Day 4 of COVID. The first two days I had pretty minor symptoms and only a slight sore throat. Friday I did wake up with a bit more of a head compression and was in bed most of the day. I had no problem getting up but would quickly get tired and retreat back to my bedroom. The appetite has never diminished. Like last time, I’m starving. Always. Not sure if that’s because I’m in training or if it’s because I’m not eating junk. I’ve been eating healthy thanks to Usha. Sometime when I eat too healthy, it’s just not enough calories!
On Saturday, I woke up without symptoms worsening – a good sign. I was still tired, and took a nap after breakfast. Then got up to watch the livestream of Stranda Fjord (Go Sophia!). Then went to lay down after.
By afternoon, I felt closer to normal and was able to get out for a short walk. The head compression and all other symptoms had subsided. No ill effects from the walk which was a good sign.
I’ve taking the recovery seriously, but broken down slightly by the eve. I had been wanting beer and had a Guinness with dinner. An old belief I still hold onto – that Guinness is good for you, especially when you’re sick!
Today, and as of this moment, I feel great. I woke up feeling better than the previous day. Am I back to normal? I’m not being over confident so I opted actually do no more than riding a half a block down the street just to test out the new mountain bikes Mike got for the house.
Like last time, I’ve been tracking the metrics on my Garmin Epix 2. I’m wearing my watch 24/7 to monitor everything. In particularly, I’m paying attention to Stress, RHR (Resting Heart Rate), HRV (Heart Rate Variability), and Pulse Ox. Interestingly enough, Stress dipped to it’s lowest on Wednesday, when I first noticed a slight soreness in the throat and felt a bit nasally. I thought it was allergens in the air and the hot temps. It went up a bit a on Thursday when I tested positive but not an alarming spike (as last time). Friday was a minor uptick. Saturday, the day symptoms started to lessen, was the biggest spike and the peak level of stress before it came back down to Thursday’s levels.
HRV is a component of Garmin’s Stress measurement and likewise trended in tandem with last night being the lowest of the week (in general, higher is healthier).
RHR had been flat Wednesday through Friday. Again, Saturday spiked up despite feeling better. And this morning my RHR was still elevated at the same level. This could have been the Guinness, though it’s low in alcohol so who knows. (I’ve been hydrating very well the entire 4 days BTW.)
Pulse Ox I didn’t find to be that useful this time. It’s hard to say if and when it’s accurate, just only when there’s a dramatic change. I did not see any this time. Maybe because of the oranges Usha bought me and the extra C helped. But clearly, I’ve had no respiratory problems so I’m probably getting good oxygen into the blood. The one observation I did make however is after I went for a 45 minute walk. I had my highest Pulse Ox readings of the week. And I did feel good. So there maybe something to be said for getting some light exercise to get the blood flowing just a bit. Granted, this may also have been the cause of the spike in stress and perhaps RHR when I went to sleep. Even though it was a super super easy walk and I felt no weakness or fatigue, perhaps this is a good warning/indicator to not push your luck. A brisk walk might have been detrimental and set me back.
Well, I would not been able to sit at my computer long enough to write this blog post a couple days ago. I have my energy and focus back. Planning an antigen test and then hoping to go for a short run tomorrow.