I did my first race (olympic distance) this past weekend and had a really bad stomach muscle cramp starting the run. I did a few bricks in training but probably not enough. Temp was warm but not real bad. I drank one bottle of gatorade on the bike ride. I know its hard to tell, but is it lack of practice running after biking or a hydration issue. I walked/jogged when I could for the first 2 miles and chugged 2 glasses of gatorade at the first 2 aide stations and was able to fully run after that. I felt great outside of the sharp knife in my abdomen so hoping to get it figured out before the next race.
If you take time to read up on the actual causes of muscle cramps (meaning, not from fitness magazine articles, but from peer-reviewed science) you wouldn’t even be asking about hydration.
You rode too hard, or perhaps stayed in your race riding position longer than you did in training. Fatigue causes cramps.
Do more race-rehearsal work in the weeks leading up to your event.
Ok I will bite here. So are you saying dehydration has no relationship to cramping?
Are you talking about side stitches, muscle cramps in your abdominal muscles, gas/bloating, or what? Agreed with previous point that hydration probably isn’t the cause of your issue (and the fact that you started running after taking aid was due to recovering and not drinking), but it’s not clear exactly what symptoms you had.
Ok I will bite here. So are you saying dehydration has no relationship to cramping?
Correct. Dehydration often occurs during an endurance effort, so people have long figured that must be why they get cramps. There are even plausible reasons why that might be so.
Then we hear reports of people that say, “I kept getting cramps. Then I took care to drink more and I don’t get them anymore.” Flaw* in this connection below…
But careful study of control/experimental groups (both in controlled settings and at events) shows that it’s not true. Cramping is not really fully understood, but the best research at present points the finger to something that happens as fatigue builds. (Golgi organ fails to work properly; nerve signals don’t move correctly; other ideas…) And fatigue happens whether we’re hydrated or not.
*Flaw…they stopped getting cramps not because they hydrated more, but because they got in better shape as time went on.
Key to keeping cramps at bay: Be in shape for what it is you’re about to do.
By all means hydrate, but for other reasons.
ok. I did not know that. These were a couple of studies I was looking at. Clin Sports Med. 2008;27(1):183. Schwellnus MP, Drew N, Collins M. and J Sport Rehabil. 2007;16(3):190 Bergeron MF. I have limited experience with running off the bike so was looking for any possibilities to prevent further events. I have more experience with running and have only had one other time where I cramped like this and it was during an hour run when I lost 4 lbs due to heat. This was no side stitch and my abd muscles are still sore today.
That isn’t cramping. That’s GI distress. You need to experiment and find out which foods agree with your stomach better on race day. Do some bricks and try different foods for breakfast. I’m still experimenting with this myself. So far it seems that gels and liquid diet is better on race day than solid foods. But that’s for me, and even then I’m not 100% sure.
Also find out what makes number two easier, take that the morning of the race, and visit the port-a-potty before swim start. Black coffee works for me.
This was not bowel related I know that for sure.
Knife in your abdomen. That’s what GI distress manifests like while running. Makes you want to bend over like a question mark and grab your stomach, yeah? Feels very different than GI distress that comes on when you eat something bad or have a stomach bug.
I’m not you, and I wasn’t even there, so I could be wrong. I hope you figure it out.
The more I try different hydration strategies without sucess, the more I think it’s neuromuscular and related to fatigue and training. On thing to note for example. In sprint races, I drink less than I used to, but no long have leg cramping issues off the bike. Now it’s just muscle fatige and basically hitting redline. That correlates well to more training volume and quality. I still have issues in Olympic and we’ll see in my HIM comming up.
It is seeming to me that it’s not hydration linked, but rather muscle temperature and overall body stress from higher temperature is likely playing a factor.
I have limited experience with running off the bike so was looking for any possibilities to prevent further events… This was no side stitch and my abd muscles are still sore today.
I agree with Ashburn’s post: “Fatigue causes cramps.” But why did your abdominal wall muscles fatigue? Ashburn thinks “You rode too hard, or perhaps stayed in your race riding position longer than you did in training.” Perhaps this is true in part or whole. The fact is that cramps remain a scientific riddle.
Here is my speculation: Your abs were taxed more than usual in the swim and then remained shortened in your (aero) position throughout the bike. Fatigued muscle are more likely to cramp when contracted to shorten even more. This happened in T2 when you flexed forward to put on your shoes and crunched a bit to get them on. In this scenerio, your cramps should have occurred very early during the run.
Very good point. I’ve had hip flexors start to tweak early on in the bike leg. Clearly not a hydration issue 35 minutes into the race. I think in that case I hadn’t been training the swim very much prior ot that race and probaly was kicking harder to make up for fatigued arms late in the swim. I alos have a tendency to go out a little too hard on the bike in Olympic distance and don’t settle in to the proper pace until about mile 5-7.
In comparison, thsi year, better swim trianing and despite killing my bike PR, no hip flexor cramps at all. However, I still had to back down the pace on the run to avoid full blown cramps in the inside of my legs. I do kow that I could train better on the run. Earlier in the season i felt like I was “behind” in my bike pace so more of my quality workouts were cycling. Now its’ catching up a little and I probably need more long threshold runs. Of course, I enjoy threshold bike efforts a LOT more than hard run efforts.
thsi year, better swim trianing and despite killing my bike PR, no hip flexor cramps at all. However, I still had to back down the pace on the run to avoid full blown cramps in the inside of my legs.
I think you might be referring to the long groin muscle (adductor longus, AL). Not sure by any means, but my guess is that cramping in the AL is very common for cyclists who push the upper limit of their fitness. The AL is “almost-a-quad” muscle because it works continuously with them as it maintains the hip-knee alignment. Anytime you “dance on the pedals” the AL is working harder. However, it’s not only the AL if you feel the pain of cramping all of the way over to your hip.