Z15
graduate
Hi friends,
I wanted to stop by and offer one datapoint regarding how long recovery takes. This is not about how long before one is walking or back to your normal daily activities. This is the measure of how long before you get as much post-operative functionality as you are going to get. I had my hip replaced going on 8 years ago and have been working since Day One to be as functional as possible. But at this point in my life, now in my 60's it's not as easy as going full strength, full speed every day because I have too many other parts that won't put up with that. During those 8 years I've been laid up after shoulder surgery, dealt with knee issues, Achilles problems, arthritis, blah, blah, blah... I do as much as I can as often as I can and push up to what I am allowed to do by my surgeon.
My surgeon let's me run up to 3 miles 3 times per week and so a 3 mile run has been my yardstick. If I could go off and run 5 or 6 miles it would let me get to the point where 3 miles feels easier....but that is no longer an option.
So this past summer at the 7.5 year mark I had my fastest 3 mile time that I have had in my entire recovery. There was nothing noteworthy about how things were going, just the fact that the steady slog of recovery (offset by 7 years of aging) finally got to that moment. I had run under 8:30 min miles a couple times in recent years (going as fast as I could) and on that day in June I ran 8:15 minute miles. So in my mind I had not gotten as much functionality back after my surgery until that point, 7+ years later.
I think that MAY be the fastest I run for the rest of my life, but I won't stop trying. My second hip is pretty bad now and I am am planning to get that replaced early next year so the recovery will begin again (and I'll start at 14 min miles and keep plugging away).
My point is, and the reason I decided to offer this, that there is a good chance that you CAN keep getting better many years down the road. I feel like if I did not have another hip in my future I might achieve an 8:10 in the next couple years. Progress is occasionally glacial, but it's progress.
Good luck with your recoveries. Don't let setbacks stop you from keeping moving forward.
Z
I wanted to stop by and offer one datapoint regarding how long recovery takes. This is not about how long before one is walking or back to your normal daily activities. This is the measure of how long before you get as much post-operative functionality as you are going to get. I had my hip replaced going on 8 years ago and have been working since Day One to be as functional as possible. But at this point in my life, now in my 60's it's not as easy as going full strength, full speed every day because I have too many other parts that won't put up with that. During those 8 years I've been laid up after shoulder surgery, dealt with knee issues, Achilles problems, arthritis, blah, blah, blah... I do as much as I can as often as I can and push up to what I am allowed to do by my surgeon.
My surgeon let's me run up to 3 miles 3 times per week and so a 3 mile run has been my yardstick. If I could go off and run 5 or 6 miles it would let me get to the point where 3 miles feels easier....but that is no longer an option.
So this past summer at the 7.5 year mark I had my fastest 3 mile time that I have had in my entire recovery. There was nothing noteworthy about how things were going, just the fact that the steady slog of recovery (offset by 7 years of aging) finally got to that moment. I had run under 8:30 min miles a couple times in recent years (going as fast as I could) and on that day in June I ran 8:15 minute miles. So in my mind I had not gotten as much functionality back after my surgery until that point, 7+ years later.
I think that MAY be the fastest I run for the rest of my life, but I won't stop trying. My second hip is pretty bad now and I am am planning to get that replaced early next year so the recovery will begin again (and I'll start at 14 min miles and keep plugging away).
My point is, and the reason I decided to offer this, that there is a good chance that you CAN keep getting better many years down the road. I feel like if I did not have another hip in my future I might achieve an 8:10 in the next couple years. Progress is occasionally glacial, but it's progress.
Good luck with your recoveries. Don't let setbacks stop you from keeping moving forward.
Z