Yeah, seems like you might have overdone it. I did something similar earlier this year. Was feeling great, hitting PRs at my highest FTP at the beginning of March trying to prep for my A mountain bike race at the end of march. Then I wasn’t. 3 weeks before the race, I just totally lost interest, had no motivation and very little juice in my legs. Took me 9 weeks to get back to the point where I wanted to do all my workouts scheduled for a given week. And I’m probably still 3-5% below where I was 5 months ago.
The irony for this thread is coming back from covid, which I got two weeks after I started back again, helped me with my motivation to get back on track.
I am only at day 9. This is close to the same as when I had inguinal hernia surgery. I am now fine relaxing. Ok for a flight of stairs, MAYBE two. But anything else and my heart rate hits very high 90’s and I start sweating buckets. My RHR is usually in the 50’s but right now its 66.
Oh dang! That sounds like me when I got the OG version back in June 2020. The good news is that by day 14 I was able to do some easy work on the bike for 10min, and by day 18 I was able to do my previous Z2 power for an hour. 21 days out I was entering into Zwift races. Hopefully your recovery track is just as smooth as mine was.
Good luck on your recovery. Fingers crossed for your ride in 2 weeks. You’re way ahead of where I was mentally. I was in denial and kept on looking for that chance to go. I didn’t pull the plug on my ride until the morning of the day before. Either way it works out for you, I hope those lungs of yours feel better soon.
The thing is that I sleep just fine (7.5-8h), don’t have problems falling asleep or waking up hot and sweating (which is what I remember when the training stress was high). I am rested in the morning and have no problems with a lack of motivation or apathy. The only reason I am not looking forward to riding my bike is that it is a struggle and I am getting worse.
But I’ll assume it might be overtraining/under recovery and do even less riding. What did you do in those 9 weeks to come back? I am riding mostly easy already, volume dropped, no long rides. Thanks for any tips!
I presume my issues were more than physical. Probably quite a bit of mental fatigue from not missing any workouts for over 2 years as well as new job responsibilities and new family responsibilities. I had to give up something. The main thing was motivation. I didn’t want to do the work, so it may be different from you. I found something else to do with the time I wasn’t training. I coached T-ball. I played some video games. I lowered my FTP and did some lower progression workouts. I stopped training at 4:45am and opted for some mid-day rides when I could get them. But mostly stopped stressing about it. It took a bit to get back into it. When I thought I was ready, I would get up at 4:30 and go into my pain cave and sometimes just pull the plug before I started. I started doing some enjoyable group rides. Eventually I was ready and back to my usual schedule since I have an A race coming up labor day weekend.
I am signed up for the AB700. I bailed at Fernie last year. I am still signed up but am thinking I am going to switch to the 500 if I am not feeling 100%. It would just keep me closer to towns for that first couple days. When I hit Blairmore/Coleman I can evaluate and see how I am Doing. If I am not doing well I can rest up there and head back to Canmore. Not thrilled that this is my second A event of the year and I might not be doing it… I did a 1600 km trip to Ontario as prep for this. If I don’t ride the AB I am riding the Gravel Royale a week later as a support rider in BC.
I am on day 10 of covid. So it is still early. Still have time I hope.
Hard to give up what’s been planned for a year especially after failing last year.
I feel your pain, I managed to do the Fernie Gravel Grind which was great but then came down with COVID. I might head down and do the Porcupine hills loop over 3 days and take it easy instead of doing the 500.
Enjoy whatever you end up doing.
I’ve already moved to doing workouts only when I feel like it a couple of years ago. I’ve stopped doing early morning workouts too (even though my early start was around the time you were showered ). My work is flexible and not stressful.
Yesterday, I did another easy ride. I felt better then on Wednesday. The numbers were still low but I felt like I could ride a little harder if I wanted (which I didn’t). Overall a good easy ride. But then back at home my legs started to hurt and were really heavy, lymph nodes on the neck were a swollen a bit. That disappeared over night.
I’m afraid my symptoms are closer to those of @blind76.
Well, my wife, son and I tested positive on Wednesday and started having very mild symptoms Monday which we thought was just a weak daycare cold. I’ve been tracking my resting HR each day and it is still in the 48-50 range. I’d say my symptoms are mild but still feel pretty lethargic, have some body aching, and fairly congested with a little bit of coughing.
I’m planning to not ride until I’m symptom free which I’m hoping is sometime next week. I’m very type A, train through anything, but I am treating this a lot different because I don’t want any long term set backs. To be honest, the idea of riding a bike feeling this tired and useless does not sound fun.
I’m signed up for a stage race over Labor Day weekend and I’m thinking of pulling the plug. As much as I want to do it, I just don’t want to put pressure on myself to try and rush back into fitness. Anyone else have races coming up they are missing?
If I were experiencing muscle soreness from easy rides I would take a week break and instead focus on yoga and breathing exercises. I caught Covid 10 days ago and on the first day my mile time went up 1:30 during a 5k jog and I felt like I was dying. I have since been doing the Wim Hof method daily and feel great. I plan on returning to riding/running this weekend.
I am so on the fence on doing the same thing for the same race.
I am 53 and should know better. My wife is 48 and has had long coved for over 4 months now. She cant read, major headaches every day. Lethargic, Lots of internal organ pain. Kidney pain… its like getting stabbed with needles when she pees. Vertigo… And many more symptoms. Not cool at all.
I should know better. Thankfully from reading this thread I have not tried to do anything. I am at day 10. Still testing positive although I feel much better. I will attempt to ride in 5 days downstairs on the trainer and will pay very close attention to heart rate.
Good news is raced on day 1. And did a zone 2 ride with a buddy on day 2 (I did not know I had covid), so I know where my heart rate should be. If it does not come down close to the race I will pull the plug. Right now I am just packing and configuring the bike for something to do.
Thanks to everyone for posting their experiences, and I wish anyone still feeling the effects a speedy recovery.
I tested positive for the first time 3 days ago, along with my 8 yo. I was asymptomatic at the time, only tested as my daughter had a sniffle and had a positive test. Symptoms came on gradually and have been odd. A bit of a runny nose here and there, achy joints for a few hours the other day, and since last night, a dry cough at night while lying down. Otherwise I feel ok.
I had planned to completely rest up, but after 2 days of inactivity, my hamstrings were so tight and painful, I gave in and did a 60min spin at 50% FTP, as stretching and bw squats did nothing to help. HR seemed normal and the effort felt easy, no breathing issues or fatigue. I’m hoping that a few light sessions will help me through and I don’t get worse or have any lingering symptoms.
Been sick for two weeks now. Headaches, congestion, easily winded, coughing, aching muscles, lethargy, etc.
Today is the first day where I feel “normal” sick instead of super sick. Just a bit of a headache and a small amount of congestion but otherwise seemingly ok. I’ll try to get back on the trainer for 30-60 minutes tomorrow and see how I feel.
What a brutal sickness this has been. I’ve never been down and out like this for so long.
). My work is flexible and not stressful.
