Attack of the Killer Bees

You may recall a post a few months ago when I announced my registration in the lottery to run the St. George Marathon. Well, my sister and I were one of those selected (much to her surprise and slight displeasure). With my fundraising gala at the end of May, I didn't have time to start training until June. In the past six and a half weeks, I have increased my mileage from 9 miles/week to 23 miles/week.

When I first started, it took me an hour to run/walk three miles-- last week I ran 3 miles on the treadmill in 24 minutes. It's very exciting to see relatively quick progress, especially since I only have 11 weeks left until I run 26.2. At the same time, I am often disheartened as I struggle to run longer than 4 miles without stopping or when I feel like I've been beat to pulp after running/walking 9 miles (the longest single stretch I have gone so far). I have a long ways to go, but it has been fun to see some progress and feel my body getting stronger and recognize that my mind is reestablishing new limits.

During this training time, I have also had some new experiences: a hurt ankle (that kept me from running for a few days), a sore knee (that made running very painful for a week or so), a sharp pain in my neck (that prevented me from moving my head to the left for three days), the largest blister I've ever had, and vomitting after a run (I think I was dehydrated...).

But the strangest thing I've experienced by far happened this week when I got attacked by bees while running. I felt something on my head and swatted off what turned out to be a small bee, only to have it return. I kept trying to get it off of me without success. I was running and swatting, but soon I had at least 4 or 5 bees buzzing into my hair. I stopped running and began flailing instead. I couldn't get them out of my hair! I threw my headband, thinking they might follow it, but they didn't.

They kept buzzing all around me and then one stung me. I started to panic and decided I needed help. So I called my friend Symbria who lived about a mile or two from where I was, but she didn't answer. I called and called and finally she picked up. I shouted into the phone, "COME AND GET ME!!! I'M BEING ATTACKED BY BEES!!!!" Then I hung up. She called back and frantically asked me where I was. I shouted the cross streets, but she's terrible with numbers so it wasn't registering even after repeating it three times. By this time I was being stung regularly and was almost in tears. A man in a truck drove by and offered for me to get in. Thinking a stranger was less dangerous than a bunch of bees stinging me, I jumped in and shook my head out of the window until they were off of me.

I thanked him for letting me in and he said, "I saw you dancin' out there and figured you were being attacked by bees because the same thing happened to me this morning." Then he asked if I had seen the man with the beehive walking by. I hadn't. Symbria showed up at that point and I jumped into her van with a very sincere thank you to the stranger. She immediately asked me if I needed to be taken to the hospital-- I think she was more panicked than I was. She said she had called 911 and a policeman was on the way. The officer contacted us and asked if we could meet to show him where the attack was because there are two confirmed locations of killer bees in our area. We looked around the area and he asked me about whether I had done something to anger the bees (which I hadn't, unless running down the middle of the road is somehow annoying or invasive to them...). He couldn't confirm whether or not they were killer bees, but he said it was certainly a possibility since the attack wasn't provoked and since they were very aggressive, even as I ran away. He said killer bees continue stinging until the person gets away or dies.

In the end, I only had 5 stings. But it was certainly a strange experience. I never thought I would be attacked by bees.

Despite the aches, pains, and stings associated with my training so far, I am truly getting addicted to running. It is emotionally filling for me. I actually look forward to doing it now. I think it is a great outlet and plan on making it a lifetime habit. I just hope I can be ready to almost triple my longest stretch to date in less than three months. Wish me luck...