PJ's Run: Bolder Boulder training with a 5-week old hip

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Bolder Boulder training with a 5-week old hip

Each year for the past 40+ years, I have spent the better part of the spring training for the Bolder Boulder. When I learned I really needed to get a hip replacement done and then got it scheduled for April 18th, I went ahead and signed up for the Bolder Boulder anyways knowing deep in my bones that running the 2024 BB was a rather unrealistic goal. So - I changed the goal: I would *start* the Bolder Boulder, then find a place where I could pull off the course and catch a ride with Kendall back to campus so I could still watch the thousands of citizens finish, the elite race, and the Memorial Day Celebration. That is exactly what I will be doing on Monday.

Once I had a few weeks of new hip experience under my belt, I realized I still needed to be training for the Bolder Boulder in order to successfully complete my incomplete "race" (which I have now decided will be a cane-free walk from the starting line to the 2K mark where Kendall will pick me up). This year's training got a bit more serious once I started doing mile walks (May 7) and especially when I gained confidence walking without a cane. This past week's training has concentrated on putting the finishing touches on training specifically for a 2K walk followed by a brief rest (while Kendall drives me to campus) followed by a fairly short (perhaps 1/2 mile) walk to the stadium, followed by a long rest while watching all of the festivities, followed by a mile walk from the stadium to where Kendall can pick me up for the drive home. Thus this week's training so far has been:

two 1-mile walks with cane with an hour in-between the walks,
a 1-mile walk without cane followed by a few hours of emptying basement shelves in preparation for our construction project (almost a mile's worth of walking back and forth up and down stairs),
a 1.5 mile walk without cane (and more basement emptying adding an additional mile to the day),
a 3/4 mile walk without cane (and more basement emptying adding almost a mile),
and today a 1.5 mile walk without cane (and over a mile of basement emptying - but now it's done!).

It is most certainly a far cry from the Bolder Boulder training of past years with our weekly intervals, tempo runs, and long runs. But it's still training, and I'll still be at the Bolder Boulder starting line!

And just to refresh my memory of what the Bolder Boulder and training has been like in past years...