I used to do a physical job (postie) and do ~10 hours of cycle training outside work, regularly doing 2+ hour rides with all-out efforts on hills. In '22 I was beating a lot of my personal best times on Strava segments for fun and even getting a few top 10s, until catching covid in late September.
After almost a year sick off work with long covid which is still ongoing, I took ill health retirement.
Carrying a ~10Kg bucket of water for my fish tanks is a massive struggle to do with one arm these days, often needing both, I used to be able to carry a 25l gerry can of water in each hand and be fine afterwards. Carrying 3-5 trays of food shopping upstairs from van delivery is a huge workout. A ~40 minute indoor cycle at light-moderate effort is exhausting, to manage 60-90mins cycling I have to keep my effort very light and even then it can leave me fatigued for days. A 20 minute walk is now so slow and such an effort. Thankfully my breathing is so much better than it was until around spring this year, now it's mainly physcial and mental fatigue.
My muscles and joints often ache, mentally I rarely have a day when I don't feel shattered and full of brain fog, while my tinnitus is now a constant scream in my ears when it used to come and go.
Life is so different for me now than it was ~18 months ago and I live in hope that things will improve in 2024, enabling me to find a new job and start making meaningful fitness gains.
