it's not the heat, it's the humidity

my calf muscles are still tingling, but the cramping has stopped... I am perspiring again, which is a good sign that balance is returning to this body... another wild night in the real life in RealTime™...

it started during the intermission between New Found Glory and the start of Fall Out Boy... the feeling like the body would not cool down... the feeling that recovery was not coming no matter how I focused on breathing... and panting...

this was one of the wildest and most aggressive audiences we encountered so far and we had at least a dozen rows to squeeze through before we were front and center... the good news is that we had three opening bands to get there, but the opening bands were good enough so we would enjoy being up front as soon as possible...

so we maneuvered our way every time the crown surged or swayed and were fifth row by the time the second band, The Early November took the stage... it was the most work I've had to do at a concert since a long time ago and the only way to describe the physical experience was... rugby... rugby with hundreds of people and at least a hundred all vying for the same spot on the floor...

and of course there was the bouncing... this crowd was as active as any I've been part of (even nudging past the college crowd at the Panic! at the Disco concert) much energy expended...

by the time New Found Glory took the stage we were row three and under constant crowd pressure, which made breathing a challenge and the body heat extreme... and the air was not circulating well and more humid than even a day outside in Florida because of the steam machines on constantly... and more bouncing than ever...

one band member jumped into the crowd, challenging the Hard Rock policy of no moshing or surfing (why book the mosh/surf groups if you try to stop the reason many audience members come?)... anyway, Jordan (lead singer) came to the first two rows and leaned into the crowd... people tried to reach out and touch him and mostly missed... I held up my hand for a high five and he grabbed my hand and held on for about twenty seconds... I was an instant celebrity in the crowd, since he did that for no one else... my long hair had the buzz trying to decide what band I was with... I just slipped up another row and smiled and bounced...

I forgot to drink water before I left, so I had no fluids for more than fifteen hours... and the doctor has me on a diuretic cuz she doesn't like borderline blood pressure... and I didn't eat either... and have not been doing any physical conditioning in the past few months, have gained some weight, and haven't been to a concert since late November (ironic) and I already mentioned the three hours of rugby and the abnormally high heat...

so about 45 minutes into the Fall Out Boy set I had to leave the floor to get water... first time, dangit, cuz they were doing a great set... I was feeling lethargic and not finding any recovery for more bouncing and breathing was becoming labored and brain was feeling woozy... can't have much more fun than that at a concert, ya know?...

I drank sixteen ounces of water (a bit more due to melting ice) and felt a bit nauseous, confirming what I thought... so I sat outside for ten minutes (it was about 53 degrees Fahrenheit) and then went in for more water... I was not cooled down yet and they were out of water, so I had a sixteen ounce Sprite... still feeling parched, mouth cottony, and overheated... cold, clammy sweat...

so after the concert we stopped for drinks and I downed a 20 ounce sports drink and about twenty ounces of water... and I sat down and nodded off, waking shortly after with a profound cramp in my calf... wonderful, should have drank all sports drink instead of a lot of water...

I worked out the cramp and drank some Code Red (Code Red cures everything) and a bit of leftover pizza and some beef and barley soup and more water and came here to relate all this in RealTime™ just for us... I will apparently survived a mild case of heat-exhaustion... yeah, so ok, it's the humidity, but it's the heat too...

the concert was fantastic, better, even...

and now, it's almost 3am... time for some wandering around myspace answering more messages and comments, exploring more new blogs and sites, and leaving more trails of bread crumbs for the one and others I'd love to find... and then bed...

hope you had fun too J