@Chris_H @ozmadman Yep. Since my mom had colorectal cancer I’m at higher risk, so they started me on them early and I’ve already had two. Because of polyps they’re doing them every 3 years. Last one was 2 years ago, so we’ll see if my GI doc wants to do my next one this year instead of next.
He puts me out for the procedure, so it’s mostly a good nap. The worst part is the last bit of the prep.
Good news and bad news.
Got the results back from my Infectious Disease doc today. I am VERY healthy! 
ALL my blood results came back green. The doc said that’s unusual because even in healthy patients usually at least a couple lines come back red while being unrelated and not the cause of any illness.
So, she has no answers for me. Tho we have rules out a lot more causes. If it is an infection then it’s a very very insidiously hidden one .
She did suggest getting my hormones levels checked.
So, it’s back to my GI doctor for a follow-up, and then a phone call to my PCP to see if he can order some lab work to check my hormone levels.
Beyond that it just may end up being long COVID, and if so we’ll just have to wait and see if my low-grade fever goes away, or if any other symptoms ever pop up or not. From what I’ve read from other people with long COVID, it can take 6 months or a year and then suddenly they feel better. Or not. Roll of the dice. 
Sooooo… yay?
That is good to hear (even if you don’t have an answer of ‘what’ your issue is). Perhaps it is just a very bad case of Couchlandriaitis?
I’m not sure what you are currently doing in the way of training. The last time I had to ‘come back’ from a respiratory illness I ended up doing 20-30 minutes of Z2 (easy) riding several times a week. It was more psychologically challenging not to go harder but I waited until my body adapted before I would add time (5 min) or intensity (5 watts).
Good luck!
That’s about where I’m at. I’ve done a lot of 20-40 minute Z1 rides. I’ve moved into adding a bit of intensity once or twice a week, but usually still doing 30-45 minute rides that are mostly Z1. Riding 3 to 4 times a week. Doing SYSTM yoga and maybe strength 2 or 3 days per week. Rare is the week I do 6 days or workout. Usually 4 or 5 days.
I’ve considered moving into more steady Z2 rides, but I don’t know where my power zones are, anymore. So I have to ride based more on HR.
Definitely been less disciplined with getting my workouts in and more lenient in letting myself get extra sleep when I feel I need it.
I’m never exhausted or even breathe that hard during any of my workouts. Definitely isn’t a respiratory problem. I only really feel the fatigue after 4pm and after a few days of waking up to exercise. Then I need to allow myself to get to bed early and a day or two of sleeping in.
Sir Evan, I have no cures only sympathy. I had covid September 2023 and I am still suffering with fatigue. It was like a switch, before covid. I only needed 8 hours of sleep a day after covid for 3 or 4 months. I was sleeping 10 hours a day and would be wiped out for 2 or 3 days after a decent ride. Even now I’m still a little beat up after rides that didn’t really bother me right prior to covid. That said, since it’s just mild fatigue now, I’ve told my doctor about it and she is said we’ll just keep an eye on it.
Open 30 yesterday. Open 40 today. Both in level mode. Yesterday didn’t feel great, but kept trying to keep my cadence above 75rpms. Today felt much better and even spent most of the workout in high Z1 / low Z2… and felt good.
Hoping I can spend more time in Z2. We’ll see how my shenanigans go this Saturday. (Cash Register x3 in level mode).
Mom was visiting for a week so took the time off with no exercise other than some daily walks. Temp has been lower (but still above 99) until yesterday after I started riding again on Saturday.
GI doc appt on Wed afternoon.
May the SUF be with you!
Dear diary,
I had my last GI doc appt on Mar 26. Still no real answers. Moved my regularly scheduled colonoscopy up to this June to see if there is anything going on that’s being missed. If that doesn’t show anything then… we’ll assume it’s long COVID and I’ll just learn to deal with it. So we’ll have to wait and see. Wanted to do it sooner, but June was the earliest for a non-emergency.
In other news…
9 days into my shenanigans and my HR is looking pretty good. Getting a lot closer to normal. And it’s actually going down like it should during the recovery sections. So that’s a good sign.
I manually lowered my FTP and all my 4DP numbers multiple times before I started my shenanigans. I never had the chance to do a fitness test so I just estimated them. I’m now about 70w below where my FTP had been 7 months ago and 90w below my peak 2 years ago. It’s almost embarrassingly low. Yet, it still feels accurate as at 100% intensity I’m barely completing the workouts and they feel just as difficult as they did when my numbers were higher. I’m hoping this will work similar to the TOS and will help jumpstart my fitness. It’s definitely getting me used to properly suffering again.
My temperatures hasn’t changed at all. I took off almost a week before starting this challenge and now I’m 9 days in, and the only difference is I’m getting less sleep and feeling the afternoon fatigue more and have some sore legs. But my temperature is fluctuating the same as it has been. Nothing different really to report. I’m hoping that as fitness increases again that it will improve my health overall.
But anyway, no real changes to report which in this case seems to be a good thing. I will have to keep an eye on my rest and recovery to ensure I’m getting enough. But I think 9 days off this month including 3 next week will be good.
That’s all for now.
SUFFER YOUR WAY TO HEALTH
