Six months ago, IUPUI women's track team member, Mya Zajakowski, was preparing for her final season as a Jaguar. Leading up to her return to campus in August 2020, Zajakowski ran an average of 50 miles per week. Now, Mya can't complete a 1,500m race under nine minutes compared to her personal best time of 4:52 and struggles to run without her heart rate soaring to 195 beats per minute.
 
Mya's story began on August 18, 2020, when the IUPUI women's track team senior noticed she was not feeling right. After taking a routine COVID-19 test required of IUPUI student-athletes, Mya tested positive.
 
Zajakowski decided to return home to Stevens Point, Wisc., where she quarantined in the basement of her house for 10 days. There, Mya experienced severe body aches and exhaustion, along with a cough.
 
"It was really weird for me to go from running 50 miles per week in the summertime, to taking 2-3 weeks off and not even having the energy to get out of bed," said the senior distance runner.
 
After finishing her quarantine, Mya was hopeful that she would return to school and resume her normal routine of training. Unfortunately for Mya, that was not the case.
 
"When I got back to school, I couldn't run for more than 10 minutes without my heart rate getting up to 195 beats per minute. It felt like I was learning how to run again," said Zajakowski. "Every time I run, I feel light-headed, I can't control my breathing and I have heartburn."
 
Mya is a part of a small demographic of people who have contracted COVID-19 but have not fully recovered 14 days after testing positive. People like Mya are often referred to as 'COVID-19 long-haulers.'
 
According to a study done by the Center of Disease Control (CDC), one in five previously healthy young adults weren't back to usual health 14-21 days after testing positive for COVID-19 (CDC, 2020).
 
Despite the challenges Mya is currently facing, she refuses to give up. She talks about wanting to get herself back into shape for the outdoor track season, however, her main priority at the moment is her health.
 
"Right now, I am not holding myself to any goals because I don't know if I'll be good to run tomorrow or next week or even in a year. So right now my goal is to be healthy which is something I can't really control."
 
After everything Mya has been through since contracting COVID-19 in August, she has one important message to share. 
 
"Be mindful because although you might think you will be okay after getting COVID-19, you also don't know if you will have lasting effects. You could get it and be fine but give it to someone who could possibly have lasting effects. It is important to be mindful of the consequences you could not only face, but the consequences others could face too."
 

CDC. (2020, July 30). Symptom Duration and Risk Factors for Delayed Return to Usual Health Among Outpatients with COVID-19 in a Multistate Health Care Systems Network - United States, March–June 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6930e1.htm.