I am running!!!

[DGossack]

I never thought I would be so excited about a 10 minute jog in my life.  But given the fact that I had given up the idea of ever being able to run agai, I guess this is a natural reaction.

So technically six months isn't until Wednesday so I cheated by a couple of days.  But I wanted to share my first run with my girlfriend who has been so supportive.  She ran ten minutes with me and then finished her 45 minutes while I walked.

It was raining and it felt great.  I can't wait for the next one.

Dan

[David]

Congrats Dan!  Feels good doesn't it?  I've been doing more running than hiking myself lately.  I need to keep telling myself "easy" though.
Best...
D.

[hernanu]

Congrats Dan! You beat me by five months. Awesome, including the 35 minute walk.

[Luanna]

Yay Dan!!!!  That's GREAT. Congratulations. Glad to see that you started out with 10 minutes and walked the rest of the way.

Luanna

[Two4One]

Dan is The Running Man!

Congratulations!!!

Thrilled for you,
2fer

[DGossack]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.  I had a little soreness in the hip flexor this morning.  Otherwise everything feels great.

I am planning to follow my new season training regimen from when I did triathlons.  It starts with 10 minutes then 15 minutes on alternating days.  Increase those by two minutes and three minutes respectively each week for the next two weeks.  Then back to 10/15.  The fifth week is 16/24, sixth week 18/27, and seventh week back to 10/15. 

This continued until I reached 40/60 when I was training for Ironman.  We will see how far I take it now.

Dan

[curt]

     Good luck with it Dan.  I'm chomping at the bit to do a little jog and can barely make myself wait.  Let us know how the progress goes.  I'll be excited to hear a hippie complaining about muscle soreness from working out.  Quite a journey from the days right after surgery!!

Curt

[Nemesis]

Are you running as most of us do striking with your heal or did you modify it?  For example many runners coming back from major injury do Chi type running or striking with the forefoot first.

[DGossack]

@Nemesis - I am running very slowly right now.  I am trying to do more of a shuffle and landing mid foot.  I tended to be a heel slammer before.  I don't think it would be wise to go back to the old ways.

Dan

[Bob E]

Dan, you need to pick up a copy of Chi Running! It's perfect for us hip resurfacing resipients. I know exactly what you mean about the first 10 minute run! I was grinning like an imbesile!!!

[Dannywayoflife]

I know very little about the technicality of running. Can someone explain what's bad about landing on your heals?

[David]

Dan,

There has been a movement for some time that heel striking is not good for more than the occasional runner

Striking with your heel first creates more force through your ankle, legs, hips and back which over time can increase the rate of injury.  It is also considered less efficient, because as your heal strikes the ground first over you center body line there is a braking-affect which takes place actually slowing you down.

The mid to forefoot landing is thought to be much more efficient.  Chi Running is a good book that helps you visualize a more proper running technique, especially as we are all "starting over".

Best...David
 

[curt]

       The disadvantage to the program is that it is very demanding on the calves and achilles so strengthening of those areas will lessen the pain and chance of injury to those areas.  As long as the turnover is quick enough, even heel strikers will find that they are landing more on the mid and fore foot rather than plodding away on the heel and pronating.
       If you can keep the strides around 180 per minute you will force the foot to strike more towards the front.  Simply can't easily land on the heel and keep up the stride pace.  It shortens up the stride considerably for most of us in the 8 - 9 min per mile regime which also makes the impact more tolerable.  Elites use about the same cadence but use a much longer stride length.
       I think its a little easier for plodders like myself to control the pace of the stride and let the foot strike happen than to try and run on the balls of your feet (particularly if you are a little heavy).

[David]

Even before my severe hip deterioration, I tried the Pose Method, using the Newton shoes, etc.  It was way too much on my calves and achilles.  Even trying to introduce the method slowly into my running was difficult for me.  I settled on more of a mid-strike and my body was comfortable with that.  At least the heels don't wear out first on my shoes now.  I'm sure the years of heel striking over the numerous marathons and IM's did not help my hip condition favorably.
Trying to turn to a new page in the book...

[Bob E]

Hi Dan,
David is so right!
 Heel strikers tend to land with the foot way out in front of their body. If that leg goes way out in front there's no option but to land on the heel. Also, in this situation the leg is pretty much straight, no cushioning. The third situation this sets up is with the leg out in front you tend to "brake" or almost stop for a split second every stride. Think of when you walk down steps, you land on your mid/forefoot without ever realizing it. If you went down the steps and landed on your heel you can imagine how much a jolt it would send up your leg. “Visualization" is remove your shoes and jog down the hall barefooted. How did you land? I bet you didn't hit on your heels but, again, without realizing it landed midfoot.
I've read many posts where the doctor does not recommend running after hip resurfacing due to the "pounding" it exposes the hip to. I agree!! The word "pounding" hurts just thinking about it!! If you learn to land with the foot contacting (not pounding) the ground pretty much directly under your body it will be a smooth ride.
Bob

[JEMacpherson]

There are so many of these about running that I’m going to create a single post and put the same one on each, just in case people only look at one or two.  Sorry for the repetition – if you’ve seen this just skip it.

I was an avid runner in the past and quit due to my back, started up again and avoided the old back problems but developed right hip pain, and had the resurfacing surgery July 2011 at age 57.  I worked very hard to get back to running.  I did the 2011 Bainbridge Island Turkey Trot, a 5K run in November exactly four months after the surgery.  It is now March 2012 and I run 35 to 40 minutes 3 times a week or so and plan to bump that up a bit now that Spring is here.

I completely changed my running style:  I have a shorter stride and now run exclusively on my toes and mid-foot with minimal pick up and virtually no heel striking, even on steep downhill terrain (where I take tiny quick steps on my toes).  I’ve kept a fairly quick gate and I’m pleased with my overall speed.  I am using my old shoes but plan to get one of the new minimal impact “barefoot” styles like New Balance Minimus or Vibram 5 Fingers.  The barefoot theory is really working for me – some achy feeling once in a while but no actual pain at all, and I’m limited by my wind and my stamina and not the hip.

I am thrilled with my resurfaced hip – so glad I did this instead of a total.

[David]

way to gp JEM...

[JEMacpherson]

I've gone back and read some of these about "Chi" and other formal running methods and see that I must have "stumbled" onto a very similar technique without the "book learning", but for me the obvious goal was to minimize or eliminate the jarring impact on my hip, which I did with the slight forward lean and toes/mid-foot strike and minimal lift and shorter quicker stride - just made sense to me.  The calves are getting much more of a work out but that doesn't seem to be a problem.  When things are going really well on a flat surface I can actually increase my stride without increasing impact and its like I'm flying along on my toes, grabbing the ground and moving it under me like a very big ball!