Heat, Ice, & Five Hundred Dollar Pickles

My husband and I met, courted, and pretty much lived the first half of our marriage on some kind of volleyball court (get it? COURTed? Haha.) Now, if he knew that you and I would never meet, he would tell you that he taught me everything I know. Let the truth be known that I have been playing since I was in the 6^th grade, and he pretty much sucked when I met him. Fortunately, he picks most things up VERY quickly, so he can fabricate bragging rights to strangers and make them seem legit. Oh, how I love him.

Most of my early volleyball career in California was spent on an indoor court; in fact, my high school had the only air-conditioned gym in our league (that information will be important in a minute.) Once we met, married, and moved back east to Maryland, I was sad to be moving away from a region that championed the sport I love so much.  But little did I know that the Delmarva area (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) had a dense volleyball following, and although there were indoor adult teams, the outdoor play was HUGE. So my husband and I easily found volleyball friends and jumped into the doubles and quadruples scene on the beach and in the grass.

I stepped outside during my first summer in Maryland and wait. Just. One. Minute. Did you see that? I could swear it was a bandit that just sprinted by and slapped my entire body with a gigantic wet sponge. My clothes. They are sticking to me. They are creeping up all my cracks and crevasses (how did the wet sponge bandit get me there too?) Hey. What is my hair doing? Can someone get me a scrunchie? The back of my neck is sweating. What? YES, I showered. Dude, I walked down three steps off the front porch, that’s it. I was sweating like I had been lifting…the CAR.

I have lived in Maryland for 29 years. Humidity-29. Carey-0.

So, you can imagine the adjustment that this little air-conditioned gym princess had to make to play volleyball outside. It wasn’t pretty. It still isn’t.

I am actually the poster child for heat illnesses, the main topic of my blog today. There are three common types of heat illness that are closely linked to dehydration: in order of severity, these are heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Having experienced physical activity in both dry and humid climates, there is a façade of hydration that is present when moisture is in the air. Because of that, I simply just didn’t drink enough water, I am now able to share my stupidity with you as I exemplify the first two heat illnesses.

Scenario 1: Reverse Co-Ed Doubles Grass Volleyball Tournament (two people on each side, one male, one female. Net is set at women’s height, and men must hit behind a line that is 10 feet back from the net.) Sun was shining. Not a cloud in the sky. It was 88 degrees, but it was also 92% humidity. My partner (not my husband at this time) and I just won the match that put us in the quarter finals. I immediately went towards the shade of our tent—without offering the standard congratulatory “good game” handshake.  Rude, I know. But I wasn’t feeling very well. I was having some abdominal cramping, and then my calves started to cramp up, so I needed to sit down quickly. My partner came over to see what was wrong—by then I was already drinking water, then some Gatorade. My leg cramps subsided, but my abdominal cramping got worse. At that point, I was not sure I could continue to the quarter final match. Just then, our opponents that we would be playing in the quarterfinals approached us. One of them said,

 “Here, eat THIS.”

What I thought was zucchini from her summer garden was actually an enormous dill pickle. I had never seen one larger. It actually made my stomach turn. 

“Yeah, um, not a fan.” The winners of this tournament walked away with 500 bucks! It was probably laced with rat poison.

She promised me that it would make me feel better.

I indulged, and apart from hurting my teeth because it was ICE cold, I could not believe how refreshing a cold pickle was on that miserable humid day. I ate the whole. darn. thing.

And BAM. We won the tournament. That was a $500 pickle.

The cramps I experienced were heat cramps. If you experience these during a workout or athletic event, stop activity immediately. Rest in a cool place, sip a sports beverage, juice, or water if those are not available. You can also sprinkle salt into a full glass of water (well, hello there, my pickled friend!) By consuming the pickle that was loaded with salt, I got a rush of sodium in my blood stream.  Guess what follows salt?  You got it—water. Because salt was now in my body, it was also holding on to as much hydration as possible.

Scenario 2: Same type of tournament, same partner. Same weather conditions. This tournament had some stiff competition. Games lasted longer. Matches were extended to all three games in best 2 out of 3. We just squeezed a win out of our quarter final match and made it to the semis. I was dripping with sweat. I remember feeling the abdominal cramping coming on again…and then I didn’t feel anything. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and feel it in my chest. I felt nauseous and thought for sure I would vomit. So, I wandered in the direction where I thought our tent was, and then I FORGOT where I was. Someone grabbed my arm and guided me to the ground, and then someone else dumped an entire cooler of ice water over my entire body. Someone else joined the fun and dumped THEIR cooler of ice water on me as well. It took me a while to figure out this was NOT a game, and unfortunately, I was unable to continue the real one.

Heat exhaustion symptoms include thirst, weakness, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and possible fainting, and possible elevated blood pressure and pulse. This is sometimes hard to distinguish from heat stroke, which we will address next. Just know that with heat exhaustion, the person is typically sweating heavily. Immediate cooling and fluid intake are essential to avoid the one heat illness that fortunately I have never experienced.

Heat stroke is potentially fatal. The body’s heat regulating mechanisms fail and cannot produce sweat to cool the body down. Thus, the person’s skin will be hot and dry. Other symptoms include rapid pulse, rapid, shallow breathing, disorientation, and loss of consciousness. It is very important that you get this person into a cool environment, maybe a cool shower or bath. If conscious, get them to drink a sports beverage to replenish electrolytes. Do NOT mess around with this one. Call 911 and get medical attention immediately.

Many states have had record heat waves this summer, but that doesn’t necessarily slow down those summer weather lovers. PLEASE hydrate extra well. Watch for symptoms of heat illnesses, and don’t hesitate to get medical attention. Keeping a cooler of juices and sports drinks on ice around to replenish those electrolytes will earn you woman of the year. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with tossing a giant dill pickle in the bottom of that cooler. You saw what it did for me! It can also help you…

Be Well!