Swimming in the ocean is one of the only times I can really shut off from all the outside noise of the world. I love that it's the closest to flying you can get — being in zero gravity. I like diving and playing in the water. How you see the world a little different. It's dynamic, every day is different.

Whether surfing or swimming, you have to fully surrender to the environment.

With a lot of other sports, you can grit it out — the trail might be steep, or there's a headwind. But with the ocean, sometimes it's you win today! — and I kind of like that sometimes.

I love the movement of swimming, I love the ocean, I love the water. I didn't want to race in a pool anymore, so I got introduced to open water swimming. I started to like it early on.

My first swim was after an ACL surgery. I swam 3 miles from the Bay Bridge to Aquatic Park. You do these swims with a very fast current. You see the city and the skyline in a different way. It's just an awesome thing.

Part of going after records is about how good you can be, how fast you can be, how tough you can be. I've always been like that. It comes off as competitive to some people. But I'm not really competitive with other people, I'm competitive with myself. Like, how tough can I be?

That's what's evolved the most. It's not can I break this record? — it's can I be the first.

There's no one to compete against. It's just you and your body and your mind.

My coach at Cal always told us to be the little girl that wanted the blue ribbon. Have fun with your teammates, be the girl going for the blue ribbon. I try to bring that into my swims.

I think before the swim, I lose sight of that. I get so stressed out. As soon as I'm in the water, it all just washes off and the joy comes out.

Little girls need heroes.

I look up to all the women who came before me and broke the glass ceiling. To not only do something like this, but to have the positive momentum behind them and the people who want to help.

There was a time when, yeah, a woman could run a marathon, but no one wanted her in the race. To have people cheering me on the whole way, that is really special. I think of Junko Tabei, the first woman to do the seven summits. Or the surfers, the Amelia Earharts. I don't think I'm in their category at all, but because of what they've done, I can go after something like this.

My family is nervous. It's just so non-traditional. It's a non-traditional thing to do. It's so uncertain. I'm leaving my job, I'm leaving my health insurance, steady paychecks — all of that stuff. My mom told me I could do this over years, but it'd be completely different if I did it that way. But then I could keep my job!

I think good things will happen, but it is scary. I left my apartment today and it felt really sad.

"I think you're ready," her mom chimed in.

The sections I'm most excited for are also the ones I'm most scared about, because they're so remote: the Lost Coast, and Big Sur. I'm really excited for SoCal.

I think Santa Barbara south is going to be like a party.

I don't want people swimming with me because there are so many risks. Sharks are a risk, whatever, but there are also boat propellers. What if someone brings people out to swim, then there's boat propellers — crazy things can happen in the water, and I just don't want to put other people at risk.

Cat talked to several athletes and crews who undertook multi-month expeditions on land and in the water. What did she learn?

I'm more prepared! Our organization and logistics are very lock-tight.

The training — I learned I didn't have to do so much. The advice is to start really strong with extra weight; I don't have extra weight, I just put on 4 pounds of muscle.

I do feel like my whole life has prepared me for this.