Frightening

So, for the past couple of days I've been playing beach volleyball with some of my friends around the dorm, and it's been great fun. Tis nice to be able to get out and actually get some exercise, however I keep forgetting I'm in a desert and that it requires I drink A WHOLE LOT MORE WATER than I what I'm used to doing in the Midwest.

The first time we played we were playing in the middle of the afternoon (when the day's at its hottest, I believe...not really a smart time to play...), and I swear we were playing for a few hours. I brought water, and drank many bottles worth of it; however, when we were done I noticed my hands trembling a lot. Far more than I remember seeing for quite some time. (The last time my hands were shaking like that was when I was sick with the flu and kinda overdosed on caffine.) I just took a shower, drank more water, and ate some Ritz crackers thinking that maybe some salt would help. (The tremors ceased within a...half hour, I think.)

Then yesterday our group ended up playing after sunset when it was starting to cool off. (There were overhead lights! Don't worry about that the problem of seeing the ball.) We played a couple games, but I really was not feeling good when we went back inside. I noticed that I wasn't playing as well towards the end of the second game, but I chalked that up to my asthma reacting to all the dust being kicked up from the sand and to my being-out-of-shape-ness. But when the excitement of play wore off and we headed back inside, I felt my hands trembling again, but also weakness in my leg muscles as well, the slightest hint of uncoordination beyond what I normally experience in day to day life, and just a general feeling of slightly ill.

(Some of this stuff may have to do with being out of shape, and that's fine. I can deal with sore muscles, but weakness and tremors are not normal in my experience.)

At any rate, I was slightly frightened, so I changed out of my sweat-soaked clothes and curled up underneath a blanket for the rest of the evening (yay cold chills?), trying to drink as much water as I could without feeling sick and trying to keep my hands from shaking. (Thanks, Nil, for getting water for me. I greatly appreciate it. Hugs for you later.)

It took a few hours before I felt slightly normal again, but really, this was kinda frightening for me. One thing that I'm afraid of is my body just giving out on me and of being so weak that walking up a couple flights of stairs is beyond my capacity. I don't mind other people being stronger than I am, but when my body just fails like that it's scary! When that happens, what am I supposed to do?

I guess it could be a lesson for me to drink water continuously all day (commen sense, yes?), but I think for now it might also be a good idea to stay away from volleyball for a couple days. Knowing me, that probably won't happen, but it might be a good idea.