BROADCASTS.com

As of today, Dec. 8, 2020, the U.S. has a rate of close to 200,000 confirmed new infections of coronavirus per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control data center, which is updating daily. Cases in the last seven days alone top one million, and all told, more than 280,000 lives have been lost to COVID-19 in this country.\xa0

We\u2019re all experiencing the pandemic in our own individual ways, and in more recent time, as cases surge across the U.S., and Michigan this week enacted a 12-day extension of the statewide Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) epidemic order, the virus and its myriad impacts continue to find new and challenging ways \u2014 and in some cases, personal and devastating ways \u2014 of affecting us, as individuals, families, and communities.\xa0

Here at MRG, we wanted to share heartfelt and honest stories of what it\u2019s been like for two northern Michigan runners who recently received a COVID diagnosis. In this episode, we talk not only about what it was like to have COVID, but also what recovery looks like and how it can change our views of running, staying active, and staying connected (while being safe) with our family and friends.

Jonny Tornga, an ultrarunner and trail enthusiast, shares his experience of getting COVID in early November. Jonny, 33, who had been training for a 30ish-mile trail run at the time of his diagnosis, had many of the typical symptoms, including loss of taste and smell.

\u201cIt knocked me out pretty good. The road to recovery has been a long one. It\u2019s not easy. I feel like I was in pretty good shape before getting it. I was feeling good. [After the diagnosis] it was amazing the lack of energy I didn\u2019t have \u2014 and still don\u2019t have. I feel like I\u2019m lacking in that extra push. The mind is there, but the body doesn\u2019t really want to follow just yet. It\u2019s been a struggle, being that I am an active person. It\u2019s frustrating for sure, to say the least.\u201d\xa0

Kristen Verrett, an avid runner and racer, also received a COVID diagnosis earlier this fall. The 46-year-old remembers going out for some morning miles the day she became sick.\xa0

\u201cI got up and had a really good run. I was feeling good. Later that evening, it hit me. I was tired, I had a fever. I was just exhausted.\u201d\xa0

Kristen didn\u2019t lose her sense of taste or smell, but she did feel nauseous for about a week in addition to feeling run-down and extremely fatigued. At the same time, her husband Kyle got sick and received a COVID diagnosis. Thankfully, their two children \u2014 Kylanna, 13, and Keegan, 11 \u2014 were OK and did not feel ill.\xa0

Getting back to a running routine has been tough, for both Kristen and Jonny.

\u201cJust like having any injury, you have to listen to your body. One of my first runs after having COVID, my legs were feeling great, they were ready to move, but my body wasn\u2019t. I ended up pulling a muscle in my back. I wasn\u2019t listening to my body, I wish I would have.\u201d\xa0

MRG is grateful to Jonny and Kristen for being willing to share their stories.\xa0

\xa0