Going for two!

In June 2020 I had an posterior  total hip replacement on my right side. I have written about the recovery process and my race goals….I do triathlons, which for me keeps me interested, learning and healthy now in my mid 60s. I have been an endurance athlete since the time my mom and dad signed me up for swim team practice at the ripe old age of 10. Hundreds of thousands of miles later and many many races I am still at it!

On my new right hip I have now ran 2500 miles, biked 10000 miles and swam 180 miles. Competitions have included two half distance Aqua/bikes, multiple sprint/Olympic distance triathlons and the hilly-wet Atlanta half marathon this past spring. When the doctor X-rayed my right hip yesterday he said everything looked great and was exactly the way it should be….nice and solid in the femor and no signs of wear and tear.

But now it’s time to replace my left hip. I noticed in my training and racing I was starting to drag my foot on my left side and the surrounding muscles and tendons were  working overtime to pick it up and move me forward. In a recent 56 mile bike race my quad seized up at 50 miles and told me it was done for the day.

Now this is the reason I am writing this….I could wait another 3 years until I can’t walk, like I did with my right hip. But if I did that I would be close to 70, would lose allot of fitness as it became even more restrictive and try to recover when as we age recovery becomes longer/harder. So why not take a short break now when I am fit, get it fixed and be back on the roads in the spring. Best of all my surgeon told me if I had it done in October, I could be back running in April…..what a guy!

So that’s the plan and between now and surgery the end of October I will be swimming, biking, running a little and certainly racing a couple more times because that will keep me fit and make recovery so much quicker.

So think about it if you are facing surgery in your later years…..do you put it off or just get it fixed so you can move on mobile and pain free when you can really enjoy it?

thanks for reading…..Tim OBrien