Author: Hip Brother Tom

Hey everyone!

I hope you’re all surviving this crisis that COVID-19 has created.  If there has ever been a need to be able to get out and run, it is now.    It’s been over 8 years since my hip replacement and it is time’s like this that I am thankful that I am still able to get out and run.  One of my annual events that I help to coordinate and take part in is Spokane’s own Lilac Bloomsday race.  For Spokane, it is like the formal introduction of spring to the community.  Everybody, walker and runners alike, gathers together on the first Sunday of may, to run the 12k (7.46 Mile) Bloomsday course and welcome in Spring as a community.  The race hosts around 40,000 people each year…….except this year.  This year the streets were silent and the race was postponed.  We are hoping to host it later in the year (September 20th to be exact).

While the race didn’t happen, some Bloomsday diehards decided to run on raceday anyway.   These diehards included me and a bunch of the guys from my training group (The Spokane Distance Project).  We had all been training through the winter months to run a 50K race on the west side of the state (The Chuckanut 50K trail race in Bellingham, WA).  It would have been my first endeavor into racing a distance longer than a marathon.  When we learned that that race was cancelled due to Coronavirus, we traded out our long slow trail runs for some more up-tempo shorter workouts to prepare for Bloomsday.  We assumed/hoped that Bloomsday would take place.   When we learned that Bloomsday was postponed, we decided to run the course anyways on the day of the planned race.  We chose to go out earlier than the official race start time to avoid any crowds that might have had the same idea. 

It was a blast.  My training paid off and I finally was able to put in a race with race splits that averaged under 7 minutes for the entire length of the course.  … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

You don’t have to be fast.  I just want to bring the HipRunner’s together to run FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A GROUP in Christopher Kelsall’s “Global One-Hour Race”.  Let’s do this people!

Here are the details….

Hey Folks,

The Global One-hour Virtual Race window opens tomorrow, Friday, May 1 and closes Sunday, May 17.  For team name, enter “The Hip Runners”.

Race for 60-minutes (fulfill that unforgiving hour with 60 minutes run) and submit your time via Strava or similar app. Proceeds go to the Mustard Seed Food Bank.

$5 to race. Results published at Athletics Illustrated.

https://athleticsillustrated.com/category/global-60-vrace/… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hey all of you HipRunners!  By now all of you have experienced the COVID-19 crisis in one way or another.  For me, it has hit close to home placing a friend, my cousin and my cousin’s husband in the hospital. Thankfully, they should all pull through.  The best advice I can give you is advice that you’ve already heard;  adhere to the shelter in place rules and stay 6 feet apart.  But there is something even more important that I need remind all of you Hip Runners.  THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF YOU HIP RUNNERS.  You all have bounced back from extremely serious trauma to the hip.  Many of you are back to running and achieving things that you never thought you could.  It can make you feel INVINCIBLE!!

But you are not….

You are not invincible to this virus.  I am not invincible to the virus.  Protect yourselves for the sake of your families.  Protect yourselves for the sake of Hiprunner Nation.  Protect yourselves for the sake of yourselves!

This leads me to my next plea.  We have two Hip Runners who, on their own, are encouraging others to give back.  Their selfless actions are worthy of attention.  We all can help make a difference by joining their efforts to give back!

1 Hour Virtual Run. Hip brother Christopher Kelsall has encouraged all of us to join a virtual one hour race that will be held between May 1st and May 17th.  The race is sponsored by Athletetics Illustrated.  The proceeds benefit a very good cause.  You can find out more about it in his post at this link.   As for me, I fully intend to take part!

60 Mile Fund Raiser Run.   Hip Brother Dave Whiteside is running 60 Miles to raise funds for feeding Tampa Bay during the Covid-19 crisis.  Florida is flat, so to get elevation, he runs bridges……over and over and over again.  You can learn more about his fundraiser through this link.

Both Christopher and David have been instrumental in building this website and encouraging others who post on this site.  … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

The third annual Hiprunner/Zero Runner® marathon is complete!  Congratulations to Mark Klein who posted the fastest time for 2020.  Thanks to all of you who turned out.  If you are thinking about participating next year…..here is a link to the rules that were used for 2020.  I will be posting a sign up link towards the end of this year.

MARK KLEIN IS THE  2020 HIP RUNNER MAN OF THE YEAR

The 60+ age bracket had some stiff competition but Mark Klein edged out all comers by posting a 3:35 Marathon on the Zero Runner.  Adding in his age handicap, his adjusted marathon time was 3:17.  Well Done Mark.

DAVE DOES 100….FAST!!!

For those of you who don’t track him,  one of our Hip Brothers, Dave Whiteside just completed a 100 miler.   That achievement in itself is an amazing feat.  Even more amazing is that he completed it in under 20 hours.    There are runners in the Ultra Running community (without hip replacements) who have never achieved this mark.  Knowing Dave, we will hear more about it on this site, but it was something that needed to be shared!  WAY TO GO DAVE!

ZERO RUNNER/HIP RUNNER MARATHON – 32 Days away

Hey everyone!  Don’t forget to sign up for the Zero Runner Marathon!  It’s free and its fun.  Runners will have their times handicapped based on their age, and the winners will get some free swag and bragging rights as the Hiprunner of the year for 2020.  On marathon day, choose your training option (Zero Runner, treadmill, outside running) and get your 26.2 miles in.  You can learn more about it and sign up by going to the following link: https://www.hiprunner.com/?page_id=8923.

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Happy New Year to all of you Hip Runners!  Set your goals!  Stay optimistic! Keep on running…..

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope 2019 was a great year for all of you.  For me, it was a year to build back some of the speed and strength I lost after my 2018 partial knee replacement.  I am happy to say I am back at it with my first 50K coming up at the end of March.  Training is going well and   I am learning that sometimes it’s not so much about the speed of the workout, but rather about the time on your feet.

Hiprunner/Zero Runner Marathon registration is open…..it’s free!

The third annual Hiprunner/Zero Runner Marathon date has been set.  This race crowns our Hippest Hip Runners for the year.  The marathon is handicapped based on age and when it is over, we will crown our “Hippest” Hip runners for the year.  You can sign up by clicking on the link on the side menu, or go straight to the page from this link.

Keep on training everyone.  Have a safe New Year’s celebration.

Hip Brother Tom

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hey everyone, over the weekend of 11/1, 2019,  I had the opportunity to go down to Los Angeles and join some of my fellow Gonzaga TFXC alumni to cheer on this year’s team at the West Coast Conference Championships.  It was a lot of fun.  GU’s coach Pat Tyson (he was Steve Prefontaine’s college roommate), is building a powerhouse of a program at Gonzaga.

The GU men and women did exceptionally well.  The men finished 3rd behind BYU and Portland.  BYU is currently ranked 2nd in the nation, and Portland is close behind at 12th.  The Gonzaga men’s team finished just 12 points behind Portland.  No team in the history of GUXC has been this good.  The women made major improvements from last year and finished 4th overall.  It is a testament to the program and how much it has grown.  In the late 80’s I ran at Gonzaga.  After I graduated, I coached there for 4 years.  Little did I know what was in store for me on this trip to watch the championships.  Everyone was in on what was about to happen……except me.  3 of my former athletes that I coached hatched a plan at last year’s WCC XC Championships  in Provo Utah.   I was not able to make that trip.  When this year’s meet was over, the team and all of the alumni gathered around and my former athletes told the story.  Mike Myette and Rob Boulds talked about how last year at this time, they had come up with a plan to create a new scholarship endowment.  Mike would match every donation dollar for dollar until they had raised the minimum amount to create the scholarship ($50,000).  Rob would be the vocal leader who would rally the XC Alumni throughout the year to raise the funds.  Another former runner Pat Hill was in on this along with my fellow teammate Eric Thompson.  Other athletes, like Robert Walgren, who weren’t from my era, played pivotal roles as well.  Throughout the year, they worked and poked and prodded to raise the funds and just before this year’s championships, … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Wow!   Spring was busy.  Between coaching track, working on the Bloomsday board holding down a full time job,  and dealing with a sore hamstring, I had little time to maintain a good running base.  And that is probably why this year’s Bloomsday time was a bit slower than my past ones.  Last year I skipped Bloomsday because it was too soon after my partial knee replacement.  So even though I ran slower,  I was happy to be back out on the course again.   I ended up running the 12k course in 53:38.  That put me at an average of 7:11 minutes per mile over the 7.46 mile course.  I told everyone that I wanted to just break 55 minutes this year, but secretly,  I wanted to beat 53.

The training has been hit and miss for the last few months and boy can I tell!  Just a note of encouragement to all of you hiprunners getting back to running after a long recovery hiatus.  Don’t expect to get it all back at once.  There will be days when you are challenged and you question if you’ll ever get back to where you were.  Those initial days will be your make or break days.  During those days, it is imperative that you S-T-A-Y   O-P-T-I-M-I-S-T-I-C!  In time, you’ll get stronger and eventually, you’ll be chasing those old PR’s again.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

The second annual Hiprunner/Zero Runner® marathon is complete!  Congratulations to 2 time winner Larry Schmidt and first ever female Hiprunner of the year Becky Hainje!  Thanks to all of you who turned out.  If you are thinking about participating next year…..here is a link to the rules that were used for 2019.  I will be posting a sign up link towards the end of this year.

2019 HIP RUNNER MAN OF THE YEAR Larry Schmidt

2019 HIP RUNNER WOMAN OF THE YEAR Becky Hainje

On the men’s side, retaining his crown by a landslide was Hip Runner Larry Schmidt.  Larry is actually double hip with 2 THR’s.  Larry’s age gave him a handicap deduction of 5 seconds per minute spent exercising.  This gave Larry an adjusted marathon time of 2:50 (12 minutes better than last year-WOW!). Larry Schmidt is 2019’s HipRunner Man of the Year.  Way to go Larry. We look forward to seeing if you can go for the Triple Crown in 2020.

On the women’s side newcomer Becky Hainje put in a great performance on her Zero Runner.  Her age also gave her a handicap deduction of 5 seconds per minute spent exercising.  Her adjusted marathon time was 3:12.  Becky Hainje is Hip Runner’s Woman of the year!  She is also the FIRST named Hip Runner Woman of the Year since this is the first year for that category!  Way to go Becky!

We are just days away from the 2nd Annual Zero Runner Marathon. As you can see on the chart above, some runners will use the treadmill, others will run on the road, and some of us will use our ZeroRunners® . This event is handicapped by age, so everyone has a chance. The winner receives a HipRunner “THR Tough” shirt and every participant receives an Octane Fitness™ workout towel. The winner will also be recognized as 2019’s Hip Runner of the year and be recognized in the side menu of this page. I have also modified the handicap system to include a provision for gender. There is still time to sign up and its completely free. All-you-have-to-do-is-run-a-marathon-2-days-from-now. This is where I put in my plug for the Octane Fitness™ ZeroRunner® . The ZeroRunner provides an impact free experience for you to get your runs in. Unlike elliptical machines, this machine is set up with articulating arms to give your legs the full range of a fluid running motion. It is a perfect companion during the recovery period after hip replacement and far beyond. You can find out more about the Zero Runner Marathon and the ZeroRunner by clicking on this link. Good Luck to all of have signed up so far. We will be crowning our winner next week and our current winner Larry Schmidt is back and ready to try to retain his title.… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Alright everyone!  We are just 24 days away from the 2nd Annual Hip Runner/Zero Runner marathon.  This race is handicapped, so regardless of your age, you have a shot to become 2019’s Hip Runner of the Year and your mug will be proudly displayed on the sight for the rest of the year! It doesn’t matter how you get your run in, but it was inspired by Octane Fitness’ Zero Runner which allows you to replicate your natural running motion so you use all the same muscles you do outside, but without the harmful impact.  Learn more about the event at this link: http://hiprunner.com/?page_id=8923.

Who is going to be this year’s HipRunner of the year???? There is still time to sign up!  It’s fun and it’s free!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

On Saturday, I put myself on the starting line for the USATF Cross Country Club Nationals which were held here in Spokane.   Teams from all over the country flew into my hometown to compete.  I wasn’t expecting to place high, but I wanted to represent the SDP (Spokane Distance Project), since it was a local event.   The temp was below freezing hovering in the mid 20’s.  There was no snow on the ground but the ground was frozen so it was going to be fast.    I was hoping to hit each mile of the 10k course averaging just under 7’s.  My hammy which was bothering me all through the month of October and for part of November, was finally healthy.  Still, this was going to be my first real test back from knee surgery.  I had no clue what kind of pace I could hold for a real race.

I couldn’t have been happier.  My gps miles showed as follows:
Mile 1: 6:13, Mile 2: 6:37, Mile 3: 6:29, Mile 4: 6:38, Mile 5: 6:33, Mile 6: 6:38 .4 Mile: 6:29 (6.4 Miles: 40:02).  Nice.  Average Mile Pace 6:31. But wait!  This was a USATF certified 10k course, so my real time was 40:02 over 6.2 miles (not 6.4).  My GPS must have gotten confused by all of the tight turns.  My official mile pace ended up being 6:46/mile.  I’ll take it!  Never mind that I finished waaayyyyyy back in the pack. I…..ran….sub…..7’s.  Even picked off a few runners in the final miles.  The best part is that I am just BEGINNING to get back into racing shape.

I feel like I should schedule a January or February race to keep the fire alive!   Staying optimistic means setting goals.   Hmmm what to do what to do!  Wait!  The Hip Runner/Zero Runner Marathon is coming up on February 9th.  If you haven’t signed up, you should!  It will be motivation for you to train through the winter months.  Find out more by clicking this link.

Lastly, I have to give a big shout out to my running team.  … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hey everyone!

We are just 90 days away from our 2nd annual Zero Runner/Hip Runner Marathon.   This is a handicapped race (age graded), so everyone has a chance to win.  You can learn more about the Zero Runner/Hip Runner marathon here.  So far we have over 20 people signed up!

With the cold weather coming, you might consider looking at the Zero Runner as a training aid.  Believe me, it helped me through my hip and knee replacements.  Choose your method for running the marathon (menu on the right) and be the 2nd Hip Runner to be crowned as the Hip Runner of the year for 2019.  Our first Hip Runner of the Year (for 2018) was Larry Schmidt  (See his picture posted on the right).  Every participant will receive an Octane Fitness towel and the winner of the Hip Runner marathon gets a coveted Hip Runner shirt.  Not a lot but not bad for a free sign up either. :).  You can sign up for the marathon on the menu to the right of this post.  For those of you who’d like to learn more about the Zero Runner by Octane Fitness (and receive a special offer through this site)….click this link.

Stay opimistic and stay Hip!

Hip Bother Tom

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

If you’d have asked me in April if I would be running any half marathons this year, I would have flatly said……”It will not be possible”.  It was during those days that I learned that recovery from knee replacements takes far more patience than recovery from hip replacements.   Unlike the hip replacement, the recovery seemed to have considerably more pain tied to it.  It tested my optimistic attitude.  But by August, I started feeling like I might be able to run again.  The process was slow.  My miles were terribly slow.  So slow in fact, I remember stating in a previous post that I was finally able to break 8 minutes for 3 consecutive miles.  As slow as that was (compared to my old running days), that improvement led me to sign up for the Leavenworth Half Marathon.  I knew Hip Brother Dave was going to be there (all the way from Florida) and I had to at least get there to see him race the marathon.

Fast forward to September.  I actually went out on a 14 mile training run (not racing).  Several of those miles were in the 7’s.   I was ready for my first race since my knee replacement.  I was so confident in fact, that I was doing speed work with the SDP Boys.  That was a mistake.  We were doing intervals.  We were on teams.  It was important that I delivered for my team.  Bam.  I felt a slight strain to the quad.  The next day, while I was coaching my little XC team I was protecting the quad so much, that I tweaked my hammy.  Seriously????   The hammy pain was even worse than the quad pain.  Dang!  Less than 2 weeks before the half marathon and I was a gimp.  I texted Hip Brother Dave and let him know the situation.  He said he would understand if I chose to stay home.  Not a chance!  If I wasn’t going to run, I would AT LEAST be there to cheer on Dave.

Saturday 10/6/2018 was race day.  I left Spokane early with a baseball … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

My first race since my partial knee replacement will take place this weekend.   It will be interesting.  Last week, I had a workout with my men’s group and tweaked my quad.  Then the next day I was coaching my XC kids, and while protecting my quad, I tweaked my hammy.  What’s next??????  All I know is Hip Brother Dave is coming all the way from Florida to run the Leavenworth marathon and I plan to meet him there.  I have laid low and stuck to the Zero Runner for the last few days.  It won’t be my fastest half marathon, but I am optimistic.  Stay tuned for pics!

 … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hey Hip Runners!

By now all of you have probably noticed the countdown timer on the Hip Runner site.   On 2/09/2019, we will be having our second annual Hip Runner marathon.  Even though it is geared towards those of you with Zero Runners, anyone can take part in the event.  To find out more, go to the Hip Runner marathon page.  What a great way to get ready for 2019!   I hope to see a lot of Hip Runners taking part!

Hip Brother Tom… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

With four and a half months down since my partial knee replacement, I am finally starting to build up real miles.  The Zero Runner has been instrumental in helping me work my way back to this point, but there is just no substitute for running outside.

My doc said I could return to ‘normal’ activity at the 6 month mark.  Since the 6 month mark won’t be until August 20th, I am a bit ahead of schedule with my training.  Even so, running right now is far from comfortable and I find myself getting discouraged periodically.  The hip on my left side seems to be in a battle with the new knee on the right side.  This battle is really messing with my stride and I am unable to get into that ‘zone’ that all of us runners like to escape to.

And the pace…..ohhhh the pace……..sooooooo slow……soooooo frustrating.

Yesterday I decided to run a route that I have been running and see if I could pick it up a bit.  Just a little 3.4 miler to see what I could do.  It was a hot run.  It wasn’t fast by my past standards.  The average pace was 7:52 per mile.  Way off my pace from past years.

But…….

Strava showed that I was ‘trending faster’.  It was the fastest I’d run this year and the first time I had averaged a consistent string of sub 8 minute miles since before the surgery.

It reminded me that I need to practice what I preach.  I always tell everyone to ‘Stay optimistic!’  ‘Believe that it will happen and it will!’  ‘You will run again!’  This site is all about giving you support so that you can achieve your goals.  Now it’s my turn to hear those words and take them to heart.  Based on how I feel right now, I would understand why people might give up running after trying a few times after their hip replacements.  It just doesn’t feel right right now.

I picture this recovery period much like running through a long dark tunnel.  That light at the … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hi everyone.  It’s been a while since I last reported.  The reason was……well…..I had nothing new to report. 🙂  I had my partial knee replacement surgery on February 20th and began the slow recovery process.  It has been a slow process.   I also learned that if I ever had to choose between a knee replacement and a hip replacement…….I would take the hip hands down.  For the first 2 months after my knee surgery, I battled a tingling pain in my calf and constant swelling of the knee.  I am sure it didn’t help that I had to travel a lot for work.  It also didn’t help that the track season started a little over a month after my surgery(I coach at the elementary level).  Oh, and then there was Bloomsday.  I had a lot to do for that as well.  The knee tolerated my constant busy-ness,  but the recovery ended up being slower than I expected.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to run the Bloomsday race this year.  At 2 and 1/2 months, my knee still was not ready for running that distance.  It was my first “miss” in 36 years.  There was a little voice in my head that was telling me to get out there and do it, but my lack of training and my inability to “run races for fun”, made me think better of it.  However, I did get to ride on the back of the media truck ahead of the elite runners.  Staring down the street at 40,000 plus runners was awe-inspiring.  Then, being able to watch the elites battle it out over the 12k course was ridiculously fun. It  was a great experience.

My Zero Runner has been good to me, and I was able to start using it at the 2 month mark.  Because there is zero impact when using the machine, there was no negative effect on my knee.  Starting back to training in the weeks leading up to my 3rd month was still hit and miss.  The lower leg was still a bit swollen so I had … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

After 3 and 1/2 years of tolerating knee pain that was caused by a knee injury I sustained while playing hoops (I first mentioned it in this blog post and then again in this blog post), I finally took care of it.  Last Tuesday I had a partial knee replacement.  For the last year and a half, my running was pretty much limited to my Zero Runner.  Thank God for the Zero Runner.  It maintained my sanity by allowing me to keep my miles up when running outside was becoming less and less of an option.

After the surgery, I felt great.  I felt so great, I thought I was invincible.  In fact, here is a video of me a day after the surgery.  Hey!  This is no problem.

Little did I realize that nerve block can take longer than 24 hours to wear off.   Needless to say, I overdid it.  I pushed my PT exercises a little harder than I should have.  By the end of the day, my wife Colleen had to take me to the ER because my bandages had completely filled up with blood.  Luckily, no stitches were popped and a few days of doing nothing (so hard),  got me to where I am today.  The pain has subsided a bit and I am ready to head back to work tomorrow.

This recovery period, (day 5) has gotten me thinking back to when I was recovering from my hip surgery.  Gone was the excitement of realizing that the old hip pain was gone.  All I could think about was “How long will this recovery take?”  Ugh! Ugh!  Ugh!   I have caught myself in the middle of this self loathing and I’ve smiled.  It’s been 5 days and I am expecting myself to put my cape back on and save the world.  That’s when I look ahead to a year from now.  Imagining myself running a trail race with my running team,  knee pain gone, and nature all around me.  This makes me optimistic and reminds me to keep my head up.  Every … (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)