The Kotowskis: A New Years Tradition

Oh! My Gosh! Chris and I have found a new New Years Day tradition. It was 41 degrees out, rainy with 10-11 mph winds and my husband and I were standing in our shorts and a t-shirt with thousands of other loony people waiting for the signal to start our official run! This was no everyday jog through the city, this was a crazy stride into 54 degree water!! Yes, we have officially completed the 16th Annual Sullivan's Island Polar Bear Run and it was AWESOME!! I will have to admit that I was not at all thrilled when Mr. Adventure had presented the idea. All I could think of was here we go again with the outlandish outings that my husband is begging me to partake in and as usual the closer we got to today, the more excited I got. I am so glad we did this together...to see everyone in little to no clothing or standing in some freakishly old Halloween costume was hilarious. The smell of last nights booze and cold bodies all crowded into one area waiting to take the ridiculously cold plunge was quite exciting. As we stood in the crowd waiting for our green light I kept thinking of how crazy we all were and then when we started running I couldn't quite fathom that I was intentionally running toward the piercing cold ocean water. Was I insane? I just remember hitting the water and my body just stopped, Chris ran past me and dove into the crashing wave and I just stood there. My body was frozen but my brain was wide awake and screaming MOVE DUMMY!! So what did I do? I sat down and let the waves crash over me. It's crazy how much cold water can just make you become so delusional and crazy. HOW AWESOME!! It's taken practically all day to thaw out but I am so glad we made this memory together today. As crazy as it sounds I honestly can't wait for next year!!!

Here we are with our Toy Story umbrella braving the elements.