Julia Gerlach, 27, didn't notice the black bear standing behind her until it was too late.

"As I turned around, I looked an average-sized black bear straight in the eye," recalls the German native.

Gerlach was working as a forester, planting trees northwest of Fort Nelson, British Columbia when the male black bear pounced.

"He just charged me, knocked me down and started mauling," she says. "I felt him ripping off my skull, biting my arms and my legs."

Gerlach used her bear spray on the animal to little effect. Then, she used the can as a weapon.

"I took the can, I jumped to my legs and banged him on the nose and I just remember this look in his eyes...like 'what happened.'"

Severely injured, Gerlach managed to radio for help, and a coworker scared away the bear by firing gunshots into the air.

Surgeons worked for 11 hours to reconstruct the skin around her head. She has puncture wounds all over her body, a partially severed ear, and hundreds of stitches.

Two weeks after the attack, she looks and sounds remarkably well. And, Gerlach doesn't blame the animal.

"I was in its territory. It was just doing what bears do," she says.

Gerlach is a hard-core runner who has competed in many races. She knows she's lucky to be alive and already she's looking forward to her future. In fact, she intends to follow through on her plan to run the Seattle marathon in November.