Well I am at 5.5 months post op and as some of you have read and perhaps have followed my story, I was able to run fairly well two months post op; running a few 5k’s at a respectable pace for me.  Had a fairly decent six weeks of running, 12-15 miles per week, but with my alignment feeling a little off.  Then ran into a string of hamstring strains-pulls; I have rarely had hamstring pulls throughout my athletic career including football from the time I was eight years old until the age of 22…. but my “new alignment“ and adjustments from my replaced hip caught up with me.  I would also attribute it to simply aging as I turned 50 years old yesterday.   So I have had very limited running in the past month as I continue to work on flexibility, strength, balance of training, and new territory for me, which is 10–15 minutes of a dynamic warm-up before running.  My PT, who I respect greatly as a nearly 60 years old with the fitness, mobility, and body of a 35 year old, insists it necessary.  I have also joined a pool-lake swim club as I know that will be a part of my balanced training journey.

The lesson…. ride the rollercoaster of physicality and emotions; adjust, balance your training, but most importantly, keep on going!!!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Hello fellow hipsters and just as I have commented on what feels like great recovery and progress… Comes along with it the occasional speedbump

following a 21:45 trail 5K as I mentioned recently, literally five days shy of my four month post op day, just passed the 2 mile mark I strained my non-operated side hamstring; I had been feeling some stiffness and strain over the preceding couple weeks and the effort of the race simply pushed it too far. No doubt related to the new “alignment“ of my lower body following THR. I took a couple days off and starting Tuesday tried to slowly jog each day, with each day returning to the house within five minutes knowing that the pain and strain were too much. Feeling better this morning, I was able to walk and very gently jog without pain for 2 miles in 27 minutes… that is literally almost twice as slow and at a lesser distance than last Saturday. Here’s my point… My setback wasn’t in the new joint, but clearly related to the new joint and the new expectations I think we all have to have post THR… Take it as it comes, study it out, and do your best to master your experiment of one!!!  I hope to report back within a couple weeks that I am successfully and more safely back to running well!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Had my 4-month check up with the orthopedic today and good news, “all is great” according to him. What is remarkable is The level of “unknowns“ still going on. Should I be running? “Perhaps but not on hard surfaces” according to the doc. How do I know if I am overdoing it? “You may be sore and stiff” according to the doc. Thanks for that tremendous insight LOL.
Interesting that the actual procedure is extremely specific and intricate, however the advice and guidelines are very non-specific.  I ran a 21:48 Trail 5K last Saturday but pulled/strained my hamstring (other side of THR) with a 1/2 mile to go…I absolutely attribute it to the fact that I am putting a lot more stress on my non-THR side because I affectively have a leg length discrepancy; because of how I compensated prior to THR… that is my current battle, working that alignment and kink out but frankly not real confident that will ever get 100% corrected.  Any advice on these alignment and compensation issues as a result of THR would be appreciated!  BTW I finished the race with the pulled hamstring 😉… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Keeping everyone updated on what’s possible; on day 96 post-op; I ran a 21:31 road 5k.  I’ve done nothing but slow jogging since resuming “shuffling” activity mid-February; with the exception of this being my 3rd 5k in 6 weeks.

i “felt” the effort more yesterday and last eve 😉 some stiffness and soreness !… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

my headline says it all; keeping our group apprised of what healthy, realistic progress can look like…I’m 90-days post-op and had a 10-mile weekend of steady running with a few walk breaks; 6 miles Saturday & 4 miles Sunday, all at 10 min/mi pace… MOST IMPORTANT: NO HIP PAIN; just a little stiffness around the incision as I’m still gaining range of motion back… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Going strong and joint pain free!  Form is a little off and soreness is a bit odd but not complaining!

never limit yourself and what is possible… more to come!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

What is possible is specific to your situation and determination! I had THR on Monday, December 21.  If all went well, my original goal was to be able to do a 5K in early May, based on being able to start running march 1.  Well, as of roughly 4 weeks ago I felt good enough to begin some light downhill shuffling and uphill power hiking…. all has gone well including being diligent with rehab exercises and stretching. About 10 days ago my eyes saw the possibility of a local trail 5K and my goal was simply to finish pain free. This morning I went out at a light to moderate pace and simply just kept my mind on any pain in my hip, my overall exertion, and obviously my footsteps on the trail!  Before I knew it, I was 20 minutes in and simply just kept cruising! When I discovered this blog, it was clearly evident that there was no defined path to returning to running post hip replacement; learn from others but the path is clearly individual… thank you for all of the input as I will continue to provide mine, and today it was great and exhilarating to finish my slowest 5K in 30 years – but simply to do it and know that my path to improve it is wide open 👍… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Truly Hoping there’s no such thing as a dumb question…

Aside  from the obvious – pain – in the replaced joint area and perhaps stiffness, how do you know when you are doing damage?  How do you know when you are doing something you were not supposed to?… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

Seven weeks to the day and I will officially deem it my first “run“ back… actually more of a shuffle and cautious – and 90% on grass.  For the past four weeks have been hiking up hills and occasionally shuffling down hills.  I set three parameters before I would return to “running“: 1) no pain while hiking,2) The ability to go up stairs in an “athletic fashion“, including being able to “double step“ the stairs and 3) clearance from my orthopedic and PT…Well I have reached at least two of those milestones… Will be at the orthopedic next week for a follow up and my PT asserts “don’t do any activities that cause pain“… and that has applied to all of my rehab exercises, biking, air-dyne, hiking, etc.  For example, my PT had me build up to one-legged squats, and on my operated hip side, that exercise caused a different type of pain, my Spidey sense said no-go!  “Know thyself” has never applied more… slow, cautious shuffling on soft surfaces while causing no pain is where I am at… Will continue cautiously and progressively but feels great to at least be here!… (Click Here to View Full Post and Comments)

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Got a new hip for Christmas! Well I had been contemplating it for a couple years …. despite the awesome running weather in our Florida winters, the only time I could be away from work and it’s not going to hit me directly in the pocketbook (during the Christmas – New Year’s time-frame). So here I am, about 80 hours post surgery and I was able to walk about 10 minutes today with a walker, 20 minutes of basic rehabilitation exercises, and attend a Christmas Eve church service. Now the immobility and pain are at least a “moderate” while doing nothing to “significant” when I attempt to move my left leg. I had a posterior approach done; plastic ball into titanium cup. Local orthopedic who I’ve known for years and lots of trust there! So while I am optimistic, I know that it is early and I am journaling my experience on my progression. This blog post has been an awesome resource because as many of you have said, there is no definitive information out there as to our athletic futures and we all are indeed “experiments of one“ -George Sheehan. One thing that is easy to “glance over“ from the numerous authors is the description of the pain… It is real! do not underestimate what you were going to feel like as I am still only 80 hours in! Merry Christmas and happy running to HipRunners!