Yes, I am running again.
And I am thrilled to report that I actually covered three miles this morning – my longest run in a year, in fact, almost to the day. (Back then it was clearly a therapeutic endeavor: to calm my jitters two days before the first of two arthroscopic hip surgeries.)
Three miles had always been my minimum. (If I didn’t cover at least that distance, I felt as though I wasn’t really running.) I don’t necessarily feel that way now. But I still consider today a major milestone in my very long, bumpy road to recover from femoroacetabular impingement, or FAI, which means too much friction in the hip joint.
In recent weeks I have been gradually increasing my mileage, albeit with a few setbacks here and there. I was happy to finish a mile at the track, then a mile and a half. But knee and hip pain prevented me from adding on another half a mile. For awhile, anyway.
Backing off from running for a couple of weeks, reducing the number of spin classes I was taking and returning to physical therapy seems to have put my recovery back on track again. (No pun intended.)
After weeks of slacking off, I decided to resume on my own the PT exercises that have helped me so much over the last couple of years. (Who would’ve known!)
I am also seeing a new therapist who specializes in Active Release Techniques, or ART, a rigorous but highly effective form of massage therapy. My skilled therapist applies pressure to the affected area – in my case, the area around the right knee – while moving the surrounding muscles through a full range of motion. It hurts like heck, but it seems to be clearing up the tendonitis I had developed in the small articularis genu muscle. (It’s all part of a resulting muscle imbalance, I was told.)
There was no discomfort during today’s run in the park and very little afterward, so I hope to try this running thing again in a couple of days.
If you have had arthroscopic hip surgery in recent (or not so recent) months, please let us know how you are doing.
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