The Long Road Back

by Antonio Vega on July 31, 2012

The road back to running after the type of injury and surgery I had is never a short (or easy) one. It has now been about three months since I had hip surgery and I am very happy to report that everything looks good and is healing well.

Recently, I had my three-month follow up with the surgeon who operated on me and he had trouble identifying which hip was operated on which I took as a great sign. My doctor was so encouraged that he gave me the OK to finally start training again which is all I needed to hear. Right now, I am running around 40-45 miles a week and starting to feel like a runner again.

Since my return to full time running, I have talked with my coach about rejoining Team USA Minnesota and start working out with the team again. I’ll probably hold back for a few more weeks and somewhere in the middle of August, I’ll return to training with the group.

I’ve been through this same scenario before and realize I need to be patient and hold myself back before really returning to full-time training and racing. The last thing I need is to reinjure my hip again.  

As many of you know, I go back and forth between the Twin Cities and Des Moines where my wife is in medical school. While in Iowa, I have been working as an online coach for Zoom Performance based out of Des Moines. So far, I’ve definitely enjoyed the interaction with other runners, plus I have been of speaking to running groups in the Des Moines area.

Just being involved on a daily basis with runners of all levels of ability is something I enjoy. I know I benefit from their enthusiasm and energy and hopefully, they also benefit from my background and knowledge.