Terrible loss of fitness after COVID

After Covid, my training was shot for abut 6 months. One good day, three bad ones. The next two months, I got back to normal. The next two months after that got me into decent shape. 10K PR after that. You're young so you'll probably get back to top fitness a lot faster than me, but take it a day at a time and don't try to force it.

I did see a doctor 3 months after Covid. The X-ray looked fine, but my running was still garbage at the time.

Sadly, I'm still not back to baseline after Covid knocked me on my @ss last March. I've worked my way up to the same training volume through the winter and into spring but my paces are 15-20" off, sometimes more from what they were. Also, while running in humid weather was never my strong suit, in addition to feeling like I'm boiling from the inside I have the added impact of not being able to breathe deeply. I have had chest x-rays several times and it did show them clearing up, latest was in early May, but not entirely back to normal yet, although I haven't had to use the 2 inhalers I was on for close to a year so that's progress.

I know several others who have had Covid and they are all fully back to pre-Covid fitness.

My non medical thinking is it's a function of severity of infection and genetics that is causing some people to struggle for months and others to be back to normal in weeks.

Good luck with your recovery!

Flagpole wrote:

roller coaster wrote:

Loss of fitness plus it takes some people time to adjust to the longer 8k race distance.

Some loss of fitness, yes (even if he just took that time off and didn't have COVID), but unless a HS runner never ran further than 3 miles in training, a 17:00 5k guy should not be running 30 minutes for 8k if training went uninterrupted. No accounting for getting used to the longer distance here. A 17:00 5k guy (on a legit course) should be running 28:00 for 8k (on a legit course), so bare minimum just under 29 minutes right off the bat.

Lots of assumptions there. It's normal for a 17:00 5Ker in high school to struggle to break 30 at first in college. Maybe they "should be" running 28:00 but things rarely happen as they "should."

roller coaster wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Some loss of fitness, yes (even if he just took that time off and didn't have COVID), but unless a HS runner never ran further than 3 miles in training, a 17:00 5k guy should not be running 30 minutes for 8k if training went uninterrupted. No accounting for getting used to the longer distance here. A 17:00 5k guy (on a legit course) should be running 28:00 for 8k (on a legit course), so bare minimum just under 29 minutes right off the bat.

Lots of assumptions there. It's normal for a 17:00 5Ker in high school to struggle to break 30 at first in college. Maybe they "should be" running 28:00 but things rarely happen as they "should."

Not unheard of, but not "normal".

Hey. I contracted Covid early on (April 2020). I am 28 years old, healthy, former college xc and track runner. I was sick with fevers and cough for about 2 weeks, it really knocked me out. After that, it took me about 9 months to get back to the exercising at what I’d consider to be my “normal”. Through it all I had very easy shortness of breath and my heart rate would skyrocket with even the most minimal activity. I’m talking a walk up a flight of stairs and my HR would jump into the 140s and I felt like I was sucking wind through a straw.

I’m back to running 5-6 days a week, but nowhere near my fitness pre covid. Whether that’s due to the aforementioned or my training specifically is up for debate. Regardless, that sh*t sucked, 10/10 do not recommend, would not do it again.

Did you smoke many cigarettes while njured?

Cole Hocker actually got faster after covid and that ain't no lie.

Flagpole wrote:

justbaur wrote:

End of July I took 10 days off for groin injury. Ran for about 5 days and got COVID. Sat out for 10 more days and lost everything. I have built up to 48 miles a week, but my race times are significantly slower than last year. (17:00 5k xc to 30flat 8k xc in college) Did I damage my lungs? Did I lose that much fitness? Will I get over the hump soon? Im worried please offer explanation

Unfortunately this is not uncommon. Whether you have permanent damage to your lungs or heart is something only your doctor can tell you, but it is for sure possible. Statistically though, it is more likely that you are just feeling some long hauler effects.

COVID is a b!tch, and people really need to take it far more seriously than they are.

It really isn't just like the flu. No one ever said they had long-hauler effects after the flu.

The plethora of subject lines on this message board with misinformation that minimizes covid risks and exaggerates vaccine dangers can have a greater effect than most people realize. We remember everything we read and then we have to additionally remember this is false.

This constant feeding of false information is dangerous and does a great disservice to runners here.

Thanks for sharing some real information about covid long haul effects.

Moderna guy wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Unfortunately this is not uncommon. Whether you have permanent damage to your lungs or heart is something only your doctor can tell you, but it is for sure possible. Statistically though, it is more likely that you are just feeling some long hauler effects.

COVID is a b!tch, and people really need to take it far more seriously than they are.

It really isn't just like the flu. No one ever said they had long-hauler effects after the flu.

CORRECT!

Wrong, you can have all kinds of nasty lingering effects from the flu. Pneumonia, myocarditis, chronic fatigue, and so on. Lots of people die from it every year. Though IMO that points to how strange it is that people act like the flu is a "whatever" disease, rather than minimizing Covid.