Hip, Hip Hooray!

As my posts over the last year or so mention, I have been living with arthritis in both of my hips for a while. It has deteriorated over time and become increasingly limiting in terms of activity. I tried to do everything possible to stay active and connected with my friends in triathlon while waiting for my hip replacements. I did the Allan Beach triathlon with teammates, the Kelowna swim, the Chelan triathlon, and the Harvest Ride. I also swam every Sunday with a friend, rode my bike well into the fall, and did a few spins with the club in December, once we had to go indoors. I managed to swim about 65,000 metres this year, most of it since May, and ride about 800K. I also ran 5K this year! Woohoo! (That was in the Chelan tri). This was a far cry from iron distance training but I feel good about it since I was able to keep going, right up until now.

My hips are pretty much used up now. But that's OK because I made the most of my time and I am having a new one put in on Tuesday, January 19 - two days from now! The right one has gone downhill faster so it's first and then the second one (left) will follow in a few months. I'm not really looking forward to those first few crummy post-op days but I sure am looking forward to being restored to full, pain-free movement again and getting back to my tri life! Depending on the timing of the second surgery, I do plan to be out at the lake a lot this summer for swims with my favourite swim buddy and maybe, if surgery happens quickly and recovery goes well, I can do an aquabike race later in the summer. We'll see. I am chomping at the bit but I want to be sensible and do it right so I can keep going for years.

For a while, as things went downhill, I didn't feel like I was a triathlete anymore. But I learned that there are lots of ways to stay connected and I also found out how incredible and supportive my friends are. They have already promised me that they will go for slow rides with me when I am better. I am so fortunate that this is a fixable problem and that my sport and my people are with me all the way!