We talk with Andrea Feucht about long COVID in endurance athletes and why you can look fine, keep racing, and still be nowhere near healthy. We compare relapse stories, data signals, and the hard lesson that rest and a slow return may be the only choice available to athletes. 

• why long COVID can look like “just getting slower” in runners 
• the emotional cost of being told you look fine 
• how athletes notice subtle post-viral changes first 
• using Strava exports and heart rate trends to validate decline 
• why HRV and heart rate zones can mislead during illness 
• Andrea’s symptom set including chest tightness, GI issues, and circulation changes 
• radical rest, vagus nerve breathing, journaling, and cautious hiking as recovery tools 
• relapse after a later virus and the fear of pushing too hard 
• why traditional medicine often offers reassurance without clear treatment 
• Jon’s overlapping sinus infection and the value of ruling out fixable problems 
• Andrea's advice: making room for awe as a stabilising life practice 

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Hosted by Jon Eisen (@mildly_athletic) and Miranda Williamson (@peaksandjustice). Edited by Jon Eisen. Theme music by Matt Beer.