Virus Recovery

sonny73

Had a chest virus for 3 weeks now with a very nasty cough and feeling rough, started on New Year’s eve.
Slowly coming back to normality and reckon (I hope) on being well again next week sometime, Dr says all is normal so all good there.

I figured once I'm 100% better I’d leave it for another week with zero exercise, to recover fully and to be on the safe side, then re-introduce riding slowly over the next couple of weeks after that.
Dr said everyone is different in terms of getting back to fitness, so do what feels right.
So purely out of interest, if you'd had a 4 week long virus how would you plan on re-introducing riding once better?

Cleat Eastwood

i use norton and then switch it on and off, hehe

last march i was zonked out the whole month - the legs i found could get to fitness in a couple of days, i found it was the breathing that had went to cock so i did a few 15m rides for about a week just to be on the safe side,

sonny73

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

i use norton and then switch it on and off, hehe

last march i was zonked out the whole month - the legs i found could get to fitness in a couple of days, i found it was the breathing that had went to fool so i did a few 15m rides for about a week just to be on the safe side,

HA I use Avast, it's free
Yeh I figured it would be the breathing that will suffer the most, longest I've been off the bike for years.

McBain_v1

I've got something right now that is a chesty cough and has me hawking up a pound of phlegm every few minutes. I am still riding but the really hard efforts have had to be scaled back or I just end up stopped by the roadside trying to barf my lungs up. Give it all the time you think you need, there is no sense in rushing to get another chest complaint.

MattC59

I've had Shingles for a month or so and it's wiped me out !
The virus has gone, but I feel like I've got an old burn around my torso. Worse than that is the fact that by about 3pm I'm totally burned out, no energy left at all.
I'm off out for my first ride of the year on Sunday, we're just going for a flat-ish 30miles, but I suspect I'm going to struggle somewhat ! I should probably stay off the bike for a while longer, but I'm getting a touch of cabin fever and need to get out on the bike, before I go mad !!

Just to make things worse, I've got a bit of a cough at the moment as well.
Not happy !!!

keef66

I've just been through a nasty respiratory virus but as usual my immune system despatched it in 10 days. I figured out that staying inside with the heating on was irritating my breathing more than the remnants of the infection, so I ventured out as soon as I could manage it without coughing myself inside out. That was on Tuesday night for an hour of gentle paced riding at just above freezing temps. No adverse effects so I went out again last night (Thurs). temp was about 5 c (probably dipped a bit during the hail storm :shock: ) and I did another hour but at tempo pace.
That prompted an extended bout of coughing once I got back, but it did shift a lot of residual phlegm and I feel a lot better this morning.

I'd say if you can ride without coughing, go for it but gently at first.

(we use Avast too. maybe it's not so good on these newfangled respiratory viruses!)

MattC59

I don't use Avast (me hearties !) , I find that all that swashbuckling plays havoc with the hard drive.

nevman

Git yo`self back in the saddle and less of yo jibber jabber or Mr Pain`s gonna make a visit.

brettjmcc

Sonny, had something very similar to you. Had a few weeks off. I found having light rides on the turbo actually helped in the end. Stillnot quite got rid of it, but it is way less than it was.

Just don't let your heart rate go over 80% according to our club coach.

MattC59

Well, I had my first ride out of the year this afternoon, following a dose of Shingles over Christmas.

What a mistake !!!!!!!

I managed all of 11 miles before I was empty. Nothing left in the legs, nothing left in the lungs. The whole of that 11miles was sh*te, heart rate up and all over the place; on one slight hill, my heart rate was up to 181bpm, where as my mate's was at 138bpm, we're usually within about 5bpm of each other.

Got home and my Mrs said I was looking a little pale.

It turns out that (as far as I'm concerned) carrying a slight cold and recovering from a virus, then hoping to get some miles in on the bike, isn't a good idea.

That said, as sh*t as it felt at the time, I was glad I got at least some miles in, as I was getting a touch of cabin fever. And I got to try out my new leggings. Endura Equipe, very very nice, money well spent (except that they didn't make me any quicker !! :evil: )

MichaelW

When I am getting back on the bike after a wipout illness, I start really gently so I'm riding at moderate pace. I ride by time rather than distance and start with about 1/2 hr. I may pick a route with some bugout options rather than commit to a big distance. I extend the rides by time and take some rest days.