Someone saved my life tonight

Well, actually it was last night, but I was too tired to post this then.

It all started when I joined the gym yesterday morning. Of course, being in the middle of the work day, I didn't work out, I just paid my fee. I had to work late last night, but I'd decided that if I got finished at a decent time, I'd go by the gym. I had my clothes with me and a gym bag and everything!

My meeting was over by 5:45, so I figured that I could get in a half hour and still be home before too long.

Whoo boy - I did the recumbent bike, and my thighs really felt it! I had my iPod with me, but I never used it - the exercise machines all have little TVs, and I just plugged my earbuds into that.

(I don't know how accurate the on-board computer was, but it said I did 10 miles in that 30 minutes.)

I did a cool down, and headed a few doors down in the strip mall to Subway to pick up some dinner. It was there that my troubles began.

I was wearing a pair of the capri workout pants I'd found on clearance on Monday, along with a long-sleeved T-shirt with a short-sleeved shirt over it. I looked fierce!

I also, unfortunately, had my heavy wool coat on, because it was so cold outside. But inside that Subway it was roasting! And the line was really long, so I had to wait quite a while.

By the time I was ordering my Veggie Delight, I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. I was afraid I'd throw up right there - but that would've been preferable to how I began to feel.

First my head started "buzzing." That's the only way I know how to describe it. It was like when Anna Marie and I had been playing around with some massagers at Walgreens once, and she put it on my head - except much more intense. I tried putting my head down close to my knees, to see if that would help.

Obviously, it didn't, because then I started to lose my hearing! I literally felt like my ears were closing up. Not good!

The middle-aged woman who was making my sandwich asked if I was ok. She advised me to sit down, and asked if I'd like some water. I told her that would be nice, and that I thought I'd overheated at the gym.

I took off my coat, sat down, and the next thing I knew there she was with a bottle of Dasani she was pouring into a cup for me. She also poured cold water onto a napkin and rubbed my wrists, my forehead, and the back of my neck.

Immediately, I started to feel better. It was like my body temperature dropped all of a sudden. She (who happened to be black) bent down and whispered in my ear, "You know you white girls can't take getting overheated like that!"

She asked if there was anyone she needed to call, but I knew Jason was already in his PJs watching TV in bed, and that Anna Marie had already had her bath and was in hers too. I figured that if I was feeling better, there was no use in calling them.

After sitting there for about five more minutes, I got back up. The line had disappeared by then, and I finished my order and came home.

I thanked her profusely, and I have a good mind to call the owner (who is also an alderman in our town) what a great job she'd done. I don't know what might have happened if someone hadn't been around who knew what to do - because although I did, I wasn't functioning properly and couldn't have done it to myself.

She said she was teaching a class once and a boy got overheated, and that she remembered the directions the nurse had given her. What are the odds that she'd be working at the same time I needed that exact help? I dare say that the teenagers who normally staff that restaurant wouldn't have been as knowledgeable.

I went back to the gym this morning - I'm going to have to go early in the morning, before my family and my job need me - and I took some precautions. Short-sleeved shirt, bottle of water, etc. This was even worse than when I got overheated during the 5-Star races a couple of years ago.

I learned my lesson last night - and I never, ever want to have that experience again.