by Matt Fitzgerald, who never misses a free moment, climbed into the second row of his Mazda CX-90 on a recent weekday morning and opened his MacBook so he could work on another book.
Fitzgerald, 52, is many things (writer, public speaker, coach), but above all he is prolific. He has written or co-written 34 books, most of them about running, endurance sports and nutrition. He writes early. Write often. He writes a lot.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m doing a B+ job on a dozen things, instead of an A+ job on three or four,” he said. “But I am who I am. There are always a couple of things I try to do my best at at any given time, and I think that’s enough.”
Fitzgerald has that kind of lean, athletic build that hints at another part of his identity: distance runner. He has also been prolific in that area, finishing 50 marathons, his best time at 2 hours, 39 minutes and 30 seconds. And, once upon a time, he would have been jogging on the quiet, snow-covered road in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he had parked his sport utility vehicle.
Instead, Fitzgerald was waiting for John Gietzel, a 48-year-old business consultant from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to finish relaxing so he could close his laptop and guide him through a series of hill sprints. As for himself, Fitzgerald has barely exercised in three years.
“I probably wouldn’t be doing this if I hadn’t gotten sick,” Fitzgerald said. “But I’ve found it surprisingly rewarding.”
Fitzgerald’s bout with long Covid has forced him, in a major way, to reshape who he is and what he does. In the process, he found vicarious joy by starting a business called Dream race camp from his home in Flagstaff, where he lives with his wife, Nataki, and a rotating cast of recreational runners who pay between $45 and $115 a day to stay in one of four guest rooms and be coached by him.
“I’m trying to create an event,” said Mr. Fitzgerald, who shared his long-term vision: “Fast forward a few years, everyone has heard of Dream Run Camp, and there’s a mystique about it and it’s all good vibes.” ”.
Organize group runs every morning. He has “coach office hours” every afternoon when he emerges from his writing den to deliver PowerPoint presentations on topics like “Disrupting Complacency” and “Hard Fun.” Fitzgerald’s campers, whom he calls “dream runners,” can stay as long as they want, up to 12 weeks.
Mr. Gietzel, who has a job that allows him to work remotely, will stay for about a month so he can prepare for the Mesa Marathon on February 10. Mr. Fitzgerald plans to reach the finish line.
“There’s a kind of magic here,” Gietzel said. “I’m already feeling it.”
Fitzgerald had no way of knowing it at the time, but he now believes the US Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2020 changed his life. She had traveled to Atlanta to make some promotional appearances before the event and then run in the Publix Atlanta Marathon the day after the trials. “That weekend was so much fun,” she said.
After returning home, Mr. Fitzgerald became ill. His wife soon fell ill as well. Both believe they had contracted Covid, although this all happened before at-home testing was available and before widespread government shutdowns.
“We both stayed home and recovered because the hospitals were full,” Nataki Fitzgerald said.
Mr Fitzgerald felt terrible for about a month – “It was by far the sickest I had ever been,” he said – before slowly resuming his old way of life. In fact, he was running and exercising without problems during the summer of 2020.
“And then everything started to fall apart in mysterious ways,” he said. “My neurological symptoms became spectacular. I could not do anything. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t create a training plan. “I didn’t want to interact with people.”
There is still much to know about long Covid. While there is no test to determine whether symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog and persistent headaches are a result of the virus, long Covid can persist for weeks, months or even years, depending on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While Fitzgerald said his neurological problems had improved in recent months, he still experiences chronic fatigue and “post-exertional malaise,” meaning anything that involves physical exertion leaves him feeling terrible.
“Exactly the disease you want if you’re an endurance athlete,” he said.
Early last year, he felt well enough to try running again. After six weeks of gradually increasing her workload, she was able to jog for 30 minutes.
“And then the bottom fell out again,” said Fitzgerald, who hasn’t jogged more than short distances since.
It has been disorienting for someone whose entire life revolved around sport. He recalled one of his most enjoyable experiences as a runner, when he spent 13 weeks training for the 2017 Chicago Marathon as a self-described “fake professional runner” with HOKA NAZ Elite, a world-class distance running team based in Flagstaff. Mr. Fitzgerald concluded his time with the team by achieving his personal best time in the marathon at age 46 and writing a book about it called “executing the dream.”
As Fitzgerald struggled with the effects of long Covid, he reflected on that experience in Flagstaff. He knew he couldn’t run anymore (at least not anytime soon), but he could imagine a way to stay involved, using his experience to train others.
After convincing his wife that they should uproot their lives in California and move to Flagstaff, which is a high-altitude mecca for runners, Fitzgerald welcomed his first campers (sorry, dream runners) last May. He has received about 30 so far.
“I know him as someone who follows through on his ideas,” said Ben Rosario, CEO of HOKA NAZ Elite.
Running camps aren’t exactly a new concept. Steph Bruce, an elite distance runner, and her husband, Ben, have a week-long camp for runners in Flagstaff every summer. There are many others throughout the country.
The difference with Dream Run Camp is that Mr. Fitzgerald’s dream runners live in his house.
The walls are adorned with artwork from top runners. There is a community recovery area with a hyperbaric chamber and a contraption called a vibroacoustic therapy bed. Its garage is equipped with high-end fitness equipment. The backyard features a sauna and small pool for exercise. Mr. Fitzgerald and his wife live in an attached boarding house.
“It’s a difficult thing to promote,” he said. “’Come to Dream Camp and get a little bored! It’ll be great for running!’
“But there is some truth in it. “I see people who come here who are a little removed from their normal life, and after they’ve been here for a few days, they’re liquid.”
While Fitzgerald seems to have made peace with some of his limitations, he cannot accept being a bystander forever.
Shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, he walked downstairs to his computer so he could sign up for the Javelina Jundred, a 100-kilometer ultramarathon in Fountain Hills, Arizona, in late October. Fitzgerald recognized how incongruous that sounded.
“I literally can’t take a step right now,” he said.
By way of explanation, Fitzgerald cited Charles Barkley’s final season in the NBA. After Barkley tore his quadriceps tendon in an early-season game, he vowed that he would return.
Sure enough, about four months after suffering his injury, Barkley returned to play in one final game and scored a basket on a shot. He left the court to a great applause.
In his own way, Fitzgerald said, he wants to do the same. She even has a working title for a book she wants to write: “Dying to Run: A Sick Athlete’s Search for a Final Finish Line.”
“I’m not doing this because I’m recovering,” he said. “I am doing this because I am No recovery.”
Fitzgerald doesn’t expect to compete per se. He just wants to finish within the 29-hour limit of the event, even if that means following the course.
“I can just survive,” he said.
