Getting back into shape after COVID
#52
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I pretty much wore KN95s from the outset. They are not expensive and were easily available fairly early in the pandemic. I find that they fit tightly and are easy to breathe through.
FWIW, this old fart is getting the bivalent vaccine soon. Even though I have been apparently dodging bullets like heroes in a bad movie, I'd rather not push my luck.
Last edited by Biker395; 09-22-22 at 02:24 PM.
#53
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Not good news, considering that when it’s all said and done, virtually everyone will be infected. It’s outrageously contagious.
That bike tour I was on for 2 weeks? COVID ripped through the group with about half of the group testing positive. Imagine being a tour director and having to deal with that!
I joined in about 5 weeks after the start. Not happy about it, but I didn’t want to sit off all by myself for the entire trip. I also reasoned that dice COVID ripped through the group, it was actually rather safe, as everyone at that point either was immune or had acquired immunity.
in any case, I spent the 2 weeks in close contact with everyone in the group, did my share of saloon hopping and the like and just hoped for the best.
I was also in Quebec shortly before that at a convention, including a dinner with 300 people shouting at each other to be heard for several hours. I’ve also flown at least 6 times in the last few months (wearing a mask).
I was also at a dinner with some skiing friends back in March and I was the only one among 6 at the table that didn’t get COVID.
I don’t think anyone is that lucky, so I’ve concluded that I probably was infected at some point and just didn’t realize it.
Strange stuff.
That bike tour I was on for 2 weeks? COVID ripped through the group with about half of the group testing positive. Imagine being a tour director and having to deal with that!
I joined in about 5 weeks after the start. Not happy about it, but I didn’t want to sit off all by myself for the entire trip. I also reasoned that dice COVID ripped through the group, it was actually rather safe, as everyone at that point either was immune or had acquired immunity.
in any case, I spent the 2 weeks in close contact with everyone in the group, did my share of saloon hopping and the like and just hoped for the best.
I was also in Quebec shortly before that at a convention, including a dinner with 300 people shouting at each other to be heard for several hours. I’ve also flown at least 6 times in the last few months (wearing a mask).
I was also at a dinner with some skiing friends back in March and I was the only one among 6 at the table that didn’t get COVID.
I don’t think anyone is that lucky, so I’ve concluded that I probably was infected at some point and just didn’t realize it.
Strange stuff.
Good to know all that technology is really helping getting information out to people on a timely basis.
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#54
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We've started riding again and it's been fine. First ride was 40 miles on the tandem we basically quit riding, but it seems fitting as we both shared COVID-19 and isolation together. Today we did a 27 mile mountain bike ride. Up until Friday we weren't up to anything like this. So we are grateful to feel okay again and like we didn't lose much fitness. However it does feel like we've been drinking fluids like crazy ever since we tested positive . Still insatiably thirsty. Symptoms have abated for the most part. Brain fog and fatigue have lifted for the most part. Did chores after the ride, which is a good sign. Breathing freely yet every once in a while I cough something up still.
Work hasn't cleared me to return this Monday but I hope for a negative test result on Tuesday morning and then go back to work.
As soon as this is behind me I'm going to get another booster and a flu vaccine. My choice. I know a lot of people who still won't vaccinate.
I love riding and I don't think I will lose too much fitness We'll see though.
Work hasn't cleared me to return this Monday but I hope for a negative test result on Tuesday morning and then go back to work.
As soon as this is behind me I'm going to get another booster and a flu vaccine. My choice. I know a lot of people who still won't vaccinate.
I love riding and I don't think I will lose too much fitness We'll see though.
#55
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For me it was 10 days from positive test for the first negative test, and then it took another week from that negative before I felt like I was back to 100% on the bike. I got 6 PRs on my regular commute this morning so I think I am back to normal now 😁
#56
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I'm 7 weeks out from the end of my first covid infection. I didn't end up in the hospital, but I had a few bad days during the ~10 day course. I have an immune condition that causes a higher disposition to viral infections, and had viral myocarditis in 2011 that resulted in left-bundle branch block, killing my age-group racing hobby due to the resulting loss of top-end aerobic capacity, so I made sure that I was properly vaccinated and boosted.
During recovery from covid, my resting HR was elevated, and during gentle trainer rides, my power:HR ratio was way down. My resting and riding HR have gradually decreased, but I'm finding that I still have the following issues: power:HR ratio is still a bit lower than than it was pre-infection, I'm feeling more fatigued after and need longer recovery for my zone 2 rides than I used to, and the top end of my comfortable zone 2 is still ~10 watts low (~195W vs 205W). Just this week, I took 2 consecutive rest days, then did a ~1hr zone 2 ride. Woke up in the middle of the night, which is my usual sign that my body is feeling stressed out from too much training - definitely not normal. I'm doing very little high end work since being sick (a few minutes per week). I've also had a huge increase in the frequency of PVCs since having covid, maybe 10-fold higher that I normally have, which is annoying.
During recovery from covid, my resting HR was elevated, and during gentle trainer rides, my power:HR ratio was way down. My resting and riding HR have gradually decreased, but I'm finding that I still have the following issues: power:HR ratio is still a bit lower than than it was pre-infection, I'm feeling more fatigued after and need longer recovery for my zone 2 rides than I used to, and the top end of my comfortable zone 2 is still ~10 watts low (~195W vs 205W). Just this week, I took 2 consecutive rest days, then did a ~1hr zone 2 ride. Woke up in the middle of the night, which is my usual sign that my body is feeling stressed out from too much training - definitely not normal. I'm doing very little high end work since being sick (a few minutes per week). I've also had a huge increase in the frequency of PVCs since having covid, maybe 10-fold higher that I normally have, which is annoying.
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#57
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Sounds like you have a great outlook. Have a wonderful recovery.
#58
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New member of the COVID Club here.
Not feeling too bad now, some lingering fatigue and a sore throat. No fever for four days, feeling ready to start riding again.
I have been doing some light at-home strength training, which I should have been doing all along.
Remind me to take it slow at first. Easy coffee rides.
Not feeling too bad now, some lingering fatigue and a sore throat. No fever for four days, feeling ready to start riding again.
I have been doing some light at-home strength training, which I should have been doing all along.
Remind me to take it slow at first. Easy coffee rides.
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#59
ignominious poltroon
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There was an interesting article on Long Covid and exercise in the New York Times.
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#60
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I had it in September of 2020. Eleven days with 103F temp, then after the fever broke I spent 8 days on supplemental oxygen. Doc was very pleased with my recovery considering how bad I'd had it. On the bike, I was probably 80% last year (2021) and strengh-wise I was fully recovered by this year; but my endurance was just starting to return by the end of this year (2022). For basically the last two years, if I rode 30-40 miles I'd need several days to recover, no matter how easy I took it. Hopefully I'll be ready for some metrics next year.
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#61
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New member of the COVID Club here.
Not feeling too bad now, some lingering fatigue and a sore throat. No fever for four days, feeling ready to start riding again.
I have been doing some light at-home strength training, which I should have been doing all along.
Remind me to take it slow at first. Easy coffee rides.
Not feeling too bad now, some lingering fatigue and a sore throat. No fever for four days, feeling ready to start riding again.
I have been doing some light at-home strength training, which I should have been doing all along.
Remind me to take it slow at first. Easy coffee rides.
I caught, as did my wife, during our first week in Norway of a three week trip (where zero people were wearing masks - with an infection rate of 1 per 100,000 per day - oh lucky us). It took me a month (my wife did Paxlovid and had bounce-back symptoms after three weeks) to be completely symptom free (like a typical head cold) and now I’m back at like it never happened, other than a minor fitness set-back.
I did get my bi-valent shot the Monday before last and my flu shot a week prior. From what I have read, our current vaccinations are not highly affective against the two newest strains (A something) but they are better than not.
Get better soon
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Last edited by rsbob; 12-02-22 at 01:00 PM.
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#62
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Thanks. Other than a lingering sore throat, and getting tired more quickly than usual, I seem to be doing okay.
I got all the boosters, including the new-and-improved one.
Sure hope that the long COVID thing doesn't poke its head up at some future date.
I got all the boosters, including the new-and-improved one.
Sure hope that the long COVID thing doesn't poke its head up at some future date.
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#63
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Long COVID seems to be the most prevalent with first generation, so I wouldn’t be too concerned unless you are immunocompromised.
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#64
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Good info from a very large study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s415...01909-w#MOESM1
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#65
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That doesn't really tell the story. Thing is, people in more precarious physical shape have less chance of surviving a severe case. Even very frail people can survive getting a mild case. The problem is, nobody knows which one they'll get until they get it.
#66
Master of the Universe
Bumping this thread. I am interested in how the participants are doing in recovery 6 months later.
I joined the club the first week in May 23.So I am about two months in.
I spent three days in hospital so probably worse case than some here. No health problems .Just age at 72.
Three days from start of symptoms to hospitalization with Covid pneumonia.
I responded to treatment well and fast. I have been riding long distances for 20 years. I can do my chores but am slow and need breaks.
Short rides around hood , 3-4 miles. Next day am fatigued. Medical ipeople are telling me 6 months or more.Yesterday did 6.5 miles with 211 climb . Slow spin.Today , I am tired. Covid sucks. I am used to jumping on my bike and riding how far I want.
How are you all doing? Have you got your mojo back?
I joined the club the first week in May 23.So I am about two months in.
I spent three days in hospital so probably worse case than some here. No health problems .Just age at 72.
Three days from start of symptoms to hospitalization with Covid pneumonia.
I responded to treatment well and fast. I have been riding long distances for 20 years. I can do my chores but am slow and need breaks.
Short rides around hood , 3-4 miles. Next day am fatigued. Medical ipeople are telling me 6 months or more.Yesterday did 6.5 miles with 211 climb . Slow spin.Today , I am tired. Covid sucks. I am used to jumping on my bike and riding how far I want.
How are you all doing? Have you got your mojo back?
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#67
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I finally got it in early April after dodging it for nearly 3 years. Dosed Paxlovid almost immediately. It still sucked, but I avoided any serious complications (apart from turning 60). Garmin/Strava says I was back to normal within a month. I do feel fatigued a lot, but it might not be related.
I have a friend who has had long Covid since March 2020, and he finds everything to be a major effort and is out on disability. He was previously a highly-driven workaholic and athlete.
I have a friend who has had long Covid since March 2020, and he finds everything to be a major effort and is out on disability. He was previously a highly-driven workaholic and athlete.
#68
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Bumping this thread. I am interested in how the participants are doing in recovery 6 months later.
I joined the club the first week in May 23.So I am about two months in.
I spent three days in hospital so probably worse case than some here. No health problems .Just age at 72.
Three days from start of symptoms to hospitalization with Covid pneumonia.
I responded to treatment well and fast. I have been riding long distances for 20 years. I can do my chores but am slow and need breaks.
Short rides around hood , 3-4 miles. Next day am fatigued. Medical ipeople are telling me 6 months or more.Yesterday did 6.5 miles with 211 climb . Slow spin.Today , I am tired. Covid sucks. I am used to jumping on my bike and riding how far I want.
How are you all doing? Have you got your mojo back?
I joined the club the first week in May 23.So I am about two months in.
I spent three days in hospital so probably worse case than some here. No health problems .Just age at 72.
Three days from start of symptoms to hospitalization with Covid pneumonia.
I responded to treatment well and fast. I have been riding long distances for 20 years. I can do my chores but am slow and need breaks.
Short rides around hood , 3-4 miles. Next day am fatigued. Medical ipeople are telling me 6 months or more.Yesterday did 6.5 miles with 211 climb . Slow spin.Today , I am tired. Covid sucks. I am used to jumping on my bike and riding how far I want.
How are you all doing? Have you got your mojo back?
#69
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You might want to see a cardiologist about that. That's not good. I hope you are also being treated for asthma. It's not necessary to be symptomatic - there very good medications for that. Pulmonologist, if you're not already seeing one.
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#70
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Six months after my first episode of the virus, I got it again. This time I can't seem to run much at all, there has been a 2 mph decrease in speed on the bike and I now have some hypertension. A bike accident a week and a half ago injured my wrist bad enough that I can't ride so I am trying to walk before work and on my lunch break to burn some calories at least.
It all kinda sucks but I hope the hypertension is short lived like the arrhythmia.
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"It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels." -- Heinz Stücke
#71
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Thanks for your concern
#72
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It's not my heart; I have a pacemaker which remotely monitors it and communicates with my cardiologist, even from the UK, where I am now. I saw my electrophysiologist. recently recently. I've seen a pulmonologist, who couldn't find anything other than a slight wheeze. He changed one of my inhalers, which made no difference, but did recommend Claritin, which seems to help a little. I think I am simply unfit, having not pushed myself much over the past year and relied too much on a little e-assist.
Thanks for your concern
Thanks for your concern
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#73
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OK, good for you! I've newly acquired heart issues so everything looks like like that to me now. Nothing like having at it again and seeing what happens. I'm 5 years behind you, rehabbing from a heart attack. Slow going, but it's working. I'm concentrating on the gym to start with, and hour or so of pulling on stuff on Tuesday and the same except pushing on stuff on Thursday or Friday. Rollers as the spirit moves me on other days. I'm not cleared to ride on the road yet. I've been struggling a bit with the idea of e-assist, so far doing without. Stoker's getting to be stronger than I am. When we were tandem touring in Germany, a person asked me where the "Hilfsmotor" was. I pointed at my wife.
#74
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I got Covid just after Thanksgiving at Nephew's birthday party resulting in an immediate and drastic loss of power on the bike with lung and sinus congestion and no sense of smell and eventually a lot of joint pain, diagnosed with Long Covid.
After 7 months, my 5 minute power on the bike is almost normal. I use 5 minute max hill climbing power to approximate VO2 max. My fractional utilization of VO2 max or approximately FTP is still relatively low, indicating some degree of metabolic healing or enhancement is still needed. I just regained my sense of smell, joints still hurt, and congestion is getting better. My chronic training load is now returned to what it was off season, in other words I am about as fit as I was at Thanksgiving but not like normal Summer fitness. My resting HR went from the 50's to the high 80's and low 90's and slowly came down over the months. My heart rate variability went from the 60's down into the 30's and is now back up to the high 50's upon waking. I am 20 pounds overweight.
Right now I am rapidly improving.
I wish I never went to that damned party.
After 7 months, my 5 minute power on the bike is almost normal. I use 5 minute max hill climbing power to approximate VO2 max. My fractional utilization of VO2 max or approximately FTP is still relatively low, indicating some degree of metabolic healing or enhancement is still needed. I just regained my sense of smell, joints still hurt, and congestion is getting better. My chronic training load is now returned to what it was off season, in other words I am about as fit as I was at Thanksgiving but not like normal Summer fitness. My resting HR went from the 50's to the high 80's and low 90's and slowly came down over the months. My heart rate variability went from the 60's down into the 30's and is now back up to the high 50's upon waking. I am 20 pounds overweight.
Right now I am rapidly improving.
I wish I never went to that damned party.
#75
Senior Member
After getting it in late 2020, I did DALMAC again last year. I've done, like, 35 of them. On a normal year, it's 5 days of sprints - 60-80 miles per day. Last year I had to pace myself a lot, to the point of taking the shortest optional routes and making lots of stops. So I'm still trying to get my endurance back.