I have been struggling recently with my breathing, and my FTP dropped 25w on a Ramp Test last month.
Concurrently to this, I have been seeing my GP, who has been investigating my breathing, with a Peak Flow Test, which was extremely good albeit I am asthmatic, chest x-rays, all clear, and I am now having a Chest CT Scan.
My GP thinks I had COVID-19 last year without knowing it and before the first lockdown.
I had another RT this evening, and had an increase of 8 watts, but still struggled.
Any ideas on how I should progress and rebuild my FTP?
Should I give up on another TT season whilst I rebuild?
Build from ground zero with a Base Phase?
Or just crack on toward the Speciality Phase which is where I am heading toward?
Thanks in advance, sorry for the long email, and to Nate… I am still promoting you and TR after you kindly sponsored my Junior Womens Team back in 2013.
I had the same issue. Looking back I dropped my FTP to a number that I knew I could hit the workouts with confidence and built slowly from there. I had a couple of relapses on the way (breathing issues, irregular heart beat), but I got back in there and once again just worked up to it slowly but surely.
It’s taken 9 months and I’m only just getting back to where I was before getting sick. Others may be faster, and I know others are taking longer. I personally wouldn’t be arranging any races until you’ve had a solid three months without any sort of breathing symptoms, as (for me at least) the higher intensity stuff definitely seemed to set me back.
However, I don’t think anyone there or here will be able to answer this for you. They definitely shy away from medical related stuff, and covid is so new and seems to effect everyone differently, so there’s no solid timeframe for full recovery.
You’re getting a lot of tests, what’s one more? Can’t your GP test you for antibodies? To see for sure if you had covid.
You also have asthma? Is that treated? Or being investigated as a cause for your current breathing problems?
So your down 13 watts on your FTP? From when to when? Is that math right? Minus 25 last month and +8 this month shows a net loss of 13?
8 watts seems like a real good jump for one month, congrats! I was only up 5 watts from an entire base period 8 seems like a fantastic positive trend for sure.
Seems like you should keep going on your plan since it’s been a success this past month.
FYI, a negative antibody test doesn’t rule out covid. But a positive test would be informative. Many covid long-haulers test negative for antibodies.
This is a good idea however i think that tey will not answer this question for a while since they could not rely on that much scientific background sadly.
But i could also be wrong here so maybe give it a shot and see what they will do.
Just throwing something else into the mix. Could this be hay fever? It’s not uncommon for people to suffer later in life. My wife started suffering from tree pollen three/four years ago and for two months of the year, her asthma is dreadful.
Obviously I’m hoping your symptoms are not COVID related
