Help I need to reach a goal....I want to run...Read please

  This will probably be long but I hope to get encouragement and ideas or some pointers.....ANY Or all will be nice!   I was in a bad car accident a drunk driver ran me off the road.......Long story....Read long Blog...Anyway, I had five surgeries in a years time and the last hip surgery was a full hip replacement..............the WLS has helped so much with being able to walk better. BUT, I hurt when I run.......OK I run like I am 100. I am embarrassed by this. GOAL is to be able to run with my kids.................Well I can not. I would like any leg exercises or work outs you could link me too or if you know of anything I am all ears!   I want this so bad! HELP

Good for you! I was a "chubby" runner - I started when I weighed 230# or at least that was one of the last times i looked at the scale at that time. Talk about embarrassing, i was SMOKING at the time too.  So when you say you run like you are 100 - just think about how I looked! I literally could not fat wobble (in my mind i was running LOL) the length of a telephone pole - 20 feet or so? I started out on a school track, at 4:40 a.m. before work every day (I was a cook in those days). Thank God it was dark.  Anyway, I committed to being out there 30 minutes at first.  I would walk as fast as I could most of the track, then at this certain point, try to "run" for as long as I could. Eventually I could run a whole lap! 1/4 mile.  Lap by lap, I built up to eventually do 5 miles every day before work! One of the first muscles in my body to rebel was my upper back muscles, believe it or not!  I had spams there so badly I had the phone off the hook in my kitchen one morning, sure i was having a heart attack! So make sure your upper body is conditioned.   leg lunges are great, biking, those machines where you sit, then put your feet under weights and lift forward will strengthen your knees too. Then turn over on that same machine and work the upper back muscles of the leg, too. Ab work is important too! In your case with your hip, you will need to take care. It is hard to find a doctor who will support this effort, some say don't run with pain, another may say work thru it (physical therapy style). I think you had best clear this with a physical therapist, actually.  You may need to stick with biking - which is great fun. Kids love bikes, too!  Please keep us posted!!!!

HI- Just a couple of things that help me to start running 9 months ago. First, I drank a can of joint juice every day. That really helped with the achey joints.  When I started running, I would go to the track and run the straights and walk the curves for 8 laps - 2 miles. Then I got to where I was running longer than the straight and walking short little curves. Then I started just going on the running paths around town and run as long as I could then walk a bit, to catch my breath and then run again. Finally I got to where I could just run without stopping. It took me about 2 months to get there, but I did. Now I run 12-15 miles a week, by running 3 days a week. Hope this is helpful.

Check out this site: www.coolrunning.com  or http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml It has a plan "From couch to 5K" in 2 months. The site also has a lot of information about running, training, and it even has a forum where you can post questions. I saw it on the Grads board. Good luck!