Life after COVID (and other unfortunate events)...

[shipo]

So, I used to be a regular around here up through late 2016, and then I endured "a series of unfortunate events"...

Basically 2016 was a high point in my running life, that year, at the age of 59 I was looking forward to entering a new age group for road races, I had run an 11 mile race in 82 minutes, and in October and November of that year I worked hard at building a good mileage base for my first year in the 60-64 (or 60-69) age group, and accomplished a lifetime high of 675 miles in those 61 days. Then the wheels fell off.

Series of unfortunate events:

• April-2017: I was working some huge hours as I transitioned between jobs (knowledge transfer of the old job and learning the new job) and not getting enough sleep; I ended up developing a horrible respiratory infection which turned into walking pneumonia.  I did manage to start running later that summer, but never really got back into shape.
• May-2018: Over the winter and spring I was gradually ramping my mileage up and just as I was starting to feel competitive again, at about the 5-mile mark of a fast 7-mile trail run I didn't see the tip of what turned out to be a large boulder which had been exposed over the winter; I ended up kicking this immoveable object directly with the big toe of my left foot, crushing the toe (fracturing it in two places).
• August-2018: In lieu of running while my left big toe was healing, I started abusing one of the elliptical machines in our company gym, and due to the slightly different motion compared to real running, started developing plantar fasciitis in my left arch.  Fortunately the toe was healing nicely so I started mixing in some running when..., one of our horses got loose one morning and decided it would be great fun to run down to the main highway a quarter mile away.  At one point he tried dodging me and headed into a small gap between some hedges and a fence line; I realized he'd need to cut left to escape and figured I'd beat him to the punch and cut left first; "Pop" went the tendon in my left arch.
• November-2018 through February-2019: I was starting to build my mileage up to some very slow and tentative 5-mile runs with no ill effects; then one very cold day I was taking the horses out after having been cooped up in the barn for three days due to sub-zero cold; as I was leading out this one excitable Arabian, he tossed his head in typical manner to tell me how happy he was, and lost his balance on the ice; as he was catching his balance he knocked me over on to some very jagged frozen hoof prints in what had been slush the previous week and "Snap" went my left fibula (yikes, my poor left leg).
• July-2019 through January-2020: I started hiking as soon as cleared by my doctor and mixed in a little running here and there.  By January I was up to the occasional 5-mile run and was hopeful I could start dialing up my mileage and intensity when the weather cleared in the spring, yeah, about that; while visiting my elderly mother in Hackensack Hospital, I managed to contract an early case of COVID-19; and turned into one of the "long-haulers", exhibiting symptoms for at least six months.  Fortunately said symptoms were relatively minor (compared to death I suppose pretty much any symptoms are "relatively minor"), constant sinus, intense lung pain when doing simple stuff like climbing a flight of stairs, and maybe worst of all, joint pain, especially my knees (standing long enough to cook dinner was often too much).
• July-2020 through Present: Over the last six months I've tried walking, hiking, jog/hike combinations; all ended in knees so painful I could barely stand up, and so painful at night I could barely sleep. I finally gave up pretty much all physical activity at the beginning of October hoping to give my knees a rest and maybe a little recovery.  In early December I went for a half mile super-slow jog, and "Hey, a little painful, but not too bad..."  Yeah, I got cocky and pushed it a bit more each day and once I hit the three mile mark, bang, right back where I started.  Thinking back to when I was recovering from a horribly broken leg back in the mid-2000s, I let things heal up and started an every-other day routine. Today was my sixth very slow run in the two to four mile range over the last eleven days, all on smooth dirt trails, and I am very encouraged; yeah, a little pain in the knees, but nothing at all severe.

So now I'm looking at racing at 64; I rather doubt I'll get back to the 21 minute 5Ks I was doing in my late fifties, but hey, at this point anything under a half hour would please me. With this in mind, I'm going to stay on the every-other day schedule throughout the winter, all on either dirt or groomed snowmobile trails, and hopefully by spring, I'll be able to start regularly turning in five to six mile training runs.

Unsaid in all of the above, is I've probably gained at least 40 pounds since I was 59, so I'm also hoping some regular running will help me shed these unwanted pounds as well.

I'll keep y'all posted.

[shipo]

Sorry for the long post folks; I wrote the above for two reasons:

1. To give folks hope there can be recovery after "The Covid"
2. And to give other COVID-19 sufferers a platform to share their challenges with recovery

So, anybody else out there managed get the Rona?  If so, tell us your story of recovery.

[alexthecat]

Wow! You've really been through a lot. I hope 2021 is a better year for you. 

[WavyDavey]

That is an incredible story, @shipo, and some real tenacity on your part. Hope for a smooth recovery and a smooth transition back. I can relate to the parts that were self-induced. It's been humbling and a long while for me to listen to what my body is capable of, and not so much what my mind or heart wants my body to do.

[emili]

@shipo hey there! as one who knew you way back when, I was wondering what you were up to. I am sad to hear this is what you have been up to. But, I think at the end of your post, I get a glimmer of what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, as long as we are being smart about getting stronger. I wish you continued success on your journey to run.. 

[shipo]

Thanks @emili!

Yeah the broken bones and torn tendons were annoying, but after numerous broken bones in my life, including three broken legs, I kinda-sorta am used to recovering from them; that said, I sure as heck don't recover as fast as I did when I was younger.  Ironically the broken leg I got in February 2019 was virtually identical to the one I managed to get back when I was 17 years old (same basic break, just a quarter of an inch higher than the earlier one); the real difference was, after getting out of the cast back in the mid-1970s, I was running track a few weeks later and setting school records a couple of months after that.  Last year, a year after the broken leg and just before I picked up the COVID, I was still barely able to run (more like slow-jog) three miles.  The COVID related challenges are another thing entirely as I don't think the medical and exercise industry has developed a play book on how to recover from the lung damage and the systemic inflammation.

The thing is, I'm a "glass is half full" kind of old fart, and my thinking is, "If I can do X today, I should be able to rest up and do X plus a few percentage points more in a few days."  Yeah, that model is kind of a trial and error process, but I *think* I've got a plan down which is working, so far at least.  I started the "every-other-day" thing on 23-December and have maintained it, once again, so far at least; today I managed to jog five exceedingly slow miles (partly because of the icy trail surface), and when I say slow, I mean, only about two minutes per mile faster than I walked that same trail last summer.

A quick analysis of what I've accomplished since I started this plan 23 days ago:

• 12 very slow runs
• 34.5 miles (used to be a "bad" week for me)
• A dramatic reduction in the COVID related inflammation in both knees; so much so my ego is tempting me to try running daily (fortunately my rational side says, "ain't gonna happen any time soon")
• My breathing is improving but still has a long way to go; I think I ended up with a fair amount of lung damage as I had COVID symptoms for over three months, and between then and now had done very little activity strenuous enough to challenge my respiratory system (thank you to my knees).  I know this is kind of gross, but after a couple of my recent runs, I coughed up some, ummm, old stuff, and today's run, even though it was the longest in literally years, didn't cause me any lung or other breathing pain.

I wonder if slow jogging might end up being a way to fast-track recovery from COVID for others; sure seems to be helping me out.

[Baltoscott]

Wow @shipo -- if anything is going to beat the will out of a longtime exerciser like you, it was the past four years. I'm glad you are still at it and its good to see you back in the forums.  The every other day slow jog with lots of mental checkins sounds like a good plan.  Keep an eye on that ego ... it might kill you!

[shipo]

21-Jan-2021 update (and my 27th wedding anniversary):

As some of you might remember from 2016 and before, I have long been an advocate of LSD (Long Slow Distance), especially when getting (back) into shape and/or recovering from injury, which in my current case is both.  One of the metrics I use for determining whether to start lengthening the duration of my runs is my pace; my two 3-mile runs I did earlier this week featured at least one 1-mile stretch logged in under 12-minutes, which in my estimation is too fast for my current level of biomechanical fitness, so today, I went out with the idea of doing at least 5-miles and keeping a constant segment of my brain focused on running "systems checks" every few minutes.  When I got to my first decision point of, Left=Longer or Right=Shorter, I was feeling good enough to go left.  My second decision point was Left=Longer or Straight=Shorter, I went left again.  My final two decision points were Straight=Longer or Right=Shorter, I chose Straight both times.  In the end I managed 6.41 miles with my single fastest 1-mile split being 12:06, by far my longest run since I broke my left leg during the last week of February in 2019.

My plan is to now adjust the "every-other-day" thing to Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, or 4-days per week, keeping the distance under 4-miles for the two weekend runs and then "whatever feels good" for the two mid-week runs.  I'll keep y'all posted.

[AveryW.]

Please don't get discourage.  It is time to rebuild your body better.  Not once have you mention weight training.  As a runner, I used to frown on weight training.  However, I wish I incorporated it in my training. Now, I am running faster in my 5k.   Can't wait to compete again.  Just take this time to reset your training technique.  Good Luck! 

[shipo]

LOL, if I was going to get discouraged, I would have done so long ago.  🙂

As for weight training, nope, I categorically refuse to do formal weight training, however, that doesn't mean I don't do other "stuff".  Like you I'm a senior citizen, but I live on a working horse farm (I'm a tenant, not an owner) and help take care of a dozen horses, and by care, I mean pitching literally a ton of manure per week and schlepping around bales of hay and heavy grain bags.  

[shipo]

A quick update on my progress recovering from the busted leg and COVID; as I wrote above, I started a very tentative every-other-day running thing back on 23-December, and only two to three miles at that. I am happy to report my lungs and knees have responded very well to the gradual ramp up of distance, to date I've 20 runs totaling 75 miles, with this week and today being the high water mark of 25 miles since last Sunday and 8 miles today. Funny thing, my lungs and knees feel better after today's run than the puny 2 mile runs I started with just before Christmas. The one thing I've been keeping my eye on is my pace, I've been trying to force myself to keep the pace between a 12 and 13 minute per mile pace, and every time I started feeling frisky, instead of speeding up, I just added a mile or two. I've long been an advocate of LSD (Long Slow Distance); even coaching it for a number of years, and once again, it seems to be paying off.

As has been documented for nearly 100 years now, Long Slow Distance really works; every time my legs feel like picking up the pace I force my brain to switch gears and go long instead.  Today I went out for a 6-miler on my favorite snowmobile trail which was covered by reasonably firm packed snow; by the mile mark I was already hoofing it along in the low 10-minute per mile pace, way too fast for my personal speed limit, so I switched my brain into a 10-mile mode.  I ended up with 10.4-miles at an 11:46 pace, my first run longer than 8-miles since mid-2018.  The thing was, with the weather warming up, and with the sun shining on the trail, the snowy surface got mushy and that sucked a lot of energy out of my legs.  I was seriously sucking wind during my last two miles.  

Moderator edit: merged reply

[JuanJoFitbit]

Wow @shipo! I'm glad to hear that you are recovering and hope you keep it up. We support you and reading your posts, has been inspiring to me.

Please stay safe and continue with the incredible work you've done so far.

[shipo]

February wrap-up:

• I've upped my base plan for running to four days per week, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
• Needless to say, with the "Two Ws" (Weather and Work) dictating my ability to run on some days, the "plan" needed some adjustment throughout the month.
• My final tally:
  • Run Days: 18
  • Run Distance range: 0.2 miles (way too much ice to be safe) to 10.42 miles on the 13th
  • Run surfaces: all but two runs were on snow/ice/slush covered trails; the remaining two were on the roads
  • Miles for the month: 101.18 (my first 100+ mile month since November of 2017)

My new March goal? I'm thinking maybe 125 miles. Assuming the weather holds, and my body doesn't object to the extra mileage, I'm hoping I can start losing some of the weight I've gained over the last several years.  🙂

[JuanJoFitbit]

Awesome @shipo! Thank you for sharing your improvements. weather is not always our best friend but it seems that you have managed to handle those days like a pro.

Your March goal seems more challenging but I'm sure that you will hit it easily. I'm eager to know how it goes this month and I look forward to the wrap-up.

See you around my friend and stay safe.

[shipo]

Late March update and what a difference a week makes...

Last week I was worried about not hitting my goal of 125 miles for March as the trail conditions were so bad I'd only managed about about 25 miles in the first 10 days of the month which in turn forced me out onto the roads and causing me huge knee pain and then a few days of rest to let them recover.  And now this week I'm looking at the prospect if hitting 150 miles. What changed? The weather and the trail conditions. Unlike most trail running around here in late March, the ice melted early due to a combination of a few warm and rainy days followed by some warm sunny days which turned the surfaces from "beef stew" with diabolically slippery patches of ice scattered about into a good and slightly soft running surface; this in turn allowed me to bump my mileage a tad. Yesterday I logged a 10.25 mile run and when I got back home my wife coaxed me to get on the scale after I mentioned I was down two belt notches since Christmas. Personally, I hate the scale as I'm only 5' 8" and carry a lot more weight than my size might indicate, case in point, I was tipping the scale at just over 250 back in December when I started running again; I yielded and was stunned, would you believe 226? You could'a knocked me over with a feather.

One other interesting thing about yesterday's run, it "felt" slow, doubly so because I kept forcing myself to maintain a slow pace due to the distance, and that combined with the fact this particular trail has a few fairly long "tunnels" which one needs to crouch over to slowly walk through to keep from hitting your head and/or tripping on the very uneven surface. Even still, my average per-mile pace was 10:26, easily my fastest pace since December for any run, regardless of distance. If this type of pace starts becoming my "new normal", then my goal of a sub-30-minute 5K is starting to look very realistic. Not bad for a "fat" mid-60s dude.  🙂

[shipo]

March wrap up...

So, work happened and I missed 3 days of running last week so I finished the month up with 137 miles; could have been worse given March is usually the single hardest month to run around here due to the constant thaw/freeze cycles creating lots of ice coupled with a fair amount of rain and snow. At this point the trails are mostly firm enough to run, I think one 6-mile course has only a hundred yards of muck and deep mud to still be negotiated, while the other 6-mile course is runnable for all but about a quarter mile; as such, I'm thinking to set my April distance goal at 150 miles.

Regarding my workout plan, I am gradually transitioning from exclusive Long Slow Distance (aka. LSD) to what I call a "Modified LSD" plan, or M-LSD; a plan I used when I was in my mid to late 50s and is what enabled me to log a few half-marathons in the high "hour-thirty" to low "hour-forty" range up until just before I turned 60. So, what is "M-LSD"? A fairly simple concept, run the first quarter of whatever distance you're planning on at a pace much slower than what will be your average pace for the run, then for the next two quarters of the run, gradually increase the pace, keeping it reasonably comfortable, and finally, dial it up to whatever you can sustain for the last quarter of the run. By constantly "negative-splitting", your body gets used to pushing the pace faster and faster, and come race day it tends to pay huge dividends when you negative split every mile (except the occasional mile which is all up hill).

I catch a lot of flack for this plan from other runners who insist, come race day, you must go out strong and when you start running out of juice at the three-quarter mark of the race, you gut the rest of the race out with your remaining reserves. Funny thing though, when I'm standing there cheering them on at the finish line, they tend to give me a bit less flack.

So, enough about me, how is everybody else out there making out with getting in their miles? Is there any word in your parts of the country as to when and if racing might start again? If so, what are your race plans?

[shipo]

Got my first COVID-19 vaccine shot/jab (Pfizer) today!  It will be interesting to see if any of my lingering symptoms start to dissipate over the next month or two.

[shipo]

Geez, my bad, it has been nearly 5 months since I've updated this thread...

Just after I made my last post in April I accepted a new job which meant I needed to wrap up my old one (with all of the extra hours that entailed); my first day on the new job was also my second Pfizer vaccine day, so I felt crappy while at the same time as ramping my skillset up for the new job (and all of those extra hours as well).  Not surprisingly, my April and May monthly mileage totals suffered, I finished April with 107.8 miles and May with only 100.5 miles; fortunately I was able to get back on track in June (in spite of having a double Shingles and Pneumonia vaccine) where I logged 156.2 miles.  Then July happened: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Get-Moving/Get-Keep-Moving-but-beware-of-dogs/m-p/4909927

I was finally cleared to start running again on 17-August and have been steadily ramping my mileage back up, in spite of getting COVID for a second time in early September.  Just for the record, my July, August, and September running mileage numbers were 36.4, 70.9, and 128.9 respectively, and I've already managed 78.9 this month including 55.6 over the last 7 days.

Long story short, the lung damage and the systemic joint swelling I developed from last year's COVID infection are pretty much a thing of the past.  Yeah, I'm not as fast as I was a few years ago, but I'm confident with enough training I'll get back to some semblance of being competitive.  The good news on that front is next year I'll "age up" to the 65-69 year old age group, which certainly won't hurt my placing if/when I start racing again.  🙂

[Gershon]

Gosh, you've had a rough time of it.

I've also had some challenges. In 2017, I learned I have neuroendocrine cancer. One of the symptoms is flushing on the cheeks. Old pictures show I have had it for decades. Another symptom is it gives me a steady flow of serotonin, so I'm always in a good mood. Sometimes, it gives me a shot of dopamine, which is even better. I control the cancer with a strict whole food plant-based diet. 

In 2019, I started having shortness of breath. Turns out the high heart rates the Fitbit showed really was AFIB. It was picking up the electrical signals that I couldn't feel in my pulse. Turns out the valves in the right side of my heart were wearing out. I had a heart murmur since I was 12. I had open-heart surgery in Aug 2010. It took a year before I could walk well again. Then my knees started hurting. I found if I walk slowly, they do fine, but I can't go like I used to.

This summer, I got most of my steps behind a lawnmower. I volunteered at an animal shelter and kept their three acres of grass mowed with a self-propelled mower. This was perfect for my knees. I use an EGO electric mower at home and cut the grass about every other day.