The Bear 100: Appreciating the People Who Support Us When Things Get Painful

Chrissy Esposito

October 26, 2018

October is National Physical Therapy Month, and I am celebrating by visiting my local physical therapist this week about an upset muscle in my right leg.

Physical therapists are in the spotlight this year as health care professionals and communities throughout Colorado are figuring out how to help many people who are struggling with pain while reducing the use of addictive opioid painkillers.

I’m one of approximately 53,000 Coloradans who will visit a physical therapist this year. They perhaps play a particularly important in our state, where people are more physically active than in most of the country.

My injury is a result of a 100-mile footrace I ran in September. Here’s my story about how I landed in the physical therapist’s office.

I had decided that I would finish race - the Bear 100 Endurance Run - no matter what. The second bullet point in my instructions to friends who supported me went as follows:

“Unless I break my ankle, have a bone sticking out of my skin, or start having kidney failure — Don’t let me drop out. We have 36 hours, so if something does happen we have time to make it better. “

The Bear covers of 100 miles — not ordinary miles, but the kind of miles that test your body, mind and spirit. The route traverses the Wasatch and Bear River ranges from Logan, Utah, to Fish Haven, Idaho, over hiking trails, jeep trails and dirt roads. It starts at 4,860 feet and tops out at 9,043 feet. In between there’s 22,518 feet of elevation gain and nearly as much loss.

This year’s race started at 6 a.m. on Sept. 28. To finish, runners must complete the route in 36 hours, which means traveling at night, guided by headlamps, over unfamiliar turf. Finishers get a plaque, a belt buckle, and a feeling of immense accomplishment.

I’ve been running competitively since I was seven years old, and it’s a passion I’ve carried with me ever since. I ran in high school and college, eventually getting into endurance sports.

Still, I spent 287 days training for this race — 287 days of sunrise runs, butt-kicking yoga, and countless hours up and down mountains.

With a Little Help From My Friends

The race started on a high note. I ran with my good friend and fellow racer Rachel for the first 36 miles (Rachel ended up getting 6th place for women!). We ran easily and happily as we bounced from one aid station to next, eating and chatting our way over the mountains. Those first 45 miles were what I’d call “good suffering” – it wasn’t quite easy, but for 11 hours, I ran with a huge smile on my face; my heart and soul felt whole, my body felt strong.

But somewhere between miles 45 and 51, something happened to my right calf. It felt like someone had pummeled the upper part of the muscle.

My crew welcomed us to the mile 51 aid station with an abundance of energy that lifted my spirits. I had been crying for the past hour and tried to hold back tears as I told them what had happened. They fed me veggie broth, massaged my calf, got me in some warm clothes, and then sent me on my way with my new pacer.

The next 14 hours were full of misery and, in some cases, tears. It was night time, and there were points where I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it to the end of the race.

Anyone who races knows about there’s a possibility of DNF— Did Not Finish. Talk with any ultrarunner, and they will tell you of those one or two races where they dropped out. DNFs happen because sometimes your body tells you to stop.

My body certainly did. But I vowed going in that I wasn’t going to quit without a fight. In my corner was all-star crew who paced me, mended me, and held me together when everything kept falling apart.

In the end, despite the pain, I finished the race in 32 hours.

Working With Pain

More than three weeks after the race, my calf still hurts. And rightfully so – I put my body through a lot in the Bear 100.

I’m still glad I completed the race. And yes, I probably will run another 100 miles again.

I still don’t have a concrete answer for how I kept moving through the long physical and mental lows. I know I had to dig deep, but I don’t know how to decipher that dark mental place.  

A lot of my motivation was driven by my friends, who came from all over the country to support me.  And as cliché as this sounds, I was able to keep going because they believed in me. I’ve learned that no matter how much pain I’m in, I can always go a little farther if it means I get to see the people I love.

As I get ready for this week’s physical therapy appointment, I’m also appreciative of another group of people who help support people when they’re in pain.

Well-trained physical therapists can offer people in pain tools to help move forward through their own dark places. 

My physical therapist is helping me manage the pain and also learn how to prevent injuries like this from occurring on my NEXT 100 mile race. Professionals in this workforce are a valuable resource for understanding how the body works and the best measures to take for recovery.

Find Chrissy Esposito on Twitter: @CHI_ChrissyE

Want more information about health and health policy in Colorado? Bookmark our blog, subscribe to our newsletter or find CHI on Facebook and Twitter

More: