Think you are training hard? Meet the 60-yr old old with a full hip replacment who just ran 200 miles last week!

Looks like at this rate he will be getting another hip replaced soon! Or knee or something else. No need for it!

Wow, that’s a lot of meaningless “work”. Of course, it’s not like I make good use of all those hours that I’m not running 200 miles per week.

Running any amount with a hip replacement is highly questionable. running ultra-long distances with one is just plain stupid and irresponsible. He's going to end up in a wheelchair eventually.

I would be more impressed if he still ran on his own hips.

Nothing to see there.

The question is why did he have a hip replacement in the first place?

It looks like this was a one off week and not something he normally does, He says his weekly average in 45 miles but he's been up to around 70 recently. I could see wanting to do something like a 200 mile week just for the sake of doing it.

The most common reason for getting a hip replacement is a congenital issue that causes osteoarthritis.

We did a survey of 220 runners or hope-to-be runners again after hip replacement. It was something like 97% congenital. As was mine. As was several people I know at my running club.

So the femur head is either too large or the socket it goes into is too small and over the years the cartilage wears away.

An example that illustrates that running does cause the issue (although may exacerbate it), is my brother and I have the exact same issue, as had our paternal grandmother, on the same hip.

Grandmother born in 1899 did absolutely no running (but did hike to glaciers and worked hard).

My brother played no sports and never ran, except typical childhood running around.

Same age, same side, same problem.

Me: Ball hockey (hard concrete sprinting), soccer, kickboxing, boxing, volleyball, basketball, baseball, running, rugby.

I can dig and look up why he had his hip replaced but that doesn't explain the other 219 runners....and the answers that we received mirror what the US medical system has found survey 10s of thousands of hip replacement patients.

A surgeon told me that revisions are not something that a Dr. wants on his record, they are difficult to do and the patient doesn't want to have more than one revision, although you can have two or three tops - depending.

Another surgeon told me that the manufacturers of the prostethics recommend to the Drs. tha t the patients do not run. So that is what the patients typically hear.

Finally, there is not enough organized data that tells is if running is going to break down the hip.

The estimate is 25 years if you are careful or down to 10 if you run. The problem is, typically, you are dealing with at least a middle-age person, if not elderly. I have a friend in his late 80s who is not slim and runs marathons all the time. Surgeon said go ahead, betting that he wont outlive the hip.

When I had mine done, just a month shy of my 51st birthday, I wanted to run again, but also, know that I don't want a revision at age 75. I might not even live that long. So, I'd hate to be 75 and think - well if I am going through this surgery, why in the F*** didn't I run and get the revision done at 65...."

321kms is crazy, but perhaps we will find new valuable information out of this guy's training....he's 10 years in now!!

Correction: DOES NOT CAUSE....

many people end up in a wheelchair as they age any way. If he wants it to be because if running himself into the ground, that’s his perogotive.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

many people end up in a wheelchair as they age any way. If he wants it to be because if running himself into the ground, that’s his perogotive.

Prerogative.

This is a crackpot study because you have no way to ascertain that the osteoarthritis was congenital. I do not believe that running causes osteoarthritis, but if you already have it, running will make it worse.

It's not high science, however, I did not refer to it as a study. I referred to it as survey (of 220 runners).

The example of my own situation is not in-depth research either, it is, as I called it, "an example".

"Crackpot" was a little unnecessary,

crack·pot

/ˈkrakˌpät/

pronounce

INFORMAL

noun

an eccentric or foolish person.

adjective

eccentric; impractical.

"his head's full of crackpot ideas"

Wet Coast wrote:

It's not high science, however, I did not refer to it as a study. I referred to it as survey (of 220 runners).

The example of my own situation is not in-depth research either, it is, as I called it, "an example".

"Crackpot" was a little unnecessary,

crack·pot

/ˈkrakˌpät/

pronounce

INFORMAL

noun

an eccentric or foolish person.

adjective

eccentric; impractical.

"his head's full of crackpot ideas"

Letsrun certainly needs more this type of courteous response, that does not drop to insults, but only points out their inappropriateness.

Banana Bread wrote:

The question is why did he have a hip replacement in the first place?

A bigger question is, why would he run 200 miles in one week when there are no races for the foreseeable future?

That is when you do it.

Base building. This is the time to run volume and avoid catabolic and too much hard anaerobic training.

Lots of easy, medium, steady and strong volume, really grow capillaries and capillary beds, mitochondria etc. The muscles and other soft tissues response quickly to training, the cardiovascular system takes time.

Everyone has time now.

Although his 200-mile week was purely just a bucket list type of thing to do.

Why is letsrun encouraging people to be stupid? We almost never have issues with top US runners being lazy. We constantly have issues with top US runners destroying their bodies with idiocy.

We have plenty of talent, and our talent tends to be highly motivated. What we need to focus on is figuring out how to train hard enough to be a champion while minimizing wear and tear. Too many of our runners are toast by the time they are 30 when they should be enjoying their primes.

Praising a guy for running 200 miles on a replaced hip doesn't make much sense.

I'd argue that whatever he is doing and the results from it - the outcome - will be information for the manufacturers as well as surgeons. There is very little data out there on running with a hip replacement (or two) and nothing on running long-term because the prosthetics have changed and progressed.

Years ago, there was a hip that was created where runners were told to go ahead and run, it will last forever (sort of thing). They did last a long time, but if something did happen, the device was "disturbed" at revision and toxins were released. So the materials have changed.....I believe they caused severe dementia or something.

If everyone played it safe, there would be no pressure to devise better parts and improve surgery processes.

If he gets 20 years of running in and has a revision at age 70 and then gives up running, that would be a good thing. At 70 many runners are not running anyway and the 20 years of happiness and fitness make for a more productive person and rewarding life. His heart and brain and general health is probably a heck of a lot better than if he didn't run. He continues to work for a living (at 60) and running clearly makes him happy.

If any of you cute runner types aren't doing anything next week, I seem to have an awful lot of extra time on my hands. Nod, nod. Wink, wink.