recovery from flu

ozzy1000

hi guys,
last week i had vicious flu; I did 90miles the sunday before last in the rain/cold, then spent the whole night with a fever that lasted until wednesday, i went back to work on friday but still wasn't right then (people said i was green)... i'm a recreational rider but i pride myself on being pretty fit. i'm going to ride the cheshire cat the weekend after next and was training with the intention of trying for a reasonable time.... my trianing was going alright and i had put in a few good weeks until the flu hit... i didn't ride all last week, then on sunday i rode with a gentle group for 55miles, i felt pretty good but coughed myself inside out at the top of every climb.... this morning i tried some intervals on the turbo, i managed 6 of my usual set of 8 but just wasn't really feeling it so stopped...

what should i do? i probably won't be able to fit in a long ride at the weekend but i really want to train and am worried all my hard work is just going to fade away and on the day i'l struggle around sweating instead of enjoying the floaty form feeling i felt i was heading for....

yours sincerely; unhappy O

Giraffoto

I had 'flu from Mid Feb and stayed off the bike for two and a half weeks - on the other hand, when I got back to it I wasn't out of condition for long. You've had 'flu. 'Flu happens. Give yourself time to recover and get the 'flu jab in Autumn

colinsmith123

Rest!

I didn't follow my coaches' advice and it has added two weeks to my recovery.

His advice was, once your RHR has returned to normal, 4 recovery rides of around an hour or so over a week, and on the 4th a few short efforts, returning to recovery after each effort. If your HR returns to recovery rate within 5 mins and there is no adverse reaction the next day, resume training.

I did one recovery ride and then tried resuming training. I was wiped out for 3 days simply because I was not better.

briantrumpet

Rest. Forget training - your body will need all its energy to rebuild.

I had flu in 1990, and really did feel like I was dying - absolutely nothing in the tank. Five days in bed. Stupidly I went back to work too soon (being self-employed), and it took me weeks to recover properly. I'm sure I'd have got back to full health more quickly had I not been so keen to get back to work.

ozzy1000

ok thanks for the advice. i came down with this 11 days ago, i'm definately lots better, this morning my resting HR was back to about 53 which is about right for me... but my chest is still tickling and aches abit, i still have the odd mega coughing fit (quite bad, to the point that my eyes are watering and i'm doubled up with colleagues getting me water) but they'renot often unlless i try to excercise... also still really snotty...

i'm getting worried about the cheshire cat, its next weekend, the only riding i've done in the last 11 days is one 55mile ride and two attempts on the turbo (about 30+40 mins, both ended with me coughing 'til nearly puking and then stopping feeling very ripped off and unable to finish).... so basically i've only done 4.5 hrs of riding in nearly 2 weeks.... i know that if my chest cleared i'd get around the century whatever, but its looking like my training/fittness is just dripping away and the formy feeling i was enjoying 3 weeks ago won't be with me anymore.. so going for a time isn't going to be an option... f****ing gutted... if i can even get well enough to ride.... the thing is i don't even feel too bad, it's just my chest and i'm scared of doing anything and getting pnuemonia, when ever i do anything i cough so much, then get all sweaty and cough up this weird taste (I have kids and its the same smell of their breath when they're sick, bacteria'y)... so i'm holding off doing anymore training, but its bloody frustrating....

the only plus is that my fever last week managed to burn .5 of a stone off me!!! :shock: i was 12 stone on the nose one weekend then 11.5 by the following :shock:

briantrumpet

I ended up getting a nasty chest infection last year following a snotty virussy thing - ended up on antibiotics (amoxycillin, IIRC) when the lungs started gurgling. They took 3-4 weeks to clear. Didn't stop cycling, but it really knocked it out of me, and took several weeks before the oomph returned to my riding. I probably should have rested more.

colinsmith123

Ozzy1000; Rest. Forget the Cheshire Cat, it will be there waiting for you next year. Pass your entry on. Find another event.

This is an extract from training diary, after I'd done 2 x 2hr recovery rides with very short efforts on Mon and Tues.

Wed AM - L2 L1 Moderate / Hard for 1st hour then recovery for 2nd hour

RHR 58 BPM, which is a step in the right direction. First 15 mins easy to warm up. Moderate effort for 15 mins, then upped effort to top of L2 only to find myself barreling along at a fair old pace for the next 45 mins. Hardest part was remaining in the zone and not going harder and then to make matters worse then having to ease off to recovery for the last part of the ride in to work!

So it is true, the Fitness Fairies don't steal all your fitness even when your not able to train properly for a couple of weeks

The response back was very simple, Good

Now I am back to full training, though the repeated message from my coach is; Don't Play Catch Up! ie, don't think that by training harder you will make up for the past two weeks, stick to the plan.

Hopefully this might convince you, you still retain most of your fitness, it is all about how you bounce back that matters.

DF33

Once it's on your chest it;s a whole new ball game.

Yes, train through a cold if you want, just let your energy levels dictate. If it drops to your chest - lungs gurgling or infection etc - rest and let it sort out. If you don't then as said above you'll have a month off instead of a week or two. Sometimes life doesn't fit our plans for events. Don't try to force it. Do another sportive in a month instead.

ut_och_cykla

Rest until the day before then decide if you're up to it. If you weren't 95% ready before you got ill you won't get there by training now. Pneumonia or heart sac inflammation is scary stuff.....I know - been there didn't want the t-shirt.

t.m.h.n.e.t

I was wondering about this myself. Contracted manflu (perk of my job) and after 4 days decided that I felt ok enough to ride on Sunday. I had the fitness,the energy and the will to do 60k it but only today am I starting to feel normal.

I'm not willing to ensure I get manflu again to test the theory but perhaps if I'd stayed off the bike it might have been different.