“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.” ~Bill Watterson
I have officially lost track of time and in the FAI recovery world that is a good thing meaning I am no longer counting the days until I can run and ski again since I have been busy doing just that – RUNNING and SKIING. I am 18 weeks out from FAI surgery number two and extremely happy with my progress.
I’ve also been busy moving out of my ole apartment, quitting my job and squeezing a lot of traveling in before starting my new job, picking up a few shifts at a restaurant I used to work in, and moving my blog to a new url. I guess I prefer to make huge sweeping changes in all areas of my life rather than one by one – shew!
Post-FAI Surgery Running Update
On February 14, 2014 (3 months from surgery), I took my first running steps (we’re talking 25 minutes of walking with 90 seconds of running interspersed) and quickly found out that I wasn’t quite ready. Excerpt taken from daily running journal:
February 14, 2014 – I don’t think I am quite ready to start running yet, I really want to wait until my right glute starts firing properly, my core gets a little stronger, and I have most my muscle imbalances fixed. I just needed to know it was possible and that my hip can withstand the impact, which it nicely did without pain yippie skip! I just did this to help the motivation. It is a bit daunting to start running again from scratch, again.
I tried again a few weeks later with much better luck. I started slowly following my return to running plan and quickly worked up to running 30 minutes with a few walk breaks thrown in here and there. I am absolutely thrilled with how well my hip feels running.
March 21, 2014 – FOUR miles!
While returning to running after my previous FAI surgeries, I was constantly discouraged and sidelined with mini flare-ups and several set-backs. Maybe this surgery went better or this hip wasn’t as messed up as the other side or maybe I have finally learned to listen to my body and have become a pro at FAI surgery recovery and now know how to do it right – all I know is I am stoked to finally have all of this behind me and start planning runs and adventures for the summer!
Post-FAI Surgery Skiing Update
I’ve only downhill skied ONCE in the past THREE years since I have spent most of the last three winters crutching over snowbanks. I celebrated the final installment of my FAI surgery fun by purchasing a whole new backcountry setup including the super stealth-like Dynafit Speed Radical bindings – yay!
I took to the hills for my first ski four months to the day after my last surgery and saying I was overjoyed to be back on the mountain would be a huge understatement. I successfully skinned up 1,500 feet and skied down giggling with joy the whole way down. I can ski and nothing hurts – ye haw!
At 18 weeks post-FAI surgery I have:
- *Ran 3 days a week topping out at 4 miles
- *Hiked Salt Lake’s Mt. Wire (~2,200 feet of gain)
- *Hiked Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park
- *Skied a 4 hour day
I am happy to answer any questions about FAI surgery recovery so just leave a comment or contact me here.