I got the hoop from my daughter. There's three hanging on the coat pegs in the lounge (or sitting room as my mother would say, only airports have lounges). She's got three different sizes, big, medium and small, and they're all weighted. Apparently, small is the hardest. You start just rocking backwards and forwards, not really side to side, and then build up to the full hula move.
And gratz on the running. I can't run, due to asthma, but I walk and walk with the dog sometimes, really sorts me out.