Had a race today, felt well hydrated, and feeling good, Swim went well, came out with the first 3rd of the pack On the bike, and starting to get into a good rhythm and at about 4-5 miles in, my calve cramped up. I’ve had this issue before, and am not sure what the problem was. I was not pushing overly hard (my heart rate and exertion levels were less then the trainer workouts I do). After about 3-4 miles the cramps went away, but I could only push about 75-80%. Any more, and the cramps came back. Once off the bike, I ran with out any cramps. Averaging 6:59 Miles… Really put a damper on an otherwise good race.
I don’t get cramps in my legs from the workout on the trainers when I push much harded, so I’m not sure it is the fit, or if it is something with the swim. I really don’t know.
Calf cramps can be from many things. Much of it seems a mystery as everyone claims one thing and refutes another. It seems to be a very individual thing. I’ve had calf cramps during the swim from what i believed was extremely tight wetsuit around my calves. I cut the wetsuit down some and haven’t had those problems again (cross fingers). Maybe it was a placebo effect or maybe it was the cause. Either way I’ve not had the issue again.
I’ve had a few calf cramps start on the bike also. For me, this seemed to be due to exerting a lot of force with my toes pointed downward. I was riding with my seat too high and was pedaling with my toes rather than a level foot position. It was fine for 99% of riding but every now and then it would come back to remind me how much i love those darn cramps. I lowered my seat to get my foot in a better position and it made a difference.
I’ve also tried to watch my potassium and sodium intake just in case that was some type of a contributing factor.
Calf cramps are a quirky thing. So what worked for me might not do anything for you. Hopefully you will find the trigger(s) though and experiment with removing the catalyst.
I’ve had this issue as well and found once I started taking Endurolytes it helped reduce them big time. Might not work for everyone, but worked for me.
Swim fitness, bike pacing, overall fitness, bike fit. If its’ a sprint race, it’s too short for it to be related to elctrolytes, Even on a hot day if you start well hydrated and not over diluted (too much water only) it will take 60 minutes drinking nothing at all to even start to become dehydrated.
How did you pace the early part of the bike? Power meter? HR is useless for pacing in a race IMO. Too much variability…at least for me. In a sprint, it just stays peg near my max (from training) HR the whole time except on downhills. It runs 10-15bpm high any time I race.
Early part of the race i took it a bit easy that same 75-85% exertion. no power meter yet, so no way to define 100%. it was when I was settled in that I was starting to push a bit, but again not harder then I feel like i would on the trainer. It could be fitness, but I’m thinking that it may be fit or shoe position.