Celebrating at Sellwood

Today was a special/exciting/anxious/marvelous day. It started at 5:30 in the morning when Tater Tot woke me up for breakfast. I had hoped to sleep I'm until 6 on my national board certification exam day, but no luck. Instead I had an early cup of coffee and watched the last of the rain before leaving for the testing center. It was an uneventful drive and an uneventful test. Hard, yes, but doing hard things is something I do voluntarily on a regular basis. Was it harder than an ice swim or a marathon swim, absolutely! Did I walk out with confidence, maybe a little bit. We'll see in a week of I passed, but overall I feel about as good about it as I did any of my practice tests. 

After the exam I grabbed a cup of coffee (okay, an almond milk latte - I felt like I deserved a treat!) and headed to Sellwood to meet up with some Yetis and Cold Huggers for a post boards swim. As expected, it was fantastic and revitalizing. Walking out of the exam I felt exhausted,but after half an hour in moderate current at 53 degrees F I felt like a million dollars. Having friends and treats doesn't hurt. Really, I can't believe how much this community has supported me over the years, both in the water and out. Cold swimming is by far my favorite occupation. I am so excited to work with future clients to help them connect with doing what matters most to them. 

Earlier I mentioned The Cold Huggers, they're a group of swimmers from the River Huggers that are swimming through the winter. Earlier in the month we had a spectacular swim to the Tower and back at Broughton Beach andiade amock album cover to commerate the occasion. It was fun and creative, I think I'll do some more in the near future.