13 Sep Tucker Loken – Contest prep – 6 and 5 weeks out

“I once thought I had mono for an entire year… Turns out I was just really bored”

If only Wayne, if only.

Well my friends, I wish I had more fun news of crushing weights and pumping iron, but things got derailed for me in a big way.

I felt some real lethargy and headaches coming on a few weeks back, but thought it was from training hard and eating less. I still felt strong in the gym so I figured it wasn’t a big deal. A few weeks back I noticed a sore throat coming on, so I took a couple days off, did a couple very light workouts and then took a couple more days off. I felt fine and got back into the gym, and even though I felt weak I didn’t feel too bad. The next morning was awful though. I was super dizzy, foggy headed and running a fever. I knew I couldn’t mess around with the show coming up so I went to urgent care immediately in case it was strep throat so I could get some antibiotics. I did both the strep and mono test and they came back negative, so the Dr. told me to just wait it out for another few days.

The next week was tough but I felt pretty much fine by the weekend, but then even though I wasn’t working out, my throat began to swell again and I felt a fever coming on. I went back to urgent care and the Dr. took a look at my blood results from the week before and diagnosed me with “mono-like-virus that isn’t mono.” It’s in the same viral family, and  according to her, aside from not having a swollen spleen all of my symptoms were like mono, but not quite as utterly soul draining as mono can be. She called the symptoms perfectly as they have come about for the last couple weeks – it’ll seem like it’s getting better and then get worse again, you’ll be tired all day, the swelling and sore throat may switch sides, and it can last for 3-6 weeks. It’s all pretty spot on, and I’m on week 4 now.

My initial plan was to do a show October 1^st, but there’s no way I’ll be ready in just a couple weeks for that. I was hoping to push it back to one at the end of October, but with how long this has dragged on it may be time to listen to my body and give it the rest it needs. A week long cold you can usually bounce back from in a few days to a week, but a month long virus is going to take more than just a few days to get back to speed from, so as time goes on and I’m still sick each day, the probability of me competing this year is getting smaller and smaller.

There is always plenty to learn from disappointment, just like there’s plenty to learn from achievement, so I’ve taken this as a good lesson and I’ll bounce back wiser for it in the future.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Tucker Loken

Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.

Latest posts by Tucker Loken (see all)

• Tucker: Another Normal Log Update - March 1, 2019
• Tucker: A Normal Log Update - February 16, 2019
• Tucker: Making Do - February 4, 2019