We booked an Airbnb and ended up realizing it was a basement apartment advertised as a studio apartment. The guy had an empty storage area on on side with dusty looking metal shelving.
I slept great the night before. At the swim start line I noticed my HR between 88 to 108. Very high but I attributed it to pre-race nerves. The swim felt great. In fact I went too easy.
About 2/3 through the bike I was mentally checked out. I walked through T2 and my fiance said I didn’t look well as normally walking isn’t part of my race. I walked the big hill out of T2 to keep my HR down.
Post race I noticed it spiked to 194. I averaged 147 throughout but had nothing. I endured horrible abdominal pain especially the last mile. I actually thought I might be on the way to a ruptured appendix as the pain did not subside and come back as is common with side stitches. I even had some mild chest pain.
Post race I felt no soreness in my legs. My back and shoulders were excruciatingly sore. An hour later nothing. As well at the finish I noticed a huge purplish bite on my calf.
As of today it’s shrunk to 30% and it’s not as dark. There’s a faint white spot that looks like an ulcer. I’m going to keep an eye on it but they say necrosis sets in within 96 hours and I’m past that plus it’s healing.
That is one thing I would never think would hit me in a race. I hope never again.
Just checking…but it wasn’t a full moon was it? (sorry couldn’t help myself).
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
I agree about that hill out of T2. Brutal…I figured it was a brown recluse based on the symptoms. I’ve had plenty of spider bites over the years, but this one had other side effects. The abdominal pain on my lower right side was very pronounced and not typical of a spider bite. I literally questioned myself if I was having an appendix attack and the symptoms indicate the feeling of a ruptured appendix. The shoulder and back pain are another symptom and the elevated HR. None of it made sense at the time.
The vast of majority of spiders don’t actually bite. I doubt this was a brown recluse. If it ulcerates, then I will change my opinion… but for now, highly doubt it (22 years as ER doctor, SO many people blame red skin marks on “spiders” that they never saw). And BR bites are usually at least painful.
I’ve had three friends that had serious suspected brown recluse (or similar) bites.
All three had surgery to remove tissue, one lost half of a triceps and could no longer work as a lifeguard.
At least one was in a location that biologists claim have no recluse, but something got them.
Don’t mess around with that bite, get it looked at.
Sorry to hear this. I ate at a restaurant with an outdoor seating a night before thinking that I could enjoy nice weather. Wrong!! I had mosquito bites and it was itch and bothered me during the race. Never again. I’m slow but I was determined to run that hill out of T2 which I did. It’s brutal for sure.
I’ve had three friends that had serious suspected brown recluse (or similar) bites.
All three had surgery to remove tissue, one lost half of a triceps and could no longer work as a lifeguard.
At least one was in a location that biologists claim have no recluse, but something got them. Don’t mess around with that bite, get it looked at.
Went to Urgent Care this morning. They couldn’t confirm the nature of the insect bite. I wanted lyme disease ruled out as I really had no clue upon looking into it more. They put me on doxycycline for bacterial infections to include lyme disease amongst a whole lot of things it treats. Better safe than sorry.
Lyme disease requires prolonged tick attachment (typically 36-48 hours) to transmit. Odds are you would have noticed an engorged tick on the back of your leg in the day or two prior to the event as you readied yourself.
