Almost never get sick but I imagine this is what it must feel like to ride after being sick. Don’t know if there’s any research on the topic but my personal experience is that the day or two after getting the second Covid vaccine shot are definitely not riding or rest days. Plan for it in your training, Not sure how but jumping back into the plan didn’t work for me.
My experience: Was really psyched when I got the chance to get my 1st Covid vaccine dose in mid-March. Did a 65 mile group ride the next day. Nearly as psyched to see my second dose scheduled for the Friday before the “regeneration week” in my climbing plan. Did my climbing intervals the morning of the second dose, got the shot, felt good, went to dinner with my bride.
Woke up Saturday with chills and low energy. Sunday just low energy. Took those two days off as if they were the first two days of the regen week. Woke up Monday feeling back to normal and went out to do the FRC/Supra Threshold 4x9 (105% of threshold) per the regen week plan. Felt like absolute cr*p. Died after about 7:30 of the first repeat and 4 min of the second and rode home in barely a Zone 2 mode.
No reason or excuse not to get the vaccine. It actually feels quite liberating. Just recognize that it might affect your training schedule and ability to FtFP/turn green, etc., especially after the second shot.
You aren’t alone. I just got my second dose on Friday, had a headache and hangover feeling Saturday but decided to try my 4 hr ss ride. Felt okay until mile 50, at that point I started to get chills, and my shoulders and neck got extremely tense and achy. Barely made it home. Sunday was a bit better but still feeling effects.
I agree though, this is far better then coming down with covid and experiencing long hauler affects or death. I was on the fence about getting the vaccine. But I just found out that my local xc racing rival hasn’t been riding since March of 2020. I just found out he was one of the first to get covid and is still suffering from lung damage and can not ride his bike at any kind of intensity.
A good friend just lost his 37 year old fiancé to covid.
In the grand scheme of things, a couple rough days post vaccine is just a minor setback in the big picture of protecting yourself, others, and getting this world back to normal.
Dumbed way down, they basically say that the vaccine creates inflammation and that it can take 1- 4 days of easy training before you are able to go hard again.
Again, as Chad painfully described in his post, getting the vaccine and taking it easy or losing a couple of days of FtFP training sure beats the alternative of getting Covid and potentially losing it all.
Thanks for sharing. Got my second shot yesterday after completing my 4 x 8 SS with bursts. Today is supposed to be over/under efforts. That is not going to happen. Feeling drained & nauseous. Hoping this doesn’t last a week. Just starting the 6 week gravel plan.
The timing of my 2nd shot by chance fell on the thursday of a rest week. I didn’t ride that day but felt fine, woke up Friday morning to have my fitness tracker reporting a big spike in RHR and HRV overnight, and Friday quickly turned into a sick day. Mainly a lot of fatigue and some nausea. No way I could ride Friday but wasn’t planning to anyway. Saturday I felt fine, and did the 3hr ride, but kept it to Z2. I was fine Sunday, and resumed heavy training as planned the following Tuesday.
So I agree, plan for at least a day of no riding, and it may be more.
I agree with everyone here but I felt like it wouldn’t happen to me and didn’t plan for it. I spent two days off the bike and the 3rd day was better but not much.
By day 5 I was back to my normal self with no side effects and able to ride at high intensity.
I would have planned my training around getting my second dose. Even plan a recovery week.
47yo male, no colds or even a sniffle in over 1.5 years.
Pfizer #1 taken 3 weeks ago, no issues and not even mild soreness in my arm.
Pfizer #2 yesterday at 8am. Arm got notably sore in about 3-4 hours, but no other symptoms before bed. Slightly restless sleep since the sore arm was my usual side for sleep. Noticed a bit of fatigue and mild aches in the evening before getting up.
Just a bit stiff getting up this morning. Rolled a SS workout just a notch down from what was scheduled. Ride felt fine, but I’m a bit more tired than typical for that effort.
All things considered, minor impact on me and not much change on training, so I am lucky.
I had Covid in December and then had my 2nd vaccine last week. I felt horrible for about 2 days and then went back to my plan. I did a 2.5 hr ride that Friday and had a huge headache for several days after. Right now my legs are struggling to stay in zone 2… and it’s over a week after the shot.