instead of the 10 minute cold shower (52 F well water, around 11 C) I leaped like a gazelle into the Narrows. A whole 1 F colder! Oh yeah…

Well, I slid off the ladder into the water. Incrementally. Pretty sure it was nothing like a gazelle. And I mostly floated with my life vest on, swimming enough to stay in front of the house while Micki gave me updates on the ten minute timer. When it went off I floated four houses away to my parents’ house and climbed out there. Because what parent isn’t impressed by a surprise visit from their child, who proceeds to drip sea water all over the floor?

Stinging fading to tingling in the extremities for about the first 3-4 minutes, then generally fine. Felt great afterwards- energetic with delusions of super powers. Or at least feeling tougher than on an average day. Good stuff!

There have been weeks of prep for this. Officially I am on week 5 of WHM (Wim Hof Method), but I have been slogging through it for about 9 or 10 weeks. Some of the exercises have taken time to get acclimatized to, so I have stuck with that week’s routine until I felt confident. Or at least competent. Week 5 is all about maintaining at least 10 minutes of exposure for the entire week. I have been able to accurately predict how unpleasant the first 3-4 minutes are, and pleasantly surprised by how awesome the last 4-5 minutes end up being, and how rock solid I feel afterwards.

*Okay, it wasn’t snowy. This picture was months earlier. But it accurately portrays how the water felt!