Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

Last weekend I attended the annual “Cat Spring Grunt” in beautiful Cat Spring, Texas. It was a great event, as always. There were probably around 40 throwers there ranging from beginners all the way up to World Record and National Record holders. It’s all very casual and relaxed at this meet, with the emphasis on having fun. In short – it was great.

My performances weren’t so bad either. In Shot Put, Discus, and Weight Throw I produced the second-longest throws in my relatively short career. Of course, I wanted to do better (I always want a personal record), but it’s tough to be too disappointed with second best performances ever.

My Javelin throwing really stunk up the place though. What made it even worse is that I was throwing with the “big boys”, where my paltry throws were kind of a joke. I should have been at the alternate throwing area with the wimps. Get a load of this – my Javelin throws are only twice as long as my run-up. Now that is bad!

Toward 12:30 or 1:00pm I started feeling weak and dizzy from the heat and humidity, so I packed it up and left before throwing Hammer. It’s just as well because they were throwing Hammer from a wooden platform which I just could not get the feel of during the Weight Throw (very slow surface).

I’ve just got to figure out why I have this problem with the heat, because this is not the first time I’ve had to leave a meet early due to a feeling of impending heat exhaustion. I know I drink plenty of fluids, so it’s got to be something else. I guess I’ll do some research on some of the medication I take on a regular basis (blood pressure, cholesterol, allergy) to see if they might be the cause. Other than that, I will really be careful to avoid any form of caffeine on the day of the meet, and I vow to WEAR A HAT from now on. It’s just stupid to train as hard as I do only to not be able to compete because of the heat. And it’s kind of embarrassing that I seem to be the only one having problems.

Next weekend is the Austin Lion’s Club Track and Field Relays. Always fun, and always hot. This will be a good test of my new heat fighting strategy. (Maybe I’ll get a hat with a little built-in ice bag…hmm, I may be onto something here.)