Endurance Junkie: 13 Months Post Left THR (CC/P/U)

PhilH

Hello All,

Delighted to join this fantastic community and soak up your wisdom, warnings and inspirational tales.

I’m a former competitive endurance athlete.  The longer the better!  I’ve done Ironmans, road running and ocean rows.  But my absolute love is running.  Was solid at 13.1 (1hr 20) and 26.2 (2hr 50), but much better at long trail ultras, normally podiuming at 50K to 100 miles.  Last serious race was a win at Chester 100 miler in 2024.  At which point, my left hip was declining quickly

Family history of arthritic hips, with my sister having a THR aged 44.  Aged 45, I decided to go for it in June 2025.  Whilst I could still exercise (uncomfortably), running once a week was no longer fun, and I couldn’t sleep through the night without pain.

Operation went well and initial recovery was steady (UK NHS).  I invested in private sports physio (with physio not provided by NHS).  Lots of band work, strength and resistance training.  Might have hit the turbo training too hard and too soon (week 3), but it’s difficult to know with an experiment of 1.

Started very, very gentle jogging after about 12 weeks.  Progressed slowly up to approximately 10k single runs by the end of 2025.  At this point there was no pain, but the joint didn’t feel 100% natural, and there was a clear strength imbalance.

Set myself a goal of running a sub 20 5K and a 50K trail race in 2026.  This is where competitive stupidity set in.  Started doing my local park run in January.  Initially 24mins, then 23, then 22, then…ouch.  Hip started hurting after 2K and I decided to push through.  Finished and limped  very heavilyt to the car.  This was the end of Jan!

Following my idiocy, I had to take a good month off running, focusing instead on weights and turbo.  The set back to running was considerable and I needed to work back up very steadily.  Fortunately I’ve had an English channel swim relay to distract me (completed last weekend).

In the last few weeks (12-13 months post THR) my hip has finally started to feel good while running.  It’s starting to feel natural again (i.e. I’m much less aware of the prosthetic).  Moving forwards, I’ve nowentered some longer trail races from Sep onwards, with a 55K mountain trail run pencilled in for Dec.  Having been bitten, I’m going to try my best to avoid future stubbornness and stupidity.

A few request:

Intensity.  I’m keen to hear the experience others have had with returning to intense running i.e. speed work.  This still feels a way off for me.  Not sure I’m ever going to be doing 100% sprints again.  Would love to hear your experience / advice on this.

Feeling.  Do your hips feel 100% natural?  Are you aware / protective of your hip?  If so, do you think this is this physical or psychological?

Balance.  For those with a single THR, have you manage to recover full strength and mobility, to point where there is no imbalance between your hips.

 

Thanks in adavce.

 

Very best, Phil

Home › Forums › Endurance Junkie: 13 Months Post Left THR (CC/P/U)

Viewing 2 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • June 29, 2026 at 11:44 am #21301
      PhilH
      Participant

      Hello All, Delighted to join this fantastic community and soak up your wisdom, warnings and inspirational tales. I’m a former competitive endurance at
      [See the full post at: Endurance Junkie: 13 Months Post Left THR (CC/P/U)]

    • July 4, 2026 at 3:15 pm #21306
      GaryB
      Participant

      Hi Phil,

      Welcome to the club! I’m a 71 y.o. male, and no where near the athlete you are. I have not yet returned to running, as I suffered several setbacks, and may be a bit gun shy to get back in the saddle. I am 12 and 14 months out from having both hips replaced. I still feel muscle imbalances, but they are gradually resolving. I recently tried a couple of physio sessions (not a sports specialist), but felt they were worthless. I may get a sports physio at a major medical center when I am a bit stronger. Currently, I am road bicycling 50-70km 3x a week, lap swim 1km 3x a week, and hit the gym for legs and upper body 2x a week for each.

      Good luck with your jouney, and I look forward to following this thread regarding your progress and what others have to say.

      Cheers,
      Gary

    • July 5, 2026 at 4:58 am #21307
      WedgeC
      Participant

      Hello Phil, and yes, welcome to a life-changing forum! Your path has many similarities to my own and what I have read from other others! To help answer your questions:

      Intensity. Without a doubt, this is a challenging attempt to return to normal. I had my left hip replaced 6.5 years ago and my right hip replaced a year ago. With the left hip, trying to do faster repetitions, almost always resulted in strains and hamstring pulls, Even when doing relatively slower work in the form of 5K. Also have had this experience with my newer right side… I’ve had Hamstring pulls and tweaks and pulls in my first several months. Knock on wood, I have had not any of these issues in the last Two months and my intuition tells me that I am over this phase. That said, I am very cautious and how I approach speed work. Part of that would be if I did not have prosthetic joints at my age (55); Certainly makes sense given to prosthetics now

      Feeling. Do your hips feel 100% natural? This is hard to say… As a lifetime Athlete and having shifted into endurance sports in my upper 20s, by my upper 30s, I would say that my joints were “tightening“ and I probably looked a bit “stiff” compared to other members of the active adult population. By my upper 40s, I was needing joint replacement. So in today’s terms, I probably feel about what I did in my upper 30s and that is I am stiff but not in pain… Hope that makes sense. I don’t feel like I run as smooth or naturally as I did in my upper 20s.

      Balance. Without question, a newly implanted prosthetic on one side Will likely cause forms of compensation on the other. I don’t think there is any way around that But to gradually build and adapt. Resistance, conditioning, and overload takes 6 to 12 months in my experience, to get anywhere near to where you were pre-surgery.

      Hope this helps and best wishes, Phil!

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 2 reply threads
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.