First 50K: hip and hot

Howdy! Quick race report from my biggest distance to date: the Harding Hustle, near Irvine CA.

Course was on rocky roads, with ~10K’ elevation change. Hip was just fine – strong and stable as always, both on the up and the down. Full range of motion. Smooth downhill technique was good to focus on, to minimize pounding over the 15-mile return. The real challenge was the heat – at least mid 90s by the time I finished.

Takeaways: I don’t think too much about the new hip now when I run, but I do continue to think about form: are things moving evenly and smoothly? I think one thing that led to the one hip needing replacement was uneven and unbalanced motion somewhere in the system that accumulated over time, unnoticed until it started to cause pain that won’t go away.

Weight training since recovery has been huge for me, for regaining strength and protecting joints—and I highly recommend it. I’m not the fastest runner out there, but I’m grateful to be able to travel various distances over rough terrain at any speed, pain-free (except for sore feet!). Cheers, everyone!

—THR (anterior), 2016, age 50 :: re-started running at 6 mos post surgery