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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Labrador1] [ In reply to ]
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So I guess my question is - have others had this level of fatigue and did you just shut everything down until it leveled off? I'm trying to follow the 'listen to your body' mantra but I'm in unknown territory here.


I took 2 weeks completely off with covid-- exercising was out of the question. my body was too f'd up and i could feel it. I took another 2-3 weeks of z1/z2 very easy~ 30-45' a day but fatigue was quite strong.

Only about 5 weeks post positive did my energy start to return at all. And at about week 5/ week 6 did I go from feeling the post-viral fatigue (basically not feeling like myself) to a place where I recognized myself again and my body responded to training and exertion in predicable ways.

7/8 weeks on, I now feel like myself again, just myself who is very out of shape. The previous period of time post-covid, it wasn't that out-of-shape-feeling, it was something entirely different. Things werent responding the way they should have been. fatigue was higher, cardiac drift was higher, energy levels were different. It was not my body as I recognized it over the previous decade+ of training.

Give it time, be patient, and embrace the fact that there isnt meaningful racing for a while and let yourself get back to normal.
Last edited by: MadTownTRI: Dec 1, 22 8:54
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [MadTownTRI] [ In reply to ]
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I'm now officially 5 months from my first battle with it.

My daughter brought it home from school earlier this fall and we all wound up positive. I had nothing but a stuffy nose for a couple of days (hooray, hybrid immunity), and the kiddo felt fine shortly afterwards. But my wife is now dealing with the same lengthy fatigue that I had the first time around.

I'm finally in a place where I can train a bit and not feel like death. It's not a whole hell of a lot, but it's just laying some groundwork for doing some dumb stuff next summer.

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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [michael Hatch] [ In reply to ]
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Just starting to come back to working out. My Covid positive test was October 12. I was as sick as I have ever been for 6-10 days. HR and HRV were clearly destroyed and only now starting to recover. HRV finally moving into my historic averages. My morning resting HR remains 20-25 beats higher.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Labrador1] [ In reply to ]
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Labrador1 wrote:
So I guess my question is - have others had this level of fatigue and did you just shut everything down until it leveled off? I'm trying to follow the 'listen to your body' mantra but I'm in unknown territory here.

Fatigue? Yeah, I've gone through numerous long-running bouts of fatigue over the past almost 3 years (32 months now) since my acute (mild symptom) infection with covid. Some fatigue crashes went for 6+ months at a stretch -- 11-12 hours of sleep at night with naps during the day. Things that help when that's going on? Rest (no exercise other than maybe some walking), pacing, intermittent fasting, clean diet and small meals, focus on gut health, NAC, cooler temps. Not everyone recovers from covid back to pre-covid state of health, so go easy on yourself, don't push the return to exercise, and let your body take all the time it needs to recover. When your fatigue breaks, don't go right out and start exercising again right away. That can backfire, and in a permanent kind of way.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Route66] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the responses.

The impact on the body from the virus is truly bizarre.

I have shed some of the fatigue I mentioned from my previous post, which I am extremely thankful for. But my heart rate is all over the map. Run pace 45-90 seconds slower per mile than normal on a given day, just to keep the heart rate even close to the right range for an 'easy' run. Paces that are so slow that I've never experienced, even at my all-time worst fitness levels or after extended breaks, and my HR is climbing to zone 3. Tough to know if these efforts are doing more harm than good. HR spikes on the bike are less pronounced, but definitely still higher than normal.

And I just feel like my heart is beating out of my chest at random times throughout the day at rest. Moving our Christmas tree about 15 feet had me feeling like I was going to pass out and I swear my HR must have been at threshold level or higher. My MD did not seem all that concerned about this but I am going tomorrow to see her anyway...
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Labrador1] [ In reply to ]
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How long has this been a thing for ? The hr stuff ? Mine lasted 4 weeks since a neg test so about 5 total but have heard of many others going longer. It’s a waiting game- your hr will return to normal, it’s crap but it wont last. Keep the low zone stuff and do t worry about the slower pace. I think I mentioned it earlier I was doing 120 watts with hr around 150 it was crazy. Are you In ur off-season ? Think of it as forced rest and just tick over basic fitness. Doesn’t take much to get it back. I just did a half on the weekend and had a great race (for me), so you will get it all back
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Labrador1] [ In reply to ]
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It's been ~5 months since my initial bout? And it's only been in the last month or so where my HR for "easy" seems to be back in the correct range.

We're back to masking a bit up here, especially with the kiddo at school and the combo of COVID, RSV, and flu making the rounds through it.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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About 2.5 weeks of this so far. Coming up on 5 weeks after initial positive test here. My first week back I only biked very short workouts and started doing short runs last week. Obviously there is some pure fitness loss component as well but clearly there is certainly more to it than just that. Crossing my fingers and hoping like you said that it's just a matter of a few weeks of transitioning back to normalcy. Yes, I am not training for anything specific at the moment thankfully.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Labrador1] [ In reply to ]
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I hadn't really looked at this thread until recently.

Tested positive about 4 weeks ago, and it was pretty bad. Sick for about 10 days. I had Covid in March 2020 right at the start and it was worse, though.

But the last 4 weeks have been awful. I still have a dry cough, taste blood when I cough, occasional random fever, and brutal fatigue. By the end of the day I'm just exhausted. I picked up my daughter and had to get groceries, but I was tired so my daughter offered to grab them (first time she's shopped on her own!) She was gone for about 20 minutes and I actually fell asleep in the car.

I ran once in the last 4 weeks for 60 minutes when I was starting to feel better.

Dr. appt on Monday to see what to do about it, if anything. I anticipate a chest x ray and "wait and see".
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Labrador1] [ In reply to ]
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Labrador1 wrote:
And I just feel like my heart is beating out of my chest at random times throughout the day at rest. Moving our Christmas tree about 15 feet had me feeling like I was going to pass out and I swear my HR must have been at threshold level or higher. My MD did not seem all that concerned about this but I am going tomorrow to see her anyway...

Sounds like some palpitations (PACs, PVCs, etc.) and maybe the onset of POTS / dysautonomia symptoms. I had a lot of that for quite a while, and still get some occasionally now as I approach 3 years. The flare-ups seem to hit more if I overdo things or allow myself to get too dehydrated. The pre-syncope symptoms on exertion / postural change are more pronounced in warmer temps. Stay well-hydrated with electrolytes, better if you find options w/o sugar. Move more slowly, especially when coming up from bending over or rising from a crouching or sitting position.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Durhamskier] [ In reply to ]
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Durhamskier wrote:
But the last 4 weeks have been awful. I still have a dry cough, taste blood when I cough, occasional random fever, and brutal fatigue. By the end of the day I'm just exhausted. I picked up my daughter and had to get groceries, but I was tired so my daughter offered to grab them (first time she's shopped on her own!) She was gone for about 20 minutes and I actually fell asleep in the car.

Check out a lengthy post I made to this thread back on page 5 if you haven't seen it already.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Route66] [ In reply to ]
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@Route66 are you exercising again? i'm 1 year and 10 months in and I still can't. I go through phases....on good days i feel pretty good, on bad days i'm not so bad i have to lie down, but i feel like garbage - almost hungover-like. When i try to exercise i feel like hell for a week or so about 48 hours later.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [blueQuintana] [ In reply to ]
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You guys (or girls) are warriors and make me feel like a big softy complaining about my current state which has only lasted a few weeks here. I'm so sorry to hear you've been fighting these problems for so long.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [blueQuintana] [ In reply to ]
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It's those good days that get you. You have that hope that you are recovering and then you go do something dumb. So to answer your question, nope, I pretty much only walk. That's my new exercise. When the pool is warmer, I'll do a bit of light swimming. That's it. It took me a while to get to a place where I was good with the new limits, but I accept it now and have moved on from the swim-bike-run lifestyle. You go through enough post-exertional malaise trying to do some anemic amount of an activity that used to bring you joy, and you eventually realize that it's not worth the price that you pay. My lungs have felt better since I switched to only walking and not trying anything more, less of the chronic burn and coughing, fewer fatigue crashes.
Last edited by: Route66: Dec 8, 22 17:32
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Route66] [ In reply to ]
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Route66 wrote:
Durhamskier wrote:
But the last 4 weeks have been awful. I still have a dry cough, taste blood when I cough, occasional random fever, and brutal fatigue. By the end of the day I'm just exhausted. I picked up my daughter and had to get groceries, but I was tired so my daughter offered to grab them (first time she's shopped on her own!) She was gone for about 20 minutes and I actually fell asleep in the car.


Check out a lengthy post I made to this thread back on page 5 if you haven't seen it already.

I went back and gave it a re-read in light of how I've been feeling. Very helpful, thank you!
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [Durhamskier] [ In reply to ]
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Tested positive about 4 weeks ago, and it was pretty bad. Sick for about 10 days. I had Covid in March 2020 right at the start and it was worse, though.


Sorry to hear.

The cavalier attitude that many/most are taking to all of this is surprising. No one, than means zero people know how Covid will impact them personally. In almost every person it infects it manifests itself slightly differently. However, we have collectively decided to just roll the dice on this, take it as it comes and see how it goes.

For some Covid the lucky ones is a relatively minor thing. For others it's moderately severe, and for the truly unfortunate it means hospitalization and the possibilities of Long Covid as an outcome.

Ironic because I was for the longest time holding off on getting my 4th shot - but decided to get it, and just got that done yesterday. Got a flu vax at the same time.

Somehow, I have managed to evade Covid through all of this - despite moderate amount of travel for work, and my wife coming down with one of those moderately severe cases mid summer. For her it happened just after she had won the Canadian Women's Masters ITT Championships and finished 3rd in the Road Race. In other words - she was at the peak of physical fitness. She was bedridden for 2+ weeks and off the bike for almost a month. The back half of her competitive cycling season totally wiped out. According to her, it was 3 - 4 months before she could ride and train "normally"! We still don't know where or how she picked it up!

I'm saying all this because, coming back to what I said at the outset - now one knows how it will impact them. So that ounce of prevention saying is pretty important here - Mask, social distance, avoid crowded indoor situations if you can and get vaxed. But VERY FEW seem to be heeding this advice! Even I have been letting my guard down of late!


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