Almost had a heat stroke in LA....

I played a total of eight sets today...most I have ever done in my life in one day.

I went to the Burbank Tennis Center with Jon bright and early. I was scheduled to play at 9:30am, but the tournament director had me play as soon as I got there. Thus, I started at 8am. I finished my first match at around 10am with a fairly easy win (finally I got an easy first round). I had 30 minutes rest. I was then called onto the court for my next match against one of the tougher players in the tournament who had a 'bye' (skipped through first round).

This second match lasted almost 3 hours under 86 degrees F sun. We played three sets. On the third set, I can already feel my calves on the verge of cramping...thus I lost the third set quite easily. I lost steam.

Then I took about 45 minutes break, then Jon and I are called to play our doubles match. By this time it was like 2:30pm or so. Lo and behold, it was another three setter. Worst of all, Jon twisted his ankle about 3 minutes into the match. He is so commendable that he wrapped his ankle and kept playing. In the third set, I lunged for a ball and the cramp on my left calf fully manifested itself. The rest was history. The match lasted another 2.5 hours...again under some really hot weather.

When I got back to Jon's place, the rest of my body started to cramp up. I was totally dehydrated. If I did continue to play, my heart would have cramped and that will be a heat stroke. I guess lucky me.

The lesson learned:
1) Drinking lots of water is not the same as drinking Potassium filled Gatorade.
2) Think twice to compete in a tournament with heat such as this, against players who are used to it.

Afterwards, I had dinner at Thai Town Restaurant (4809 Melrose Ave, LA) with Danny, Pete, Howard, Nils, Mike, Jon, and Elmor (side note: Nils and Mike were our doubles opponent). The entertainment for the evening: the restaurant owner singing in Thai and some kind of English on stage.