What Doesn't Kill You...

...might cost you a hip!

Myth: Running is good for you!
Fact: Running 26.2 consecutive miles put me in physical therapy for almost 6 months. Also, a lifetime of running is giving my dear dadE one of these:



That's what ol' dadE is going in for surgery tomorrow. A new hip. All of you must be thinking "YEESH...Ash, how old is your dad?" Well, I'm here to tell you he is 53 years young, which is (to me, anyway) not the age I think of when I start envisioning the type of person who needs a hip replacement. I can't be alone on this on, can I...?

In Running's Defense:
Running cannot be entirely blamed for dad's hip woes. He joined the Army right out of high school and as a Ranger (read: total badass) jumped out of a lot of planes. The impact from hitting the ground, even with a parachute, probably hasn't done his hip much good. Dad was also in a very bad car accident in his early 20s that messed him up pretty good. That doesn't help things either.

BUT
...neither has running. And just because those other factors hurt doesn't mean that running helped. In fact, I'm pretty sure that running 1,000s (10,000s? 100,000s?) of miles over my dad's life is a very LARGE contributing factor to why he has to go into surgery tomorrow.

Want to see what a "buss up"* hip looks like?


(bad hip)


(good hip)


See how there's no room between the hip bone and socket in the first x-ray?? That's because the cartilage is practically ALL GONE. Poor dad :( I feel so bad for him! Back in March the Eppens clan convened on Maui for a week of too much fun before Lil' Brother Epps shipped off on deployment. I remember dad couldn't walk too far because his hip was hurting so bad. Back when he visited me last October, we hiked Maunawili for goodness sake! I know it has to be hard for him to be so immobile when he's been so active (running, hiking, skiing, etc) for his whole life.

Is he nervous for tomorrow's surgery? Nah. He thinks this stuff is "neat." Mostly, I think he's just ready to get it done with and healed so that he can move around without pain again. And really - what was the alternative anyway? To not have jumped out of perfectly good planes? To not have logged all those miles? To not have run all those races and pusehd himself? To not do what he has always come so naturally to him and what (at the time) felt good? Puh-leeze. Some people run every day and then need a hip replacement at 53. Some people run every day and don't ever have any health problems. That's life. It could all be over tomorrow, so run as hard as you can today.

I do admit that I'm nervous. I'm nervous for my dad going in for major surgery. I'm nervous that my current hip problems are just a small taste of what awaits me in 20-something more years of pounding the pavement. But when I get really worked up, and the hamsters in my brain start spinning in their wheels, I do what I always do: go for a run, and then drink some wine. Clarity and perspective are almost always waiting at the end.

*Buss up is pidgin and out here it means "busted" "busted up" "messed up" or "really really really really drunk"

PS - DAD!!! I'm talking to YOU here! You have a month off of work. I totally expect you to write about running/your new hip/anything else for this blog while you're sitting around doped up on pain meds. It will be awesome!!!