and it had nothing to do with running.
For those of you following along – I got stung by something during my run on Thursday. I figured it was a bee. It hurt at the time and then kinda went away after a while? Maybe I just zoned out.
When I got home and took a shower the place where I was stung on my butt was super pink – but not like anything major. Then, a few hours later it had swelled up and gotten red and hard AND hot. The all the red swollen skin was significantly hotter than the rest of my skin.
But it didn’t really hurt anymore so I just figured ‘meh’.
Then, the next day I woke up and it was a huge red super swollen circle, probably about 5 inches in diameter. What.the.heck.
So I decided to just walk toward the light and say hi to Jesus.
RIP Monican.
But, I remembered I was supposed to watch the US Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Trials and I already had my plane ticket so I decided to put off my impending doom until Monday. Priorities, right?
That morning I took a picture of my sting mark and sent it to my mom and a few random others. Let’s remember – this was on my butt. But, I really needed to make sure I wasn’t overreacting or underreacting – it’s seriously hard for me to tell since I have a history of morbid hypochondria with a side of ‘being able to run 26 miles at a time in 80 degree weather’ so my pain threshold is confused.
Most of my life is confused, but I digress….
I sent my mom a picture of my butt, got on the plane to San Jose and went on with my life.
Travel time between SoCal and San Jose was a one hour flight and I was there in a breeze. But when I got to the hotel and changed I realized the sting was even BIGGER now. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!
Again, it still didn’t really hurt or itch but it was swelling up more and more and was still red and warm.
I sent my mom an updated picture and she actually said ‘you should have went to the doctor’!
Mind you this is the lady who when I broke my finger in 10th grade told me to ‘walk it off’ and “if you really want to go to the doctor go find your medical card in the house…”. Ha!
The point is, if my mom thinks it’s not actually just in my head than it might actually be something.
Long story short – after showing the pictures to Ben he researched it and said I could be having a slight allergic reaction or it might have been a wasp instead of a bee or something. And for some reason he decided to read to me this thing he found about how bee stings can get worse each time you’re stung and the next time I might go into full on cardiac arrest and die (okay he didn’t say die but did say I might have a worse reaction).
![im dying[3]](https://runeatrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/im-dying3.gif "im dying[3]")
So after a 1 mile warm up into my speed run yesterday I was starting my first 800 meter when I spotted a few bees flying back and forth in the distance and remembered this is where I got stung before.
I totally freaked out and ran FAST through that area but then could not get my breathing back to normal. I stopped to walk but every time I started to run again I would just go into overdrive and feel like I was hyperventilating or having a panic attack. I could not calm down. I walked and talked to myself to try and relax but it just wasn’t happening.
I walked for half a mile trying to breath normal and calm but could not do it – I felt like I had a weight on my chest and couldn’t keep calm and carry on. I might have been having some sort of freak out (I think that’s the medical term for it).
I decided to just walk home and let this one go. It wasn’t a life or death situation and I wasn’t helping myself by trying to push through.
So yeah, I quit and went home. The End.
Except it’s not completely the end.
It was the end for that day but the next day I busted out 10 miles and felt really great. Boom.
Bad runs happen to everyone. No big.
No one cares if I have a bad run and I still got to see the baby ducks. Love.
But all was not lost that day because I had delicious Pad Thai for dinner. It made me happy.
Question: If I die after my next bee sting should I try to have someone pretend to be me and keep RER alive?
Or should I let it die with me? Or should I try to blog from Heaven?
I’ve definitely been bit/stung on a run..on my butt and it stunk! It actually hurt and I kept running and holding my butt because that’s what made it feel better. I probably looked really weird, but I was on a down and back and was just at the turn around point. I actually used to be allergic so I didn’t even think it was bee. I just felt a sharp pain and when I got home, I had my hubby check it out. (haha) Luckily, I’ve outgrown the allergy so I didn’t die! And my butt didn’t swell up (Like I need a bigger butt..)
Sorry about the panic semiattack. That stinks!
You should definitely just blog from heaven. Ps I’m a hypochondriac too and have gotten 2 wasp stings in the past year. Benadryl helps, but maybe that’s just mental. Glad you’re still alive! I like your posts 🙂
Lol! You are hilarious
Let the blog RIP, no one can replace Monican But i have a feeling you still going to be Running and Eating and Repeating when you 90 so i wouldnt worry!
I got stung by a bee this past Saturday on my elbow. Since I can’t see my elbow without the aid of a mirror I really had no idea how bad it was. 5 days after getting the sting, my arm swelled up like a balloon. Turned out I still had the stinger in. Thanks to my elderly neighbor, his magnifying glass and his tweezers, my stinger is now out. Within an hour my arm was almost back to normal. So you may still have the stinger still in your bum-cheek that is causing delayed reaction. Oh and expect the area of the sting to be super itchy.
I am allergic to bees and carry an epi pen with me all summer. I’d definetely get it checked out. Mine started with a skin reaction like yours but next time it could be swelling of the air passages. Please be careful.
Be careful! Exercise can intensify allergic reactions. I had never had an allergic reaction to anything in my life before but last summer, I was out on a run and went into full blown anaphylactic shock. Turns out I have exercise induced anaphylaxis, which means the combo of exercise + something I’m allergic (that they were unable to determine) to will send me into anaphylactic shock. My doctor told me I should have stopped running as soon as the symptoms started, but I had no idea. Might want to carry some benadryl with you in future…
Thank you! I really appreciate this, the reaction was so weird. Good to know.
You should definitely start the cloning process now… 0_o. Make sure your team of scientists are just ready and waiting to press the “clone now” button so that RER can go on uninterrupted!
^_^
I’ve had a few scares with random bugs that like to dive bomb me mid run — why?? I feel like there must be something genetic about me that drives bugs crazy.
You should totally blog from heaven. Im sure they have super impressive broadband speeds up there! lol Hope you are ok tho.
Blog from heaven. If you can. That’s my vote.
https://thedogtribe.com/2016/07/14/dirty-thirty-workout/
I can totally relate to your hypochondria! My mind automatically gravitates toward the worst came scenario as well.
Hey, how’s the sting? Are you ok already?
Hahaha! I love the dead sidewalk pose! I found out I was allergic to stinging things just over year ago on my birthday… I’d always had pretty intense local reactions but nothing really serious. I got stung and within 5 minutes I was having a full anaphylactic reaction to the sting. It was horrible. So moving on to now, I’m freaked out anytime I hear anything buzz near my body. It’s happened a few times on a run and it really gets my heart rate up and stresses me out.
Hope your butt is feeling better!
I’m not sure anyone could pretend to be you 🙂
I have had a spider bite that actually made my whole leg become twice it’s normal size and at first yup, just walked it off and then massive freakout….still no dr. I did my grandma’s old advice and put wet bread on it which draws out the poison, weird, but works.
blog from heaven. would be quite interesting! although I would hope it won’t happen this soon- you’re too young to die.
so did you end up going to see the doc?
was it a wasp?
it’s scary to see that big of a swollen bump on your body…. I would be freaking out too.
Hope it goes away soon….
Ok, that sounds absolutely terrifying and I hope the bump has gone down since..?
Oh, you should totally let somebody be you! Seriously, think about your readers 😉 haha
I totally had this exact situation happen to me last year while walking my dog. I was in nursing school at the time and worked in a clinic as a student and the nurse practitioner there said it could be a localized allergic reaction, but most likely I was stung by something and then quickly developed cellulitis around the sting. It went away on its own, but cellulitis can sometimes spread and become pretty bad. If yours is going down on its own I wouldn’t be too concerned. I bet that’s what yours is, too! Hope it is all better now!! 🙂
Blog from heaven….I can only imagine the stories you could share from up there.
Please and thank you.
Haha, you made me laugh out loud with your questions! Is there a way to have the doctor test to see if you are allergic to bees/stings? That way you’d know in the future.
Sidenote: I love reading your blog – thanks for posting! I’ve been reading for a while and appreciate all your running humor and real life realness :). Hugs!
I totally get it!
My family goes on vacation to a VERY remote area in Canada every year. One time I decided to go for a run because the weather is gorgeous and the scenery is everything. I absolutely freaked myself out that I was going to run into a bear. I turned around and sprinted home hyperventilating the whole way, raced into our cabin and looked like a freaking maniac to the other campers. Darn imaginary bears!
All because I wanted to run. Haha!