I am just now catching up with my life after my Covid hike back in April (2023). The Sunday before Good Friday, I decided to head out for a 13 mile, lackadaisical hike up Black Star Canyon. Unbeknownst to me, I had Covid – my first bout. It didn’t dawn on me that I was sick. The symptoms were so weird. I felt emotional, worn out and cold. Of course, I put in some extra effort on this lackadaisical hike because that’s who I am. I took a detour down to the creek just above the falls, and then after that, I found a couple more detours up on the plateau. It really was lovely out. The skies were optimistic! Of course they were, it was the season of Lent. I had a stations of the cross hike coming up, and after that, my favorite service of the year: Good Friday. Alas, I was off on this hike up Black Star. Really off. But as I mentioned, the skies were optimistic. Wildflowers covered the hillsides. Water flowed in every creek. So, at the end of the day when I felt like I could lay down and die, I chalked it up to being out of shape. I remember stopping by the grocery store on the way home and bundled up, shivered down the aisles. I still didn’t think I was sick. No cough, sore throat, not even the sniffles.
Monday morning, I dragged myself out of bed for a much anticipated phone meeting with the USFS about race permits and dates. I got through the meeting but afterwards wondered if I was indeed ill. Still no normal symptoms, just extreme fatigue. Nah, it was the hike. So, I went to work (but I didn’t take the bus as I had been). Then on the way home I stopped by The Irvine Spectrum, a wonderful, beautiful . . . mall!! I’m sure you can imagine the reason for my exclamation points. The thought that I had Covid never even crossed my mind. (I still cringe .) No one in my family was ill, and to my knowledge I had not even been exposed. I just kept blaming the hike and other issues in my life. It never crossed my mind until I stumbled through the front door Monday evening and went straight to bed, shoes, clothes and all. Several hours later, I took a Covid test. After setting up class cancellations for the week, I went back to bed aching and shivering. I remained there for a couple days.
I’ll tell you! It’s been a long time since I’ve done absolutely nothing. When I wasn’t asleep, I was laying in bed still because I had no energy. Never lost my taste, never had many of the classic symptoms. Mainly, I was lethargic, achy, cold, and emotional. When I finally got well (along with my family because we all got it), I was one of the last to regain my energy. It took several weeks in fact after testing negative. During that time, it seems like all the things that I normally do in my life went out the window – hiking, piano, reading, writing, chores – all of it took too much energy. My guess is that the Covid hike didn’t help matters much. I think I got sicker than I would have, had I skipped the hike.
In all, I thankfully didn’t really get that ill, though it wiped me out a great deal. I’m fine now. And I’m finally caught up. The spring semester has just ended. I’m all prepped for the summer session just around the corner. Looking forward to some local hikes and travel in June! Hopefully, I’ll be able to post a race date as well for the 2023 Saddleback Marathon by then too (just waiting on confirmation).
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