You know that feeling when you’re cycling and a massive insect hits your glasses at full speed and you think to yourself “phew, I am so glad it didn’t hit my face”?

• Well, in Ironman Hamburg it did
• And, it was a big insect
• And, it was a bee
• And, it exploded into one million pieces in my mouth
• And, it stung my lip (tried to remove the stinger thinking it was still there)
• And, it caused my lip to swell up into the size of a golf ball

At this point, I had 80km left to cycle and I thought to myself “hmm, will I need to hold my lip by biting it so that it doesn’t jump around when I start running?”. Also, “I really hope I’m not allergic”. And, “hmm.. the last time I got stung by a bee was when I was 8 years old and it too happened when I was cycling, what an interesting coincidence”.

Once the run began, I told my family, who clearly noticed the swollen lip, “please google if there is a reason to be concerned” to which 4km later they reply “since you’re still up and running, there is no reason to be worried anymore and even if you’d needed medication, we wouldn’t be allowed to give it to you anyway because of race rules”. Luckily, it all ended fine. I completed the race, laughed it off with everyone, and ate tons of pizza. Obviously, this was not a “personal best” race, but I did finish my first bee-athlon!