Newbie Cramping

Triathlon Forum
1

This weekend was just my second Olympic distance triathlon so please be easy on me. During my first Olympic distance (Sept 13’) my left quad cramped up on the last mile of the run. Knowing this I got some clif bloxs w/ extra salt and hoped this would help my cramping on the run if I took them on the bike. Unfortunately they fell out of my shirt in T1 before I got a chance to try my theory out. This week my left quad cramped up at mile 4. I know this can be contributed to poor run and/or bike fitness but I want to make sure I’m getting the proper nutrition in before and/or during the race.

A little bit of background. I’m 6’1” 205lbs. Between work, family, etc I usually train 6 days a week that generally consist of the following:
Monday: 40min Swim (lunch) ; 45min-60min Trainerroad (water only)
Tuesday: 40-60 min run (8:30-9:00 min/mile pace) (no gels or water)
Wednesday: 40min Swim (lunch) ; 45min-60min Trainerroad (water only)
Thursday: 30-45 min run (8:30-9:00 min/mile pace) (This is usually the day that gets cancelled bringing me to 6x week)
Friday: 40min Swim (lunch)(no gels or water)
Saturday: 1hr -2hr bike, 20 min run (water with Nuun, sometime but rare I have a gel)
Sunday: 60-90 min run (no gels or water)

I had no real nutrition plan prior to the race.

Morning of I had a bagel with strawberry jam. On the drive to the race I had about 24oz of Gatorade and then 1 Gel about 30 min prior to swim start. On the bike (somewhat hilly course from what I’m used to in Florida) I had about 20 oz Gatorade and a little bit of water in my second bottle. I felt good on the bike but don’t have a powermeter and didn’t wear my heart monitor so can’t tell if I went out too hard. At T2 I had another gel and went on my way. Felt great for the first 4 miles then started to feel my quad starting to cramp. I took a sip of Gatorade at the next station and cramp subsided for a couple min of running but kept coming back. For the next two miles I probably had to walk for about 2 min.

I never cramp during any of my training rides or bricks so I’m hoping its nutrition but ultimately know it’s my overall fitness level. Obviously at my level I’m not going for the podium, just want to finish the run without having to walk.

2

I’m inexperienced but this looks like a fitness issue to me. It seems like you have some decent volume, but what does your taper look like and what days are you doing intensity? What paces are you using for racing and do you do any race pace or temp pace workouts in training?

3

At the Olympic distance, I doubt that under-nutrition is the issue. Given that your quads are cramping, I would guess that you are exceeding your current fitness level on the bike, and that is becoming clear on the run.

4

Unfortunately, that is not a food related issue. You simply raced harder than you have trained.

5

With the limited amount of time I spend on the trainer during the week, do you think it would be better for me to do higher intensity for the 45-min to an hour or follow one of Trainerroad’s base building plans? Unfortunately their base building plans, or any base building plans for that matter require a lot of 1.5-2 hr rides during the week.

6

I’m inexperienced but this looks like a fitness issue to me. It seems like you have some decent volume, but what does your taper look like and what days are you doing intensity? What paces are you using for racing and do you do any race pace or temp pace workouts in training?

I tapered for a week which involved 30-45 min sessions each day and did not train the day before. Honestly I feel like I train harder than I race, at least for the bike. Running training definately needs some improvement as I basically just go out and run for varying amounts of distances but at the same pace