Hot Golf

105 degrees in Medford yesterday and at its peak, at 3:30pm I staggered off the golf course after walking and carrying for eighteen hot holes. On a couple of occasions I’ve attempted Bikram yoga where they crank the temperature up to 120. I always end up gasping for oxygen like a little fish tossed up on a beach. It could have been that way yesterday except for a slight breeze and the approximately two gallons of water I drank during the four and a half hours we toured the course zigzagging from shade to shade. Unfortunately, there are hills on this particular golf layout. They seemed twice as steep as usual. The quality of the golf wasn’t too important. This was more of a survival test. Could I make it without heat stroke, heat exhaustion, cramping or debilitating fatigue?  Water is the key. I must have chugged enough.
Quit counting after eight litres. There is, of course, the problem of drinking too much water. This is called “water intoxication” or “hyponatremia” resulting from loss of sodium from the system. Years back, in basic training in Texas we were told to eat several salt tablets each day. There were little salt tablet dispensers on the barracks walls. Hyponatremia results in apathy, confusion, nausea, and fatigue. Didn’t have any of those symptoms but in the evening, after returning home and standing under our nice cold outdoor shower for ten minutes and drinking significant additional amounts of H2O I was peeing every fifteen minutes for the rest of the evening. Over hydrated I guess. Supposed to be 105 again here today. If Al Gore’s movie were in town, I believe I’d go see it. Before global warming we could count on Ashland being comfortable until August. Looks like it will be hot golf from now on.