Muscle Cramps- why?

Quoted message said:

Any ideas?

You're a punkass [censored]. Anyone who rides a bike is...

"bikeme" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:iLS5d.9698$0j.633@lakeread07...

Quoted message said:

This has happened to me twice now. Last year at the Richmond Suntrust
Marathon, I began getting muscle cramps (both legs- several muscles) after
mile 15. It was so bad that I had to do a run/walk/run/walk combo,
continually massaging out the cramps.

And yesterday, as I was doing my first Century (100 mile) bike ride, it
happened again, right around mile 77 and lasted throughout the rest of the
race.

What might cause this? I've trained well for both (up to 20 miles for the
'thon, up to 80 for the bike). I did lose my big water bottle at the
beginning of the bike ride. And I had to ration liquid for each leg of
the
ride in a 16 ounce bottle. There were four rest stops. I did drink some
water and gatorade at the stops- as much I could without feeling too
waterlogged. And I ate pb&j's. On the course, I drank powerade on 2
legs,
water with gels on the third and cytomax on the fourth leg.

I did sweat quite a bit out there. My face was salt-crusted by the time I
finished.

Pay attention to your sodium intake during long runs/rides. I struggled with
cramps on long/hard bike rides before I started adding sodium to my sports
drinks before and during the ride.

Jim Johnson

Chances are , it had nothing to do with your training. Sometimes just
the excitement of an actual competition can make your brain send false
signals to the body. Or maybe you were just ovulating.

"Jim Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:GwT5d.125462$D%.116039@attbi_s51...
:
: "bikeme" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
: news:iLS5d.9698$0j.633@lakeread07...
: > This has happened to me twice now. Last year at the Richmond Suntrust
: > Marathon, I began getting muscle cramps (both legs- several muscles)
after
: > mile 15. It was so bad that I had to do a run/walk/run/walk combo,
: > continually massaging out the cramps.
: >
: > And yesterday, as I was doing my first Century (100 mile) bike ride, it
: > happened again, right around mile 77 and lasted throughout the rest of
the
: > race.
: >
: > What might cause this? I've trained well for both (up to 20 miles for
the
: > 'thon, up to 80 for the bike). I did lose my big water bottle at the
: > beginning of the bike ride. And I had to ration liquid for each leg of
: > the
: > ride in a 16 ounce bottle. There were four rest stops. I did drink
some
: > water and gatorade at the stops- as much I could without feeling too
: > waterlogged. And I ate pb&j's. On the course, I drank powerade on 2
: > legs,
: > water with gels on the third and cytomax on the fourth leg.
: >
: > I did sweat quite a bit out there. My face was salt-crusted by the time
I
: > finished.
:
: Pay attention to your sodium intake during long runs/rides. I struggled
with
: cramps on long/hard bike rides before I started adding sodium to my sports
: drinks before and during the ride.
:
: Jim Johnson
:
:
So you added salt to your sports drink? How much? Do you have a rule of
thumb to go by? I'd love to learn from you and try it.

Thanks!
Brian

Quoted message said:

Pay attention to your sodium intake

I think he just took the seat off his bike, and that bar sticking up his [censored]
is pissing him off.

"bikeme" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

This has happened to me twice now. Last year at the Richmond Suntrust
Marathon, I began getting muscle cramps (both legs- several muscles) after
mile 15. It was so bad that I had to do a run/walk/run/walk combo,
continually massaging out the cramps.

This is what happens to me and a lot of people when one sweats out more than
5% of one's body weight. The cramps would have stopped within a few minutes
if you'd been able to drink (and absorb) a quart or two. In my last ultra,
I started cramping after 5 hours; I drank 50 oz of gatorade and water over
the next 10-15 minutes (along with two Succeed salt capsules), and they went
away very quickly.

I learned this the hard way in ultramarathons -- it took me almost two years
to realize that I needed to drink much more than the average person.

Quoted message said:

I did sweat quite a bit out there. My face was salt-crusted by the time I
finished.

My guess is that you were probably down 8+ lbs. Sweat contains about a gram
of sodium per liter. You lost a lot of salt, too (see below).

Here's the summary:

1. Weigh yourself before and after runs and races. You should be down no
more than a 2 lbs or so after two hours (due to glycogen consumption). Any
more than this means you're dehydrated.

2. One lb of water is 1 pint.

3. Do the math and figure out how much you should be drinking when working
hard, and under various conditions. I drink 40 oz per hour, on average,
when I race in the sun. My record is 70 oz in a one hour climb at 95
degrees.

4. Train, even on shorter runs to drink this frequently so that it is
second nature and the body is used to it on race day. I typically drink
half of a standard 20oz squeeze bottle every 15 or 20 minutes, for example.

4.1 Drink per your plan on race day -- it's easy to get caught up in the
competition and the go-go attitude everyone has in the first 1/3 of a race,
and forget about hydration.

5. The body sweats out about 600 mg of sodium per pint (or lb) that you
sweat. This salt loss adds up, and causes problems (hyponatremia in the
extreme case).

6. How the gut absorbs liquid: You need sodium to promote quick stomach
draining. The body actually has to pump sodium into the gut to enable
water to be absorbed. When you get dehydrated, you've also lost a fair
amount of salt (note your salt-encrusted face). When you're low on salt
(after sweating many lbs), the body is reluctant to put salt into your gut.
So the water sloshes around quite a while and is absorbed very slowly.

The result is that the more dehydrated you are, the slower your stomach
drains -- not a good thing. You need to rehydrate, but the full stomach
suppresses your thirst and even promotes nausea.

7. Taking one Succeed cap (which has 650 mg of Sodium -- nfi) with every
16-20 oz bottle will let your stomach drain very quickly. If your stomach
is sloshing, take salt!

8. If you get your hydration and sodium plan in sync with your needs,
you'll only weigh a couple of lbs less at the end of your races, and
voila--no cramps.

-- Dan

"Dan Stumpus" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
:
: "bikeme" <[email hidden]> wrote
:
: > This has happened to me twice now. Last year at the Richmond Suntrust
: > Marathon, I began getting muscle cramps (both legs- several muscles)
after
: > mile 15. It was so bad that I had to do a run/walk/run/walk combo,
: > continually massaging out the cramps.
:
: This is what happens to me and a lot of people when one sweats out more
than
: 5% of one's body weight. The cramps would have stopped within a few
minutes
: if you'd been able to drink (and absorb) a quart or two. In my last
ultra,
: I started cramping after 5 hours; I drank 50 oz of gatorade and water
over
: the next 10-15 minutes (along with two Succeed salt capsules), and they
went
: away very quickly.
:
: I learned this the hard way in ultramarathons -- it took me almost two
years
: to realize that I needed to drink much more than the average person.
:
: > I did sweat quite a bit out there. My face was salt-crusted by the time
I
: > finished.
:
: My guess is that you were probably down 8+ lbs. Sweat contains about a
gram
: of sodium per liter. You lost a lot of salt, too (see below).
:
: Here's the summary:
:
: 1. Weigh yourself before and after runs and races. You should be down no
: more than a 2 lbs or so after two hours (due to glycogen consumption).
Any
: more than this means you're dehydrated.
:
: 2. One lb of water is 1 pint.
:
: 3. Do the math and figure out how much you should be drinking when
working
: hard, and under various conditions. I drink 40 oz per hour, on average,
: when I race in the sun. My record is 70 oz in a one hour climb at 95
: degrees.
:
: 4. Train, even on shorter runs to drink this frequently so that it is
: second nature and the body is used to it on race day. I typically drink
: half of a standard 20oz squeeze bottle every 15 or 20 minutes, for
example.
:
: 4.1 Drink per your plan on race day -- it's easy to get caught up in the
: competition and the go-go attitude everyone has in the first 1/3 of a
race,
: and forget about hydration.
:
: 5. The body sweats out about 600 mg of sodium per pint (or lb) that you
: sweat. This salt loss adds up, and causes problems (hyponatremia in the
: extreme case).
:
: 6. How the gut absorbs liquid: You need sodium to promote quick stomach
: draining. The body actually has to pump sodium into the gut to enable
: water to be absorbed. When you get dehydrated, you've also lost a fair
: amount of salt (note your salt-encrusted face). When you're low on salt
: (after sweating many lbs), the body is reluctant to put salt into your
gut.
: So the water sloshes around quite a while and is absorbed very slowly.
:
: The result is that the more dehydrated you are, the slower your stomach
: drains -- not a good thing. You need to rehydrate, but the full stomach
: suppresses your thirst and even promotes nausea.
:
: 7. Taking one Succeed cap (which has 650 mg of Sodium -- nfi) with every
: 16-20 oz bottle will let your stomach drain very quickly. If your stomach
: is sloshing, take salt!
:
: 8. If you get your hydration and sodium plan in sync with your needs,
: you'll only weigh a couple of lbs less at the end of your races, and
: voila--no cramps.
:
: -- Dan
:
:
Thank you- I'll take your advice and hopefully be OK at my next Century ride
(less than 2 wks away, if things go as planned!).