Nurses and physical therapists say I am weeks ahead of most THR (total hip replacement) patients they see, but, in fairness, I realize that most people who have this surgery are not 54 years old, but rather in their 70s and 80s and many pounds overweight.

At the risk of sounding overly confident, I am glad for the ways I prepared for surgery.

* Daily stretch.
I call it "ugly yoga" because of the way I look when doing some basic power yoga exercises, including Crescent and Warrior poses. I used the first ten minutes of the "Power 90" (BeachBody) DVD with Tony Horton.

* Shoulder exercises.
I used 8- to 12-pound weights to build up my shoulder and neck muscles. Especially useful for getting out of bed were the "chair lifts" (hands on the sides of a chair seat, feet straight out, and then lowering and raising my torso by my arms. NOTE: Start out by bending your knees).

* Walking with my hiking poles.
I have two, telescoping hiking poles (available at REI or EMS stores) that I use on the trail and when walking from my car to the office. One pole serves as a cane; two helped me take longer strides and move my arms.

* Keeping the weight off.
I tried to eat sensibly and drink a lot of water, though I followed doctor's orders and refrained from dieting during the last two weeks before surgery.

Next: View from the hospital bed