Super fit at 50 – CW50 on my new hip

Centurion Running, Chiltern Wonderland 50 Thank you to the 51 Centurion Staff and volunteers who put on a really great event for 250 competitors. The route was beautiful, seeing some of the best of our English countryside; with 5,600ft of nice elevation; perfect weather, with some rain during the previous week leaving the ground firm […]

Super fit at 50 – New Hip gets 12 month ‘Ultra’ Approval!

Today, I visited Prof Alister Hart at the Cleveland Clinic London and received 12-month post-op sign-off on my recovery from hip replacement. I never thought this would have been possible pre-op and I am so happy 😊 This is also recognition that running the Pure Trail Race The Tides ultra has done absolutely no harm […]

Running my First Ultra on my new hip!

Last Saturday, some 11 months since having a full hip replacement, I completed the Race The Tide “long-marathon”, my first ‘ultra’ on my new right hip 😊 and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single step. Puretrail organised a super event. The route was beautiful yet challenging; was really well marked; had 4,383ft elevation earning […]

low mileage ultra training with my new hip

Some nine months after having my right hip replaced due to Lyme’s disease fast-tracking a genetic weakness in the joint and once again, I am enjoying my running so much. Recovery is going much better than I could have hoped, so I have signed up to run my first ultra on my new hip at […]

we are capable of more than we realise

Almost six months to the day I had my right hip replaced and today I ran my first proper trail run; 6 miles with 659 ft of elevation in a little over one hour six minutes (strava). It felt so good to feel strong and confident on my feet in technical and sloppy terrain and […]

Stepping out of our comfort zone

Yesterday I completed 82 miles and 5,385 ft of elevation, hiking the magnificent Ridgeway over three days as I marked XNRG’s awesome Druid’s Challenge (see excellent review Adam in Runderland: The Druid’s Challenge). As I neared the finish, hiking up the 3 mile hill to Barbury Castle guided by my head torch and the light of […]

Pure joy of running!

27th September 2021 The pure joy of running! I have just completed my first run, well walk/run, since my right hip was replaced some fourteen weeks ago and my first run since 13th May, when I slogged out a very slow and uncomfortable 4 miles on the Isle of White. It felt so good to be running, […]

The Power of Positive Mental Attitude. And a puppy!

12 September 2021 Since my previous post some 8 weeks ago, I have spoken with two other ‘runners’ who have had similar surgery and we unanimously agreed that a positive mental attitude and can-do (will-do) approach to exercise and recovery has been a significant factor in all of our excellent progress (to date). Subjectively, I […]

Superfit @ 50: no more ultra-running for a while …..!?

It has been a while since my last post during which I mentioned that my Lyme’s disease seemed to be causing a problem with my right hip. A visit to the doctor followed by an x-ray revealed that the cartilage in my hip was thin with that my left hip looking a little better; the […]