For anyone reading this who is struggling with COVID-19, here are some things I found helped me while I was still not feeling like myself:<\/p>\n
REST<\/strong><\/h2>\nDoing absolutely NOTHING. As someone who has always thrived off having a goal and becoming pretty obsessed over it, being told to sit on the sofa, while some people\u2019s ideal way to spend a few weeks, is my idea of torture. It is possibly the lowest I\u2019ve felt, and I found it hard to stay positive and some days I didn\u2019t manage it at all! However, relaxing and not doing much that was physically or mentally taxing was the biggest help in my recovery as my body\u2019s \u2018petrol tank\u2019 was completely empty and needed time to fill back.<\/p>\n
Keeping a symptom log<\/strong><\/h2>\nAs a cyclist, I spend a up lot of time on Training Peaks (normally looking at my next training sessions or reviewing past ones) but with no training to do, I was instead using TP as a diary of sorts. When I was at my worst and low on energy, I also put to do lists in with small but achievable things, so I felt like I wasn\u2019t \u2018wasting\u2019 the days where I was forced to rest. Looking back through this now, it\u2019s helped me spot patterns in my symptoms and see just how far I\u2019ve come (even if at the time, it didn\u2019t feel like I was getting any better!).<\/p>\n
Talking to people going through the same thing<\/strong><\/h2>\nI joined a Facebook group called \u2018Long COVID for Endurance Athletes\u2019 (over 2000 members of once fit and healthy people, a lot of whom are now struggling to be active at all) which had useful advice and some inspiring recovery stories from people further down the road from me. I reached out to tennis players I\u2019ve known from my junior days and through university, and it\u2019s really helped to get through a scary period where you\u2019re completing doubting if your health will get back to where it was before.<\/p>\n
Cold water therapy<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis made a huge difference to my overall feeling throughout the day. I found the virus had left me feeling unexplainably anxious and the shock of a 3-minute cold shower and the release of serotonin after (much like the one I am missing from exercise) helped to relieve this anxiousness and allowed me to relax.<\/p>\n
Meditation<\/strong><\/h2>\nI\u2019ve never been one to meditate but with a lot of time in the day to fill, I decided to give it a go. I only put aside small portions (2-5 mins) of the day to train my mind to focus on nothing, just let thoughts pass through and not attach emotions to them, but I enjoyed trying something new and am trying to keep it as part of my routine. I hope it will also have the added benefit of improving my management of things like pre-race nerves!<\/p>\n
Stretching<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe one thing from my normal training routine I could still do. In the first few weeks of COVID, I found I was too lacking in energy to make my tired body stretch, but when I started to feel marginally better but still couldn\u2019t ride, it made me feel like I was still a cyclist, which is something I\u2019d missed while being off the bike.<\/p>\n
Eating whole foods<\/strong><\/h2>\nWith a lot more time spent around the house, I had more time to experiment with recipes and cook different meals. I tried to base them around fruit and veg but also made bread, jam and quite a lot of cake and ice cream to fuel Tom\u2019s crazy rides!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful for all the people who helped me through this period. The thought process that finally helped me dig myself out of the \u2018mental bin\u2019 I\u2019d found myself in was that if I zoom out, I am still unbelievably privileged. I have amazing family, friends, qualifications and a job I love. Yes, in the moment, a big part of my life had been taken away, but now I have it back I am more appreciative than ever to be on two wheels.<\/p>\n
Everyone gets dealt bad cards in life, but even the bad ones I\u2019ve had dealt, in the grand scheme of things, have been pretty good so far.<\/p>\n
If you are struggling through Covid and want someone to talk to, please get in touch. I\u2019ve be overwhelmed by the kindness of people I\u2019ve met through local bike shops, Strava, over Instagram and more; the kind words and advice have really kept me going, so if I can do that for anyone, I would really like to.<\/p>\n
I hope to see you all out on the road soon. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n
As a cyclist, I spend a up lot of time on Training Peaks (normally looking at my next training sessions or reviewing past ones) but with no training to do, I was instead using TP as a diary of sorts. When I was at my worst and low on energy, I also put to do lists in with small but achievable things, so I felt like I wasn\u2019t \u2018wasting\u2019 the days where I was forced to rest. Looking back through this now, it\u2019s helped me spot patterns in my symptoms and see just how far I\u2019ve come (even if at the time, it didn\u2019t feel like I was getting any better!).<\/p>\n
Talking to people going through the same thing<\/strong><\/h2>\nI joined a Facebook group called \u2018Long COVID for Endurance Athletes\u2019 (over 2000 members of once fit and healthy people, a lot of whom are now struggling to be active at all) which had useful advice and some inspiring recovery stories from people further down the road from me. I reached out to tennis players I\u2019ve known from my junior days and through university, and it\u2019s really helped to get through a scary period where you\u2019re completing doubting if your health will get back to where it was before.<\/p>\n
Cold water therapy<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis made a huge difference to my overall feeling throughout the day. I found the virus had left me feeling unexplainably anxious and the shock of a 3-minute cold shower and the release of serotonin after (much like the one I am missing from exercise) helped to relieve this anxiousness and allowed me to relax.<\/p>\n
Meditation<\/strong><\/h2>\nI\u2019ve never been one to meditate but with a lot of time in the day to fill, I decided to give it a go. I only put aside small portions (2-5 mins) of the day to train my mind to focus on nothing, just let thoughts pass through and not attach emotions to them, but I enjoyed trying something new and am trying to keep it as part of my routine. I hope it will also have the added benefit of improving my management of things like pre-race nerves!<\/p>\n
Stretching<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe one thing from my normal training routine I could still do. In the first few weeks of COVID, I found I was too lacking in energy to make my tired body stretch, but when I started to feel marginally better but still couldn\u2019t ride, it made me feel like I was still a cyclist, which is something I\u2019d missed while being off the bike.<\/p>\n
Eating whole foods<\/strong><\/h2>\nWith a lot more time spent around the house, I had more time to experiment with recipes and cook different meals. I tried to base them around fruit and veg but also made bread, jam and quite a lot of cake and ice cream to fuel Tom\u2019s crazy rides!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful for all the people who helped me through this period. The thought process that finally helped me dig myself out of the \u2018mental bin\u2019 I\u2019d found myself in was that if I zoom out, I am still unbelievably privileged. I have amazing family, friends, qualifications and a job I love. Yes, in the moment, a big part of my life had been taken away, but now I have it back I am more appreciative than ever to be on two wheels.<\/p>\n
Everyone gets dealt bad cards in life, but even the bad ones I\u2019ve had dealt, in the grand scheme of things, have been pretty good so far.<\/p>\n
If you are struggling through Covid and want someone to talk to, please get in touch. I\u2019ve be overwhelmed by the kindness of people I\u2019ve met through local bike shops, Strava, over Instagram and more; the kind words and advice have really kept me going, so if I can do that for anyone, I would really like to.<\/p>\n
I hope to see you all out on the road soon. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n
This made a huge difference to my overall feeling throughout the day. I found the virus had left me feeling unexplainably anxious and the shock of a 3-minute cold shower and the release of serotonin after (much like the one I am missing from exercise) helped to relieve this anxiousness and allowed me to relax.<\/p>\n
Meditation<\/strong><\/h2>\nI\u2019ve never been one to meditate but with a lot of time in the day to fill, I decided to give it a go. I only put aside small portions (2-5 mins) of the day to train my mind to focus on nothing, just let thoughts pass through and not attach emotions to them, but I enjoyed trying something new and am trying to keep it as part of my routine. I hope it will also have the added benefit of improving my management of things like pre-race nerves!<\/p>\n
Stretching<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe one thing from my normal training routine I could still do. In the first few weeks of COVID, I found I was too lacking in energy to make my tired body stretch, but when I started to feel marginally better but still couldn\u2019t ride, it made me feel like I was still a cyclist, which is something I\u2019d missed while being off the bike.<\/p>\n
Eating whole foods<\/strong><\/h2>\nWith a lot more time spent around the house, I had more time to experiment with recipes and cook different meals. I tried to base them around fruit and veg but also made bread, jam and quite a lot of cake and ice cream to fuel Tom\u2019s crazy rides!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019m grateful for all the people who helped me through this period. The thought process that finally helped me dig myself out of the \u2018mental bin\u2019 I\u2019d found myself in was that if I zoom out, I am still unbelievably privileged. I have amazing family, friends, qualifications and a job I love. Yes, in the moment, a big part of my life had been taken away, but now I have it back I am more appreciative than ever to be on two wheels.<\/p>\n
Everyone gets dealt bad cards in life, but even the bad ones I\u2019ve had dealt, in the grand scheme of things, have been pretty good so far.<\/p>\n
If you are struggling through Covid and want someone to talk to, please get in touch. I\u2019ve be overwhelmed by the kindness of people I\u2019ve met through local bike shops, Strava, over Instagram and more; the kind words and advice have really kept me going, so if I can do that for anyone, I would really like to.<\/p>\n
I hope to see you all out on the road soon. \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n
The one thing from my normal training routine I could still do. In the first few weeks of COVID, I found I was too lacking in energy to make my tired body stretch, but when I started to feel marginally better but still couldn\u2019t ride, it made me feel like I was still a cyclist, which is something I\u2019d missed while being off the bike.<\/p>\n
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