Stung on the Run

Sunday was a much needed day off after seven straight days of running.  Because I was still having some shin/calf soreness, I considered taking a second day off.  Of course that ended up changing.  I did decide to back off and run an easy 4 miler rather than a speedwork session.

I was hoping to get some relief for my legs by running on the soft trail at the Route 33 Boat Launch.  This is mostly a dirt and stone path.  It helped me earlier in the year when I did a long run there with the BCR.  The trail itself isn't bad, but it is rather flat, straight and boring.  That said, in addition to being soft, it is shaded (which was very important in today's 90+ degrees), flat and fast.  I really do hate running on rail trails or canal paths alone.  It goes so much faster with a group, like on Saturday.

Note: Not the bee that actually stung me

I guess I should've taken it as a sign that today was going to be bad when I couldn't get my GPS to work.  It was frustrating because it was getting a signal, but for some reason it wouldn't go into the timing screen.  It was a sign of problems to come though.

Last time I ran at this location, it was a rather uneventful run.  Today, that certainly wasn't the case.  Early on, I felt decent at a nice and comfortable pace.  I definitely did feel some slight soreness in my legs though.  I don't know if it is actually more of a problem at a slower pace where my legs hit the ground more often.  Whatever the case, it wasn't a completely pain free run.

The plan was for two miles out and two miles back.  That started out fine, but things quickly changed.  With just under a mile and a quarter in the books, I felt a sharp sting on the back of my head and then heard a buzz around my ear.  I never did actually see the bee.  It was very painful for a minute or two.  I was cursing up a storm.

Because of the initial pain, I decided to head back, figuring I didn't want to be too far out in case I had a reaction.  I never have before, but who knows, especially with all my other health problems and medications I've been taking.  It has been a few years since I was stung.  I guess the needle in the arm for blood work today just wasn't enough.

When I turned back around, I never saw the bee or a hive or anything of that sort.  I have no idea why it stung me.  I thought it was kind of odd that it would do that while I was running.  Within half a mile, the pain subsided and I was doing fine.

I continued the rest of the run at a comfortable pace.  For awhile, I was figuring that I would just run back to the car and cut the run a mile short.  When I got back there though, I decided to keep going and finish the run.

I ended up running in the other direction along that path.  I thought this might suck because it is a harder paved surface.  It actually wasn't bad though.  The only problem was some of the heat as I ran in the open parking lot.  Even that was fine because there was a nice breeze.  Potential thunderstorms were on the way.

I wore some gray shorts because I didn't think I would encounter many people and thankfully I didn't.  The problem with these shorts are that when I sweat, it is very easy to see around my crotch and behind.  They get soaked and really stand out.  Good thing I really only came across a couple people in the parking lot, a guy on a bike and another guy running.  No potential futures dates that would've made me feel too embarrassed.

It felt so good to be done with the run.  So far, so good with the sting.  It is still a little sore, but not too bad.  Hopefully it won't swell up any more.  My shins aren't bothering me either.  I found a good stretch to do and I'm really going to work on them now more throughout the day.  I need to get rid of the soreness, hopefully that doesn't mean backing off too much.

I would've liked to get in some speedwork today, but after Friday's workout I'm very happy with where I am at now.  I'm going to run a fartlek with Kelley on Wednesday anyway.  That should be fun and a good workout too.  I might run with Mel tomorrow.  I would like to do some relatively flat running for now.  I can add more hills when I get over this shin/calf problem.  Hopefully scaling back and little will be a big help with this issue.

4 miles - 37:14 (9:19 pace)