Doing a marathon with THR

[Mike D]

For anyone who needs encouragement about THR, take a look at Pat's other site - hipsforyou.com.
There's a great story under the thread  'Running on THR' from a lady called 'marathonher'.
She is 62 years old and has done 103 full marathons on natural hips, and last weekend, completed her 104th with two THR's which I think is quite remarkable!
Although she is obviously a very fit lady, she has had no problems at all in the days after the marathon-both hips have stood up to the test which is very encouraging to anybody who cannot  have, or may not want HR.
On top of this, the lady rides a Harley trike!
So if anyone's feeling a little low about some upcoming surgery, or you just fancy a 'feel-good' read, check out marathonhers story, it really is quite something.

[Pat Walter]

I copied part of marathoners story and am posting it below for everyone to read.  The full story is here: 

http://hipsforyou.com/totalhiptalk/general-thr-discussion/running-on-thr/

and http://hipsforyou.com/totalhiptalk/personal-hip-stories/marathoning-on-2-new-hips/msg866/#msg866

I think it is important to know people with large ball THRs can also be very active.

Marathonher  March 08, 2013

I had one THR on July 30th, and the other on Oct. 1st.  My surgeon was iffy on my ability to run post-op before he performed the first surgery, but gave me approval after he had done the first surgery and had seen the bone/muscle quality.  I am a 60 year old female who has run 103 marathons and now, 7 & 5 months post op, I am able to gently run - pretty much a low impact glide like I did before surgery, but now without pain.  The Doc has several patients who have returned to lesser miles running, and in my book, lesser is better than none.

I am walk/running a marathon in April, first since surgery, so I'm now up to 18 mile training, next week will be a 20 miler.  I realize that everything is still healing, and don't want to set anything back, but it is such a joy to regain some semblance running.  I'm also taking exercise classes at the gym that include running stairs, burpees, duck walks, etc., all to help build muscle.  If anything feels wrong, I back off -- I can always try it later and no need to push it now.

Make sure you get plenty of quality protein for healing and lots of greens.  I think nutrition is a key in healing.

March 11, 2013


I got back on my Harley Trike 3 weeks post op of the first hip with my Doc's approval.  Being a trike, I don't have to hold it up, just slide on and ride, feet never leave the pegs 'till I stop.  Before the surgery, my hips would just ache after about a half hour riding. We use heated gloves and I have heated grips, so with lots of clothing we ride year round here in North Carolina - beautiful country to ride in.

I'm very careful in my exercise classes, as I'm not sure yet of my full range of motion.  Also, each leg is 1/2 inch longer and that throws off my center of gravity just a bit.  The extra length also has stretched muscles and tendons, so I have to gently ease into stretches.  I use a foam roller on my IT band because that is really hard to stretch and very tight now.

I will let ya'll know how the race goes.  I contacted the Race Director and told her about my surgeries and asked for an early start since I didn't want to be out on the course all alone at the end.  She is letting me start 2 hours early with her 82 year old husband, who will be running his 500+ marathon.  My imagination has me chasing him for 26 miles! Ought to be an interesting experience!

March 11, 2013

The Yakima River Canyon Marathon was Saturday, 4/6/13 and I finished in 7:30.  I walked most of it, with a little downhill granny shuffling on occasion.  No hip pain, but some muscle aches - haven't done one in a year.  On Sunday, I felt good enough to walk around the Seattle Center and work out the kinks - today is Wednesday and still no hip pain. 

Surprised at how easily I got thru the airport security, but they all had the xray type, not the metal detectors.  I guess it's getting so common now for people to have replacement joints!

Did compare experiences with several other runners with knee replacements, but no other hippies.

FYI, I have 2 THR's, one is 8 months old and the other is 6 months old.  This was my 104th marathon, so my muscles and bones are very strong and my body is used to making rapid recovery.

[Dannywayoflife]

Wow that's impressive

[Anna]

This gives me hope! Thanks mike