Tuesday morning I received my second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot and a mere six hours later I started feeling negative side effects. On Wednesday I was down and out, feeling like utter garbage and barely functional. Thursday I awoke not 100% but then as the day progressed I started to feel better. By the end of the day I was back to around the 80% mark. When I awoke this morning at 4am, I felt 100% and decided I would hit the streets for some basic exercise and a leisurely ride.
This week felt like a roller coaster, with the past three days the worst I have experienced in quite some time. The body pain, a fever coming and going, and general lethargic feeling was no fun at all. It is a small price to pay to have some resistance and immunity to COVID-19, which has been wreaking havoc across Tokyo for the past month.
But I was ready to ride. Not just for the exercise my body was screaming for, rather it was the mental escape and fresh air I was primarily yearning.
Last night I was still feeling so-so, although it was a major improvement from the previous 36 hours. By 9pm when I fell asleep on the couch I was basically back to the 80% mark, having made substantial recovery progress late in the day. I was determined to ride in the morning, assuming I did not have a relapse.
When my alarm started screaming like a young teen in every horror movie ever made, I quickly jumped out of bed. I assessed how I was feeling, and it seemed like I was okay to ride. Instead of going balls to the wall, I made an early decision to take it easy this morning. There is no reason to push it and risk having some sort of incident.
I headed out of the house before sunrise, dawn weather thick like molasses and hot like a furnace. The air was completely still. It felt horrible, but I did not care. I was going to ride, come hell or high water.
During the upstream segment I took it really easy, mostly paying attention to a podcast rather than focusing on exercise. I periodically turned around to admire the sunrise, which was not all that extraordinary this morning but was nevertheless nice to see after being locked indoors for three consecutive days. It felt amazing to take deep breaths of the river air while enjoying the lovely views.
On the return I paused along the river, stopping at a bench where I often take a break to appreciate nature's beauty. I listened to the calming sound of the river running across a small dam, one of my favorite sounds right after hearing ocean waves crashing against the beach. It was the perfect way to start this morning, and a great way to end the ride.
I took a break for about 10 minutes before mounting Red Chameleon and heading home to quickly shower, eat some breakfast, and hop on an early work call. Although not a remarkable ride, nor exciting statistics, I was happy to just be back out on the tarmac. Now that I know I am 100% okay, I will likely do a full 50k tomorrow morning and get back to pushing myself.
It is now 6pm as I write this, a brutally busy Friday, and it not over yet. I still have a few more meetings before I can pass out on the couch as usual. Nevertheless, I once again look forward to riding on Saturday morning. There is no need to rush home to attend to work; I can soak in the morning air and be a bit more carefree with time.
Have an awesome weekend. Peace out!
