One Month Since COVID

Today is the 135th day of 2022.

I've been unable to train due to illness or injury for 56 of those. That's 41%.

It's been a shit year for athlete me. 

This week was about trying to find my body's acceptable exertion level-- i.e. what I can do consistently without any negative effects. 

Monday 
Since I went to bed at 6:30pm on Sunday and slept for awhile, I opted against doing anything today.

Tuesday
Yoga during kid's swim practice. Not sure if it was the heat or something else, but I felt kind of weak, even with a static pose practice.

Wednesday
30min walk AM, 10min walk PM
Put effort into researching this "PEM" condition my PA mentioned as a "worst case scenario" and tried to figure out a HR plan. 

Thursday
10min AM "workout"- 
5min strength (slow lunges, squats, and some 2lb dumbbell arm lifts)
5min core (planks, leg lifts)
Had some chest tightness after.
15min PM walk

Friday
10min AM walk
36min easy walk

Saturday
15min walk/run: 
5min walk WU
2x30s jog/60s walk
1x60/60
2x30/60
5min CD

This felt good from a mental standpoint, and maybe good from a physical standpoint. It's so foreign to run that I kept second guessing myself on how much effort I should be exerting. The scariest thing for me has been that I've never felt any danger signs/fatigue DURING a workout-- it always hits me well afterwards, so it's hard to connect the two and really understand that the exhaustion I'm feeling might be from something I did 48 hours ago. 

After my morning workout, I headed down to a big event day at Atlanta Track Club for the In-Training for Peachtree program. I'm a "virtual" Run Lead this season, helping participants from behind a computer screen instead of running with them on a weekly basis. As a special motivator, though. all training participants were invited to a big "party" day at HQ this week, so I came in case any of my virtual trainees would be there and want to meet me in person. 

It was surreal to be back at ATC, where I've made so many memories running, but not run. I held it together though until everyone had left for their run, and then cried on the way to my car. It's really, really hard to not be able to do what you love. 

The day turned around after that, and I was able to do a 30min Beachbody workout. When I first subscribed two years ago, I found the only Spanish-language program they had, and was soooooo disappointed by how un-intense it was. Today, that was exactly what I needed. I modified the heck out of that workout, and felt happy to at least be able to do something normal-ish. 

Sunday
3.11mi @ 11:08/mi avg, 1min run/1min walk intervals
This run felt harder than I'd expected, but so joyful. 

Week Wrap-up
I've been able to fully function in my daily life this week without any problems. This is a HUGE win. I'm still needing a lot of sleep compared to pre-COVID, but my body is starting to be able to wake up around 5-5:30am on its own.