Start listening at 18:30 to have an idea of what might be behind your shortness of breath.
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- Last pre-illness ride was on Jan 5th, when I felt chest infection and light cough. Next day I went to get tested positive.
I was down with fever and aches for 3-4 days and then stayed isolated until negative test on Jan 17th.
As I was isolating in my home office/pain cave I started spinning on the 14th of Jan.
Despite not having severe symptoms and/or lung/heart complications, I have taken a significant dip in my performance. You can see how my efficiency factor was improving one month before COVID and almost one month after.
I have similar issues as 56yr old. Dramatic impact to breathing and heart rate. Believe it is immune response issue.
Has anyone else experienced extreme muscle soreness? Iāve read muscle aches is a fairly common symptom, but Iāve got very sore leg muscles. Feels like the day after a heavy squat day in the gym.
I didnāt experience soreness except when I was really running the fever high. That was just one day and it was slight. For me it was only soul-crushing fatigue. I slept 20 of 24 hours on the worst day. I went down from there. Definitely donāt jump back on the wagon for TrainerRoad workouts until you are feeling good. Let your body have all the energy to fight that off so you are not a long hauler.
Whatās going on with your breathing & heart rate? Are you experiencing tachycardia, and if so, is it persistent or do you experience it for a few minutes after standing?
for a few days, while the fever was high, i had intense joint pains, any pressure on the joint, any āextremeā movement (like pushing myself with the palm of my hand flat) was excruciating.
I also had a 20h sleep day, and I think the main week, i slept something about 12 to 14h on average.
Went back to workout the easiest way possible, 20 mins of Z1, then 30, then an hour with a bit of light Z2.
Ramping things up a bit this week, but keeping a close and critical eye on how I feel.
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(1) 32
(2) Nov 2020
(3) 7-10 days (first 7 were miserable)
(4) Started on day 8 with active recovery
(5) Donāt do them
(6) 10-15 watts (3-5%)
(7) Yes
(8) 4-6 weeks
(9) None
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32, just when the risk of COVID came into news (feb/March in Netherlands 2020), 7 days approx, no ramp, lost 10 watts, yes week after back to FTP, did week of build again.
Not sure whether I had COVID. But it seemed very suspicious or coincidental to me that I felt very tired for 2-3 weeks right about when COVID hit the news. Since symptoms were so unclear, ranging from nothing to everything, I bought a saturation meter. That was fine all the time (98-100%).
I had a slight fever, sore throat, but particularly a heavy cold. I particularly noticed how rough my lungs felt, figuring it was the cold. It took 2 weeks before that feeling was completely gone and going deep in VO2 felt unrestricted.
Iām lucky. It has started to be better, although HR during exercise still 15-20bpm too high during light spinning(as compared to all last year). But Iām starting back at very low intensity.
How are you doing? Have you seen a reduction of symptoms yet?
If all youāre getting is an elevated heart rate during exercise, then I think you will be okay. Just keep your rides Z1-Z2 for as long as it takes for things to settle down, and your heart rate should eventually begin to look normal again.
Iām on a very slow road to recovery. It will be a year since I became sick later this month. I still experience bouts of fatigue where I sleep 11 hours a night and then need a nap or two during the day. My lungs burn intermittently and I have a dry cough. If I overdo the limited exercise I will get post-exertional malaise. With my last round of that I had my first experience with some dizziness and the dreaded brain fog that youāve probably read about. And other random symptoms come and go from my life. But besides that stuff, Iām doing great! 
On the whole I am feeling notably better than the low point of last July/August. Maybe I will feel closer to normal in another year.
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Hang in there. Iād ask if you have searched out help from one of the long recovery groups , but I know you have. I hope it turns around soon on its own or with treatments as they come online.
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last Sundayās workout (1h, mostly z1, 15 mins of z2 in there) seems to have been counterproductive and i was dizzy and tired on Monday.
Now i canāt 100% link those 2, but Iād rather not take any risks.
As such, no workouts as were planned Tues/Wed.
I will give another go tomorrow at the same intensity as Sunday to see if there are any side effects.
This is taking way longer than I anticipated, and as a result, iām removing events i had targetted for April (even as C races) to remove some of the emotional load from the equation.
I feel rubbish enough to not beat myself up on top of that cause Iām missing those.
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I think you made the right call. Your battle is getting better, donāt pile on race prep with it. Eat right, sleep a lot, get some sunshine, and ride easy until you are better.
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Hi all,
this is my first post on TR. I had CV19 March 202o, although this was not confirmed due to no testing at the time.
I had mild symptoms and was back to work after a week. I started to get back out on my bike at the end on May. I started off on my hybrid for an hour a day, which was fine. I then started fasting and going further distances (big mistake).
One week I had completed a 2 hour ride, whilst fasting. This had been my 3rd of the week. When I got into my house i took a dizzy spell, which has never went away. I got medication for labyrinthitis, this didnāt work.
I have been lightheaded everyday now for 9 months, along with fatigue, chest pains and tinnitus. I suspect covid has played its part.
I have since been diagnosed with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH), which is a thickening of the left ventricle of my heart, I donāt know if covid has caused this or if its been inherited.
I have long covid symptoms, however, my Dr (in Scotland,UK) said it was fine for me to exercise, including running.
I`m 47 yo, unfit and overweightā¦ the dizziness is killing me
Three weeks on, iām back to full training, and no sign of any long term issues.
Sense of smell not fully back, but all the rest is getting better.
Light at the end of the tunnel!
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Your doctor sounds like a lot of doctors ā no clue about patients with long-term, post-viral symptoms with covid and the risks of activity and exercise (post-exertional malaise, symptom relapse and new symptoms). If you havenāt already, join some facebook groups for long-haul covid and search for dizziness. Depending on the group you might find people sharing info on medicines theyāve been prescribed and how effective itās been for them. It could at least give you some ideas about treatment options to discuss with your medical providers. Hope you begin to see some improvements.
I hope your feeling better but I know your fighting the good fight. I got first Pfizer vaccine shot and it seems to be helping a bit.
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How old are you?
40 (at the time)
When did you get COVID?
March 2020
How long were you sick?
Actually sick, about a month. Longer term symptoms, 9 months.
How soon after recovery did you feel up to training?
I tried training repeatedly over the period. Realistically, 3 months before I could stick with it.
How soon did you do a ramp test?
Five months after.
How much power did you lose?
About 15% of my FTP (would have been more but I was a long way from peak fitness pre-COVID).
Did you get back to pre-Covid power?
Not yet.
Any other notable effects or changes (HR changes, breathing rate, sweat levels, etc.)?
Heart rate would rocket and SPO2 plummet any time I tried to train. Had a number of setbacks long after I thought I was over it (all of a sudden I would get out of breath for no reason at all). Hopefully past it nowā¦ but no guarantees I guess. Hard to tell if it was the lack of fitness at play, but I definitely found it hard to motivate myself to do anything (work, home stuff, whatever). Sleep quality tanked too, which didnāt help.
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I did - its fading after 4 months. It felt exactly as you described. Iāve been only doing Z1/Z2 since. Plan to add intensity in near future.