Again?! Really?

Last week ended on a high note with work-related stuff so I celebrated with a couple glasses of wine. But I made sure to have them early, as our Saturday morning activities would get underway well before sunrise... I was eating brekkie at 5:30 a.m., almost like an actual race day!

The morning workout was perfect until the last mile...

It started with my mom and I participating in the annual mile swim at Lake Mission Viejo. Normally, you have to swim within certain boundaries at the lake, but on this day they open the whole thing and send us off in waves for a timed mile swim. Only catch: no buoys, just a lifeguard boat with a flashing light to mark the turnaround, a few paddleboarders and some permanent lake buoys about the size of basketballs (aka useless). It'd be a real test in holding a line! The course was basically the same swim as the OC Tri, for those familiar. I loved it... nice, warm morning with that race-high-adrenaline vibe as we got going in our wave. I needed some of that.

View of MV Lake:

However, if you read my last post, you know I haven't been swimming so I wasn't planning on a PR performance. My forearm is starting to feel better, so I decided to let pain be my guide this time.

As we headed out, I felt great. Surprisingly strong, sighting well and staying in the pack. But after the turnaround point we turned around into blinding sun and from then on it was a little crazy. No more feet to follow, no buoys to look for, just me and a general idea of where to go. Not easy! My forearm started bugging me every time I got the the catch portion of the stroke, so I stopped probably 10 times to let it calm down a bit.

Finally I could see the boat ramp, aka the finish. It came quicker than I expected even with all my stops. I ended up doing the whole mile swim in 28 minutes, which I'm totally ok with all things considered.

After that I waited for my mom, she was only a few minutes behind me, and then hopped on my bike for a planned 40 miles through Santiago Canyon.

Ride was going great, despite a temp of 91 degrees before 9 a.m., which continued to rise. It was the best I've felt in a while; maybe it because I ate my new favorite cereal, greek yogurt and homemade pumpkin muffins for fuel.

The end of my 40 miles was nearing, and I was definitely thinking a little t-run would happen. I was practically home, but only at 39 miles, so I decided to do a pointless mile of basically a big circle around my house just to reach 40... ughhhh, so dumb...

At 39.1 I felt something go into my helmet. I reached my hand to feel around, and within .2 seconds I was getting stung. By a bee. Again.

I freaked, got out the stinger, but it was too late. The damage was done. This is #5 bee sting in the last few years (2 face, 1 thigh, 1 back, now 1 finger), and I've clearly developed an allergy. The sting was on my finger, but within 10 minutes my entire body broke out in hives that were itchy like you wouldn't believe, my face was swollen, eyes nearly swollen shut and I felt like pure death. I took an ice cold shower then just laid on the floor for 30 minutes while my parents kept a close eye. I continued to say, "Don't worry I'll be fine, just give it time to fade off." At least my BP was fine & no wheezing/chest tightness.

I eventually started feeling better, at least well enough to consume large amounts of food -- bee stings don't affect hunger rates after mega workouts!

Here's a few lovely photos of the damage, but, really, pics don't really do this sort of thing justice....

Face of misery (note: for once I decided not to show the really bad picture because it's that bad):A glimpse of the rash:
Swollen finger the next day (hand is swollen too, hard to tell though):

Thankfully everything cleared and I was fine about an hour later--except for the mega swollen hand/finger--so I was able to continue with my plans of hanging out with a good friend in San Diego for the rest of the weekend....

SD never fails me. Lots of good times, got in another PCH/Torrey ride, and I ate too much good food (the very unhealthy and healthy kinds).

Ahhh La Jolla:
B's Godiva brownies, which came before the pizza and the world's best pumpkin froyo:
PS - You'll be happy to know I've already gotten a prescription for an Epi Pen. 1) I don't want to die from a bee sting; 2) at this rate I'm bound to get stung again; 3) I clearly won't stop riding my bike/running outdoors. So that's that...