The Chronicles of Bearnia

It had been an amazing winter and spring full of running, cycling, a couple of backpacking, and camping trips; just peachy. Peachy indeed. Given how great things were going from a fitness and life circumstance standpoint, I was contemplating doing the Pilot to Hanging Rock 50 miler in the fall. My trail runs were going great and I was injury free from being pretty conservative with my mileage. Another possibility might be to take another shot at Mountain Masochist. I said to myself, "I'm feeling really good with my progress and where I am at the moment." What could go wrong? What could possibly interrupt this great flow?

Logging some winter miles on the local trails.

Backpacking with Chris at Mt. Pleasant, Virginia.

Camping, fishing, and biking at New River Trail State Park with Mike, Logan and Grayson.

The view from the top of Mill Mountain during a spring morning trail run.

Bear Paws

While on a 10 mile trail run along Hinchee Trail, which connects the Battlefield Trail in Salem, VA to the trails at Carvins Cove nature preserve, I happened across a bear. He was doing what bears do down in the forest below my elevated position on the the double track trail. Just slowly lumbering through the woods looking for berries or something to eat. I made my presence known by shouting out "Hey bear!" and clapping my hands. But it didn't seem to care at all and just kept doing what it was doing. Either it was deaf or it was used to seeing humans. I just stood there waiting because, A. I didn't want to startle it and B. I wasn't on a schedule (and neither was the bear, apparently). A bear paws... ha. See what I did there?

The bear eventually made its way up the slope to the trail that I was on and then crossed the trail about 20 yards from my position. It stopped and stared at me for a moment and I froze. Then it continued on across the trail. I gave it a good 2 minutes to make its way into the woods away from the trail and then I realized I should have grabbed my phone to snap a photo. Oh well.

I kept going and then about 2 miles later, another bear! OK... it was probably the same bear but it had walked a straight line through the forest while the trail snaked around following the contours of the mountain eventually meeting up with the bear's trajectory. I had a feeling I might see it again given the direction it had taken off into the woods after the first encounter. This time I was able to snap a few photos. Just like the first encounter, the bear didn't seem to care about me and took its time. So I took my time waiting for it to move on. I clapped, yelled, did the things you're supposed to do when seeing a bear. It didn't care. After a good 4 or 5 minutes it finally bolted for no reason at all other than maybe I finally yelled something it didn't like.

Me: "Hey BEAR! BEAR! HEY BEAR!"

Bear: *Shrugs* *Gathers acorns*

Me: "GO AWAY BEAR!"

Bear: *Looks at twigs*

Me: "SCAT BEAR! GO!"

Bear: "I'm so insulted! He said SCAT! I'm leaving!"

But the bear didn't bolt very far. It ran about 20 feet from the side of the trail, plopped its butt down in the woods and continued to stare at me and do bear things.

I decided to pass by the bear so that I could be on my way. As I passed I clapped, yelled, never turned my back on the bear and eventually made my way by. The bear continued sitting so I figured it was not much of a threat. It was probably so insulted so it was ignoring me. Or it was just used to humans. I made my way down the mountain and to the car.

Something Lurking

When I got home I did the usual post-run stretching routine then hopped in the shower. While there I noticed a bulge in my lower abdomen/groin area where a bulge shouldn't be. After some Googling I figured it might be a hernia forming. I made an appointment with my doctor a few days later and sure enough, he diagnosed it as an inguinal hernia.

My doc couldn't attribute it to anything and nor could I. I didn't lift anything weird or do any excessive straining for any reason. He said it was likely genetics and could have something to do with being tall and skinny. Next step was an appointment with a surgeon to make an assessment and figure out next steps. It's been pretty uncomfortable at times. Busy days with lots of movement (like walking around on the U.S.S. North Carolina during vacation) are tough and I'll have to eventually sit down to rest.

*Gory details alert*

The consultation appointment with the surgeon finally arrived a few weeks later and he confirmed the diagnosis and we talked about surgery. He said he would be doing the TAP procedure (there are different techniques for hernia repairs) which basically involves making 3 small holes in line with my belly button, inserting an oval balloon to create a cavity, using the laparoscopic robot arms to place a polymer mesh with a kind of absorbable coating between the muscles and the inside organs/other tissue, and then he'd be done. He said the procedure is supposed to take an hour. I knew ahead of time that this surgeon is also an athlete so I figured he would be a good fit for me. My hunch was confirmed and I felt like we had a good rapport during our consultation.

At the time of this writing, surgery is scheduled for early September. In the meantime I've been and will be taking it easy, using this as an opportunity to catch up on low impact stuff like this blog and other small projects. It's been 6 weeks (and counting) with almost no exercise other than easy isometrics and lower leg work (calf raises, toe raises, toe yoga, etc.). I attempted a couple of easy bike rides on flat roads but even riding just a few miles proved pretty uncomfortable. Somehow I'm still managing to get about 5k steps per day according to my watch. So I'm definitely not just sitting around.

Down But Not Out

It's been tough not running or cycling and I feel like a part of me has been shut down. But I've been through bouts of injury before only to come back stronger. "Me" of 10 years ago probably would have been massively depressed and would have had a huge pity party about it. But I'm older and wiser now and know that this, too, shall pass.

It sounds silly but something as small as wearing my trail running shoes while going out to the grocery store has helped me. Just having physical contact with the gear that I use to do the things that I'm passionate about seems to ease the mental pain of not being able to do them. So I've been wearing my trail running shoes to the grocery store, doing some much needed maintenance on my bike, and oh yeah, we started a YouTube channel!

The surgery is scheduled and I'll be back at it soon enough (and will try to create another post when I do get back at it). Until then, it's calf raises and toe yoga.

Moral of the story: Bears cause hernias.

Just kidding... they probably don't cause hernias. Unless you try and lift one!