Post-Viral / Long COVID

I'm getting close, but not quite ready for my blog to die, so I thought I'd post an update. My running hasn't been anything to write about since February thanks to post-viral syndrome. My primary symptoms are fatigue after activities and exercise intolerance. I'm thankful that I can work and do everything else I normally do in life, though at times with more rest and breaks required. My running has been highly affected, which is hard since it's my #1 hobby!

My main issues are:

• Fatigue and weakness
• Marked decrease from baseline running ability (pace, distance, everything)
• Suspected chronotropic blunting related to autonomic dysfunction (my heart rate will not rise above about 135, so running with a HR of 125-135 is both easy/conversational and my maximum)
• Drinking plain water triggers a need to urinate almost immediately, likely due to autonomic nervous system dysfunction 
• Cycles of 8-10 weeks of improvement followed by crashes and 3-4 weeks of regression
• Sleep is not as restorative as it was in baseline 
• Brain fog if I don't run 

This is likely a long-term condition, but hopefully with pacing and sticking to strict zone 2 running I will be able to regain different HR training zones in 12-48 months. Since I have been able to get back up to 50-60 mpw multiple times it's likely my aerobic system is good. I am thankful when I can run easy runs with my running group.

At my better times I can run 8-12 miles at 8:30-9:00 pace. I worked up to 15 miles once but that contributed to a crash so was likely too much. When I crash I can barely finish 3 miles at 10:00 pace and have had to walk on such runs multiple times. During both better times and crashes, I can't run anything fast and hills are a struggle.

Everything I'm experiencing is pretty textbook for endurance athletes with long COVID. I did not have a positive COVID test with the virus that started it all, so officially it's post-viral syndrome. My endocrinologist suspects that it's long COVID (which is just a specific type of post-viral syndrome that is currently being researched more). Not having a positive COVID test has greatly reduced my ability to be seen by long COVID specialists, though.

I've seen many medical providers and had extensive testing over the past 6 months, and I have more appointments scheduled, but post-viral syndrome and long COVID are not well understood and there is not a current standard treatment. I've learned a lot from AI (Grok and ChatGPT, for better or for worse!) and have read numerous articles from medical journals. I've listened to podcasts, talked to alternative medical providers, and explored many options outside of traditional medicine. I'll keep learning and trying to make improvements, but I do not expect I'll be able to race again anytime soon, and I've made peace with that.

Pictures from some recent group runs I've been able to do, and of Bandit!

Bandonut