Welcome to HipRunner.com

I intended to get in 100 kilometres per week throughout the summer, for a summer base phase, ala the great and legendary Arthur Lydiard. But being slower than I was pre-hip, the time it takes to run the metric version of 100 is what it used to take me to run the imperial measure. So, time spent running is a better way to measure things than accumulated kms or miles.

So, in eight to eight-and-a-half hours run weekly, there was plenty of 80-85 kilometre weeks. For you Americans: 50-53 miles per week. It is pretty much all I have to give. I did run a 100K, or 62M or so once or twice.

In the context of “working with what you have,” I ran my base phase and did increase my volume a little and overall enough to get fatigued with some long runs, tempos and lots of easy running. Some strides, drills and gentle fartleks.

So, now to move into the quality phase. I am skipping the Lydiard hill phase, as all runs are hilly, and some are ridiculously hilly. Job done.

I do not have much in race plans until January, then I will race every other week for 16 weeks, so if I can move the fitness needle a little. I will, however, probably run a 5K on Oct. 8.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi all . ANY ADVICE APPRECIATED . I’m 8 weeks post Rod insertion from hip to knee for intertrochanteric hip fracture . IM ONLY 32 And fell while running ! I’m so terrified I’ll never run again . I’m walking no bother but I still feel it and when I try to run it’s too week and sore . Despite people and physio saying I’m doing great I feel weak . Anyone any experience. I feel I’ve aged years and never run again . 

I had concerns going into the race given that 3 weeks earlier my hip was bad during Lake Baldwin 50K, but fitness wise I was on top of my game. The week leading up to this I switched running to swimming to give my hip as much rest as possible and just went for a shakeout run the day before. There were a lot more runners this year and you never know who’s going to turn up and surprise you, but I knew Jeff for sure was going to give me a run for my money. We started of together setting a good pace just under 8 minutes but it felt comfortable. We knew we would have to back off from that pace given the heat and humidity with temperatures in the mid 90’s and feels like over 100 degrees. We came in to the end of the 3.6 mile loop together and got a handheld to drink on the next loop, nutrition was going to be important given the heat we were racing in. We slowed the pace down to right around an 8 minute pace as we headed out again and still everything felt good. I was breathing easy and felt comfortable as we came into the end of the second loop and grabbed new handhelds.

As we started loop 3 I could feel my hip beginning and Jeff’s pace had quickened a little to sub 8 so I was happy enough to let him go, it’s a long race. However by the time we got to the pier about 1.5 miles into the loop, my hip pain had got significantly worse. I carried on running but looking at my watch my pace had slowed to around 8:40 and by the time we left the pier it was now 9:15. I was unable to push off with my left leg with my hip pain and my left leg started collapsing inward occasionally, I knew then my race was over. As I limped in to the end of the loop I was surprised I still hadn’t been caught by … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Eight years ago, I had my hips replaced, and dialed back my running 80%, for fear of wearing out the prothestics.  In 2008, a study found the aveage hip replacement was good for over 15 years, but that was first generation prothestics.  Since mine are cobalt/ceramic (second generation, I think), I would assume they last longer, but haven’t found the studies.  And, it would be nice to see a comparaison of non-runner vs. ultramarathoners replacement times.  I’d really like some hard science, if there is any.  jimmyc… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hello Hip Runners! I am new to this group and so so so happy to be here.

I just got my surgery date (10/26/23) for a total right hip replacement. Yikes! I am scared (I’ve never had surgery before except for wisdom teeth removal)  and excited (hopefully an end to my pain and BACK TO RUNNING). I am here for information and support and to pass on my experience so hopefully I can support someone else on their hip replacement journey.

One year ago I did the SF Half and my right hip was never really the same. I had a lot of pain:( I went to the PT and X-rays showed I have stage 3 osteoarthritis with bone spurs. It crushed me at first and what was even more brutal was that I could barely run 2 miles – sometimes the buckling pain would stop me in my tracks.

I am a cyclist, rower, and runner, however running is my true love. I LOVE LOVE LOVE running. It is integral to my happiness on all sorts of levels. So going from running 5 miles 5 times a week and able to do half marathons (I did one marathon – NYC – and would like to do that again!) with a month’s notice to being in pain and barely running once a week REALLY AFFECTED my life. I turned 50 in February and without running and a slowing metabolism I gained 12 pounds and didn’t feel like myself. I am slowly shedding the weight with diet and Tunde, my favorite Peleton instructor, but I am so so so ready to run free.

Questions for this most awesome forum:

1. Does anyone have any pointers for how I can be best prepared for this surgery so the recovery is smooth and as successful as possible? I am a nurse and on my feet a lot at work so I want to make sure I don’t go back to work too soon and honestly, I want to make sure I don’t do anything too soon so I can heal with no complications. I

My training had gone well leading up to this race, the Lake Balwin 52K race, but in the last 2 weeks I had noticed my hip had started to feel a little tight. Since my trip during the Manchester Marathon in April when I broke my scaphoid and had my hand in plaster for 8 weeks and the 6 weeks since, I still cannot put my body weight on my hand and haven’t been able to do much foam rolling, hip strengthening exercises or general mobility stretching. I also ran on the beach on Wednesday evening with my niece and nephew over from England which isn’t great for my hip due to the slant, so I went for a massage Thursday morning to help it. My initial pan was to go the night before and get a hotel with Brian but it was my sisters birthday that day so I couldn’t really leave. Luckily Andy was driving up in the morning so I hopped in the car with him.

I was expecting Michael Stork to be there and to challenge Andy and myself for first place, and you never know who else is going to show up that you don’t know, I knew Jeff was out of town. Brad gathered everyone for the start and we set of. I took up the pace at the front and decided to push the pace harder than I normally would As Andy usually starts well but fades later, but I also know he’s done a lot of ultras over the last 2 years and has learnt a lot so I wasn’t expecting an easy race. Despite the high temperature and humidity the pace felt comfortable as we ran sub 8 minute pace. The race consists of 13 laps of Lake Baldwin, a 2.5 mile loop with not a lot of shade. It’s a good course and the distance is easy to self support from a cooler at the back of the car as you finish each loop. I finished the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd loop in first place with … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi all,

I am new to this forum but so glad I found this site. I am 55 years old and have been an avid runner all my life. An MRI from a bout of hamstring tendonitis first revealed arthritis in my left hip in 2016. Over the years, the arthritis has slowly gotten worse. Initially I had great success with cortisone shots, and was able to continue running w/o pain until it wore off, or I got another injury, but my most recent shot in March has had little effect. My arthritis has seriously degraded in the past year. I can no longer run w/o pain and have pain doing simple things like getting off the couch or out of a car. I am now 100% clear that THR surgery is my best option, and seeing all of the success stories on this site has made me optimistic that there is yet another chapter in my running life.

What I am afraid of is that I get one chance to get the surgery right, and there are many options. I’m going for a second opinion on surgery in August. Recently I have heard about dual mobility joints, and I am wondering if I should be pushing for that. I have also heard that anterior surgery is easier to recover from. If there is a checklist of things I should be pushing for or asking about, I would love to hear from others – or even things you would have done differently if you could turn the clock back and go through surgery again.

Thanks!
Sean… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

So for those of you who remembered my last post, my question posed was “can an aging, experienced, 52-year-old, post THR runner get faster?”  And the trial is essentially eight 5K‘s over a four month period to prove it … well here is how it’s going:

May 27, 2023 – ParkRun 5k: 21:17 (good weather for Central Florida; only in the mid-60s)

June 10 – Clermont triathlon series 5K: 21:36 (very hot weather, typical central Florida)

June 12, 2023 – NACDA 5k: 22:06; (not sure if the course was accurately measured, very hot weather,course runner on golf course cart paths too; summary: not a fast course, and only two days rest from last 5K)

July 4 – Tuesday – Freedom 5k – Clermont: 20:54 (hottest day of the year thus far and a hilly course; but a big race, and “home town pride on the line“

July 8 – Clermont triathlon series 5k: heavy rain from about 3/4 of a mile till the end of the race making my Feet definitely heavier, but ran 21:08.

So like many things in life, not a total linear progression, but as of right now I’m about 30 seconds faster at 5K than I was back in May.

Knock on wood I am feeling healthy so I will keep training appropriately, which means most of all safely and second and third of all more mileage with a bit more of speed work.  I’ll keep you posted on the progress!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi,

Today marks four weeks since I had THR anterior approach on both my hips.  This morning I was able to get out of bed and walk without any real issues, no pain and a fairly good gait!  Today, I visit my physio hoping for some additional exercises that will help  with rehab and continued hip strengthening!

I’m a runner who has completed 70+ marathons (last one October 2019 before hip issues forced me to stop running) countless 1/2 and 5 / 10k’s.  Once running became to painful, I turned to walking, rowing and weight training for exercise.  I’m fairly healthy without any other health issues.

I am hopeful that I can return to running and was wondering how long it will take before I can start “shuffling” again?  I was able to walk 4.5k yesterday slowly but without need of any aid.  Is there anyone who has had a bilateral anterior THR that has returned to running and what has been your experience.

Thanks… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi all, looking for some advice from people who knew well in advance that they’d need a hip replacement, please.

I’ve been running injured for the past year, all right leg problems.  First my calf muscle seemed to stop working, then achilles problems, finally persistent weakness and pain around the knee.

Orthopaedic surgeon, x-rays, etc, turns out that the problem is my right hip.  Replacement will be needed within 4-5 years at the outside.  Key diagnosis terms are: degenerate femoral acetabular impingement with cysts in the femoral head and superior lateral acetabulum, large osteophytes inferiorly, dramatic restriction of movement of the right hip (20 degrees of internal rotation reduced to 10 degrees by mid-flexion and extension, 30 degrees of external rotation reduced to 20 degrees towards extension).

For those of you who also knew years in advance, what did you do about running?  Less often and less far until surgery?  Screw it, continue running until the hip’s well and truly knackered?  Pilates, yoga?  Surgeon recommended symmetrical activity – static exercise bike and rowing machine, both with very low resistance – but that barely qualifies as exercise, in addition to being extremely monotonous.

Feeling pretty demoralised, though finding this site and reading so many positive posts is helping.  Never enjoyed going to the gym, no interest in team sports, and mostly detest tennis (decades of which probably caused the damage), so have to be able to run!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

10 days after my Manchester Marathon PR of 3:06:41 in England I was in Miami visiting my office where I worked for 7 years before becoming a remote employee after Covid. It was the Miami Corporate Challenge 5K Race, an event that has about 20,000 runners. I hadn’t ran a 5K for 4 years and with having my lower arm and hand in a cast from my trip at the marathon I wasn’t sure how well I’d be able to run. I positioned myself near the front as I secured the top seed spot from my company which I was happy about as I didn’t want to fall during the race with so many runners. However with there being so many people there wasn’t an opportunity to warm up before the race so it was going to be a cold start, if you can say that the temperature in the high 80’s and high humidity.

Eventually after a small delay the gun went off and everyone charged forward. I couldn’t believe it when about 400 yards down we had a hairpin turn paralleling where we had just come from and everyone merged in. I was thinking great, this is going to be a cluster **** and I could easily do down in a crowd. Luckily I managed to get around without incident and had a straight road ahead of me. It felt fast, my first mile was 6:20, only abut 30 seconds faster than my marathon pace for the first 17 miles but this was much harder. The weather was a factor, probably not fully recovered from the marathon, and possible the steak I had at lunch about 6 hours before the race at 6:30pm.

I knew I would have to dig deep to keep going, I was breathing heavy, it was tough and I wanted to slow down but wouldn’t give in. I just kept telling myself it’s a 5K and you expect to feel like this so deal with it and keep going. Every step was hard, it wasn’t going to be easy, but I just pushed as … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

So I’ll take you on my journey… summed up in the Post’s title.

4 months after my left THR (2 yrs., 7 months ago – age 49) I was shuffling/running again and in about 1.5 years… I reached my pre-THR replacement fitness at 5K.  And then a plateau… and because of the THR and wanting to be conservative, I’ve been very cautious and “smart” I suppose about trying to improve.  So while I intent to be be smart, I’m going to push my limits once more to try and improve at this distance.

It’s a simple formula… Eight (8) 5K’s over the next 5 months.  It started yesterday, 21:17 on a mostly flat course in “great” weather for central FL in May (63 degrees and relatively low humidity).  I’ll report in monthly with the trials, tribulations, and actions that produce better results (God willing!)… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi All, I’m 2 years into my new hip. Gradually getting back into running. I’ve added a good bit of resistance training including lower body. My thinking is that if my leg muscles are strong it would help lower impact to the new hip – in addition to just being stronger for runs

With this in mind I have a pretty specific question- does anyone have experience with doing full squats with weights to 90 degrees – . I’ve been doing them 2x a week, but am now wondering if I’m overdoing it and maybe should use a less aggressive exercise like a machine.

any thoughts? Thanks -David… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Last year wasn’t a great running year for me, having been injured for most of the year and missing several races. So when my sister posted something about this race I decided to register as we hadn’t been back to England for 4 years. I started getting shock wave treatments for my Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy but after 6 sessions it hadn’t really done anything and now it was too late to have the operation and recover in time for the race in April. So early December I decided it was time to train for it, not knowing if I would rupture my Achilles in trying or what else could go wrong. My first few runs hurt and I would have to take a couple of days off as my heel was objecting but I kept at it and eventually it started cooperating. I bought a pair of Sauchony Endorphin Pro 2’s on sale as they have no heel counter and the back was soft to minimize rubbing on my heel and it appeared to be working. They’re more of a racing shoe rather than training but I had no option. In fact I loved them so much that after my second run I bought another pair and the week after another pair.

So now I was able to run I started to hit the bridges again for my training, the Belleair Bridge is a 75 feet climb and 0.75 miles from side to side, which I would eventually run over almost 200 times in the next 3 months leading up to the race. I took Monday and Friday’s off and ran back to back long runs Saturday and Sunday building up the distance a little until I hit about 50 miles a week and every 4^th week a scaled back. I didn’t run on the beach due to the angle as I didn’t want to aggravate my hip at all and also didn’t enter any races as I didn’t want to risk injury as I focused on my A race for the year. In addition I would try to … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

It seems that my hypermobility has bitten me in the…uhh… knee. I do tend to overextend my knees anyway, and I have had to concentrate hard on feeling like my knees are bent when running, because then they will be in correct alignment. Well, as my mileage has increased with my marathon training, I find that I do tend to lose form towards the end on tired legs. Throw in a pothhole during the last mile and an even more dramatic hyperextension, and here I am with a popliteal strain.

Stuck indoors. No running. No more marathon in June. Feeling pretty deflated right now, especially since my training had been going so well.

I guess I should look on the bright side. At least this injury gives me the perfect opportunity to focus on my strength and conditioning this month. How do you guys cope with this sort of thing? I feel like a caged animal right now.

Bob… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi!

I just had my right hip replaced on April 3rd (due to hip dysplasia) at age 41. I had my left hip replaced in November 2022 due to hip dysplasia as well. I didn’t have an irritated psoas the first time around, but i have been struggling with psoas tightness and pain after the recent, second THR. Anyone else struggle with an inflamed psoas/groin pain? If so, how long did it take for the pain to go away? The pain was super bad during the first week of recovery, but now it’s more of a dull ache.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

It’s taken me three years now post bilateral THR to actually recommit seriously to getting some jogging miles in. I was really regular 5k a day most days with walking, (pre and post surgery) but whenever I tried to break into a jog it was just demoralizing: jarring, dead feeling, like on stilts: no elastic return.

Today I just finished the 8th week of the beginner Furman Institute program which I have used with  Slow Jogging (Tanaka) technique and a little cycling too.  7 years ago on arthritis destroyed hips, I did the 10k Bolder Boulder run / walk at about 13 min a mile (jog /walk) but my best single jog mile now (with some effort) is 17 min however I can walk a sub 15 fairly easily. No pain, which I am daily grateful for,  just no spring or ability to confidently stride out. Anybody else had or dealt with similar issues?… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

I’m in my mid forties and was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis early last week just a couple of days after getting a Parkrun PB.
I had knee and groin pain (right leg only) after playing a couple of soccer games in September/October 2022 and the physio sessions that I got after seemed to work as I went back running again in early January 2023 and my times had been coming down each week since (I haven’t played any soccer since).

I was still getting some knee pain whilst bending down to say pick up something from the ground but I had no pain when I was running.
I have private insurance so I decided to get Knee X-Ray and MRI scans for peace of mind but they said I should get the same done for my Hips as well.

Anyway the Knee scans came back clear but the Hip MRI showed the Femoral Head is in the early stage of collapse and that it is too late for Core Decompression so I will need my right hip replaced. The Hip MRI scan has also shown that the left Hip is also affected but less extensively and that they can try Core Decompression
on it to increase blood flow to the area.

I believe the waiting list (private) where I am located for surgery is 2-3 months and I am waiting for them to get back to me on this.
What hip are they likely to sort out first? the left hip before it gets too late? and how long is it recommended between doing the 2 different types of surgery?
I guess all I can do for now is just do a combination of cross training in the gym and walking in order to remain fit and active until surgery.
I’m glad to have found this forum because to know that it is possible to come back running after a hip replacement gives me great hope and motivation.
I was also hospitalised for over a week with Covid in October 2021 and was back running again in February 2022 so … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi everyone,

I would love to hear if anyone has/had dysplasia going into THR.  I was diagnosed with pretty bad dysplasia (way too shallow acetabulum) and that’s why the cartilage wore away in the joint.  Bone on bone now, and told I need a THR.  Early in the process and haven’t seen the surgeon yet, but I’d love to hear experiences.  Mainly I want to know if they had to reform the pelvis/acetabulum in addition to the THR.  I know everyone’s situation is different but I would love to hear of peoples experiences….

ps I am a 62 year old woman who has run for 40 years, including 25 marathons.  Not running terrifies me, and I know my dysplasia complicates everything….

alanekd… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)