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Covid is kicking my ass
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Day 5. Still in bed. Zero energy zero motivation. HR about a zillion beats higher than normal. Try soft pedal for 30 mins to keep me sane, and my hr flys to 165 at 140 watts. Obviously not worth doing or damage that can cause. Bailed.
It’s the off-season here and it’s now drawn out to middle of week 3 of no training. The good ol training peaks graphs of just about every metric has fallen off a cliff.
The wife, who at most walks the dog for exercise, is back up and running on all cylinders. Tri friends similar with the odd exceptions of those still finding high HR numbers during training.
I have a new speed concept due in about a month. I’m not worthy. I am fat Thor drinking beer and gaming with Korg. I’ll be the guy with that expensive bike riding at 20kmhr.
Give me hope. Tell me shit gets back to normal.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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Everyone has a different experience but it took me 6 weeks post quarantine (quarantine ended 11/15, I had Delta), to get back to feeling "normal". My run is still not back (never really had it to begin with), but 5 days man.......plan on a few weeks if not months till you feel 100% back to pre covid levels.

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [TriSpencer] [ In reply to ]
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Delta, 🤕 ouch

Yeh I know 5 days isn’t a lot. I think just compounding it with the off-season I have already taken makes it worse.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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So, the quick-and-dirty question is vax or no-vax. If vax, then you are probably 4 weeks max. If no-vax, then probably 8 weeks.

This is based on multiple athlete friends who have had Covid on both sides of the vax. Just chill and enjoy the much needed rest.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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Everyone has the own experience. I think since it’s your off-season (was mine too in November) you’re better off. Much better that than if you had a race a few weeks or a month out. Be patient with it, you’ll get back into race shape, take this time to do easier things like walks and mindless trainer/bike rides.

Get well soon.

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Triple vaxxed but also type 1.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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That bigly sucks. My athlete friend who was double-vaxed and had natural immunity from a pre-vax infection very conservatively took 4 weeks on round 2. He probably could have been back in the saddle after 2 weeks, but he was playing it safe. I vote you will be back on game in 2 weeks.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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I’d take it !
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [TriSpencer] [ In reply to ]
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I was glowing red positive for ten days. Two more days of weak positives. Quarantined the whole time - was flat on my back for seven days with fever, chills, the whole thing. Three weeks in all symptoms are gone but really tired (no working out at all). 6 weeks now and I feel really normal, but I didn't do a single workout or anything strenuous (it was too taxing) for five weeks. Now I am just digging out of the hole that five weeks off at age 50 creates.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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IamSpartacus wrote:
Triple vaxxed but also type 1.

I'd recommend not doing any training at all until 10 days no symptoms. There was a thread I posted on this a while back with links to guidance on return to exercise after COVID. I'm type 1 too. Since recovering from COVID, I've gotten sick around a further 2 times, but with a cold type thing. I had gotten back to around 30 minutes of running, 1.5kms of swimming and 1.5 hours of riding before latest illness. Be very patient.

I've basically barely trained at all since the end of January when I got sick the day after a half marathon (a race where I actually walked parts of it! sickness must have hit me then, although not many symptoms until following day). Have tried to come back a few times, only to get sick again, then getting COVID start of March, then another 2 bouts or so of colds.

I think having lockdowns has affected my immunity, plus daughter has returned to day care, which is basically like a petri-dish. My wife never gets sick and she has been sick twice since I got diagnosed with COVID.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [fulla] [ In reply to ]
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Petrie dish hahah accurate

My bs numbers aren’t used to fk all movement and I’m hitting insulin like a junkie

Fortunately I never got fever or chills or temps. Just the heart rate refusing to normalise is driving me nuts
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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I actually found my levels got better as was doing same thing every day so less variables to adjust my insulin for. Getting back into exercise f’ed them up as different routine every day in terms of exercise.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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You’re not alone. Wife and I got hit Monday. She’s feeling a bit better than I. Most likely omicron for us especially with a wet cough. Last night was mix of chills, feeling hot (no fever though) mild headache and feeling super lethargic.
Not planning on attempting a workout before at least 10 days.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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You gonna be alright. Just rest up.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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Having gone through COVID in early April and still dealing with the consequences, I'll say that if I could do it all over again I would err more on the side of caution in terms of getting back into training. I started easing (and I mean easing...30 min zone 1 type stuff) back in 7 days after my symptoms started improving, though I still had a bit of a cough and didn't test negative until the day before (10 days of positive tests). Started out okay but two days later developed heart symptoms. Since then I've been on and off physical activity, on and off with doctors appointments and various tests, and on and off with heart symptoms. So far the doctor hasn't found any evidence of myocarditis (finally getting an echocardiogram next week) and says if I go a couple of days without symptoms I should resume physical activity. Each time I do the first couple of days are fine and then the symptoms return. I'm not sure it would have made a difference but if I could travel back in time I'd have told myself to give it at least a week after all symptoms were gone completely before easing back in (which would have been more than a week after my first negative test). 30 min @ zone 1 doesn't seem like much of a workout but I think it's enough to cause problems when you may not be sufficiently recovered.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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FLCCC.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [ In reply to ]
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I'm 4 weeks past initial infection and, like others, have found the transition back to exercise much harder than I though it would be. My runs are slower but my heart rate much higher; it spikes very early in the run and I am unable to bring it down by slowing down; any kind of hill or pace later in my run will put me near race-pace HR and it feels very difficult as well. Hoping I can eventually shake this virus and have my runs feel good again soon!
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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I had COVID (Delta) last July. I was double vaxxed at that point so it was like three days of feeling like hell and a few more days recovering until I felt normal. My issues was breathing and heart rate post COVID. I couldn’t run more than a few minutes without feeling like I had just run a 10K at race pace. This lasted until just a couple of months ago. So like 8-9 months until I felt breathing and HR had normalized.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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Don't worry -- this sounds completely normal. I had COVID in mid-January & took 5 days completely off. I was disappointed because I was into the early weeks of my base building & my running had been on fire. I felt horrible the first couple days of COVID, but felt ok enough the last couple to try a light bike on day 6. Noticed a higher heart rate so listened to my body, tried light workouts every other day. Started with just biking on the indoor trainer since that's by far where I'll have the lowest HR. Added in swimming after that. Then running.

I also tried my best to research how athletes should come back & found nothing but mixed opinions. Settled on 50% of volume, 30%, 20%, 10%. I still wasn't at 50% so I repeated that week before moving on. So I got COVID halfway through a training week & just did a couple light activities the next week after the 5 days off. 2 weeks of almost nothing. Then 2 at 50%. So 1 month of 0/0/50/50. Then 3 weeks of 30/20/10. I ran a 5k at the end of the 20% week & was ~30s off of my PB. I went by effort, ran even, & did what I could on the day.

4 weeks after the 5k I ran a half marathon PB. 4 weeks after that I ran a 5k PB. 2 weeks later I opened my triathlon season with a strong Olympic-distanced race. Hard to claim PBs because distances vary but this was a well known race with an accurately measured course. I've done races with shorter legs faster but that was, by far, my best effort over that distance & a PR for a 1500/40k/10k race.

Be patient. Take your time coming back. Do your workouts by effort, knowing that you shouldn't be able to hold peak fitness paces. You'll get back. Most should have a similar path back. I would say you or anyone needs to reach out to doctors if what you described is still happening after a month. Long haul COVID is a thing. But after 5 days? Sounds completely normal to me.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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I had the typical omicron symptoms back on NYE (triple vaxxed and a hermit and I still got it somehow). I had 3 days of awfulness where my throat got so swollen that I couldn't even speak by the end of the day. Then I had about 7 additional days where I just felt generally tired and "off" mentally and physically. I didn't run at all during that time...at most, I soft pedaled on a bike for 30-60 minutes.

After 10 days, I was almost back to normal. However, my heart rate kept skyrocketing while exercising for another 2ish weeks. In all, it took about 3 full weeks for my HR to settle and for me to return to 100%. My doctor friends said that my timeline and experience was about right on with what they had been hearing re: omicron.

Just be prepared to have to take easy for longer than expected. My fitness personally came back just fine. And once my HR settled, I had no problems ramping up the training. I just wish it wouldn't have taken so long.
Last edited by: swimswam1003: May 18, 22 12:46
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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Responding with a similar history. Omicron first of April and hit with pretty significant symptoms. Took 4 days before I could walk not crawl to the bathroom. Pretty decent training winter after a few year hiatus, Zwift 6 times a week in my dark Canadian basement and 2-3 runs per week. Fitness was building nicely and had hopes of best summer training block in years. Took 4 weeks before I could climb a set of stairs without stopping because of peaked heart rate. Went for easy 1 hour flat ride last weekend because the spring weather was screaming. Heart rate was still about 25-30 bpm above where it should have been but I didn’t die. I have hope this will get better because rhr is slowly returning to Normal. At its current pace it’ll be 3 months post Covid before I return to semi serious training. 49y male, triple vaxxed and haven’t been in a building other than my house without an n95 since this started. Crazy virus that doesn’t really seem to care how fit you might be. On the other side most of my sloth friends wouldn’t notice an elevated heart rate and they simply felt like crap for a few days. We as obsessed athletes are more in tune with our bodies are telling us. Take it easy and have patience there are a lot of us on the same recovery path.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [swimswam1003] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for everyone’s replies and experiences. Scary seeing hr symptoms ongoing for many months ! Mentally that would be hard to cope .

I’m hoping I track like the Normal of a few weeks of elevated hr and back to normal. I find that mentally challenging enough
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [jhsandchs] [ In reply to ]
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Similar experience here to some of the above. Mild cold/symptoms for 4 days, worst being a sore throat, but tested hard positive for ~7 days, and light positive right to day 10.

Started with super light exercise (Recess/Lazy Mountain) and saw an elevated HR of 20-30 bpm but figured just needed to let the junk shake out. Running proved to be a disaster (HR 175 at jogging pace) and then started getting chest discomfort, palpitations, etc.. Shut it all down for 2 more weeks, and after a battery of testing cleared to restart "light exercise" again (my definition and theirs may differ here).

Finally, after 7 weeks since starting to test negative, starting to feel closer to "normal", but have reset FTP down ~20% and am waiting on echocardiogram results before hitting anything remotely intense. I'm optimistic at this point that it's just a question of rebuilding that lost fitness but it trashed the excitement of unleashing 2 years of no social life on my "A" race in late June. Just glad I expect to be able to participate at this point.

I don't know if waiting an extra week or two would have prevented losing the additional 4-5 weeks of detraining, but if I could do it again I'd take a more cautious approach to returning to exercise. Also agree that most of my friends that have had COVID and recovered quickly would have no reasonable data to compare against and don't do anything more strenuous than walking around, so I think this perception that it hits athletes harder is one of observation bias.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [IamSpartacus] [ In reply to ]
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I had it and could have probably kept running, which I did once while waiting for my PCR test. Once I popped positive I kept it easy and had a headache for a few days but got back to it in a controlled sense. Riding at the house with a heart rate monitor since that seems to be what a lot of people seem to notice.

Everyone in my house ended up getting it (at the same time) and my wife being the most recently vaccinated had it the worst with the longest recovery. I was back at it in a week and not vaccinated.

Anyway there is a spectrum of patient reactions to the virus... you're going to live but listen to your body and heart. The heart especially, if you're still experiencing fatigue and irregular heart stuff, see your primary care or even better a cardiologist.
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Re: Covid is kicking my ass [fulla] [ In reply to ]
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Reply to Fulla but could have been to almost any on this thread.

Many many thanks to all that have posted. I've just gone down with it and so this is a really helpful thread. I'm 47, triple vaxed with mild asthma and almost certainly down with an omicron variant (dominant in NZ). I was pretty conservative over last years to avoid, but then this week had some work events and the inevitable happened. As I was travelling I need to isolate in the hotel, which in some ways will help as it takes away the temptation to jump on the trainer before day 9, or to go walking up the hills. At best midweek I can go for a 30min flat walk around a nearby park.
I actually tested positive 10mins after I got back from an early morning run - was supposed to be routine test before a visit to an at risk destination, and so was a bit surprised. But then noticed a bit of a sore throat, and perhaps the runny nose wasn't from the pool chlorine. Last night was awful, splitting headache and Ox Sat was down to 85% this AM. Panadol/paracetamol has helped and the leg aches also eased but will be doing nothing other than making a dent in the hotel bed today and tomorrow.
Yesterday was really not fancying food, but this morning had some toast and straight away felt a lot better. Oh and the brain fog too. That was scary yesterday when I was trying to talk on the phone to sort some logistics out and couldn't find my words.
Last edited by: Duncan74: May 20, 22 14:11
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