So my legs are cramping for the most part on the run. It only happens durring the races, never if i do a brick. I use salt tablets during the bike, to try and help but I don’t know what else to do? I normally use GU Roctane on the bike mixed with GU Brew. I take in 2 21oz bottles, and usually grab a powerade at an aid station and drink a portion of that as well. Also usually 4 GU’s and maybe a GU chomp on the bike. Does this happen to anyone else? Is this something I just have to learn how to run with cramping legs? I know I can run faster if I can keep the cramps from happening
So my legs are cramping for the most part on the run. It only happens durring the races, never if i do a brick. I use salt tablets during the bike, to try and help but I don’t know what else to do? I normally use GU Roctane on the bike mixed with GU Brew. I take in 2 21oz bottles, and usually grab a powerade at an aid station and drink a portion of that as well. Also usually 4 GU’s and maybe a GU chomp on the bike. Does this happen to anyone else? Is this something I just have to learn how to run with cramping legs? I know I can run faster if I can keep the cramps from happening
Bike slower.
John
Is there a way to train my legs so they are used to biking just as fast and then running on them so they don’t cramp? I don’t want to bike slower to keep from cramping, I want to find out if it’s a nutrition thing or maybe train my legs to get used to putting out that much energy.
Yes, bike slower.
My run legs only cramp if I have done too many watts on bike.
Raising your FTP will help, but on race day you can always go too hard. A power meter helped me on longer races.
Is there a way to train my legs so they are used to biking just as fast and then running on them so they don’t cramp? I don’t want to bike slower to keep from cramping, I want to find out if it’s a nutrition thing or maybe train my legs to get used to putting out that much energy.
Yes, there is a way to train your legs to bike just as fast and then run on them without cramping. Do a lot of bike training to get better at biking, then your run won’t suffer. Until then you have to race with the fitness level that you have, and you cannot shortcut it because the reason for the cramping is not nutrition.
i guess it’s time for a power meter!!! I was just getting used to the idea that I could get away without having to purchase one and spend the extra cash…so much for that idea.
thanks joe24! I will do that
The simple explanation is that your bricks are easier on your legs because they do not closely simulate the bike intensity and distance of your races. If true, you are comparing oranges to apples.
Is there a way to train my legs so they are used to biking just as fast and then running on them so they don’t cramp? I don’t want to bike slower to keep from cramping, I want to find out if it’s a nutrition thing or maybe train my legs to get used to putting out that much energy.
Yes, there is a way to train your legs to bike just as fast and then run on them without cramping. Do a lot of bike training to get better at biking, then your run won’t suffer. Until then you have to race with the fitness level that you have, and you cannot shortcut it because the reason for the cramping is not nutrition.
This is the most depressing part of reality that I want to reject, I can swim MOP, I can bike MOP, then I get crushed on the run. It’s really kind of depressing, but the truth is, there are no short cuts. The only cure is putting in the time.
I just wondered if the pro’s and other people experience the same thing I am and if they just pushed thru the pain or if they just train more so they don’t get cramps. So it sounds like I should put in more time on the bike with serious effort and possibly up my mileage and then my run might not suffer so much.
My first 3 70.3’s I cramped on the run always thinking it was nutrition or lack of run fitness. My bike leg strategy was simple. Bike over 30km/hr. Last year in prep for my first Ironman, trained with power at a local bike studio and bought a powertap. I dialed in my FTP and in a lead up 70.3 race I raced at a target wattage of around 80% of FTP and did not worry about speed. I still managed an average pace of over 30km/hr but most importantly did not over do it in the bike and ran my first 70.3 free of cramps. It was a combo of better bike fitness and racing at the appropriate effort on the bike leg. I also incorporated a lot of tempo and threshold runs during the week which I believed also helped as last year was also my first year of doing standalone marathons cramp-free. The tempo and threshold runs help get your running FTP up also which can’t hurt for sure if you are trying to run cramp free.
My legs cramp in the middle of the night. I don’t think you need to ease up on the bicycling.
I do think you need to discover the cause of the cramping. It may be as simple as changing how you train the week or so before your events.
Personally I think that training at race effort and distance is the best way to get past cramps.
i guess it’s time for a power meter!!! I was just getting used to the idea that I could get away without having to purchase one and spend the extra cash…so much for that idea.
You don’t NEED a power meter but you do NEED some way to quantify and manage your effort. Some folks do just fine with RPE only, others prefer HR, power or both. Point is, you are riding too hard and getting yourself into a hole before you even realize it.
PS, there should not be an apostrophe in “Tritats.”
My legs cramp in the middle of the night. I don’t think you need to ease up on the bicycling. I do think you need to discover the cause of the cramping. It may be as simple as changing how you train the week or so before your events. Personally I think that training at race effort and distance is the best way to get past cramps.
The causes of nocturnal leg cramps are likely more different than similar to exercise-associated leg cramps. In some ways, I think nocturnal leg cramps are more disease-related. However, I hardly know more than the next guy about what causes exercise-associated leg cramps other than over-fatigue and previous cramping in the same muscle.
I use salt tablets during the bike, to try and help but I don’t know what else to do? I normally use GU Roctane on the bike mixed with GU Brew. I take in 2 21oz bottles, and usually grab a powerade at an aid station and drink a portion of that as well. Also usually 4 GU’s and maybe a GU chomp on the bike
Do you take in any good-old, plain water? I’m having success with staving off the cramps this year by ensuring that I have plenty of plain water too. This is an n=1 experiment recommended by a local team rider. Our circumstances are slightly different, but hey, could be worth a try.
My legs cramp in the middle of the night. I don’t think you need to ease up on the bicycling. I do think you need to discover the cause of the cramping. It may be as simple as changing how you train the week or so before your events. Personally I think that training at race effort and distance is the best way to get past cramps.
The causes of nocturnal leg cramps are likely more different than similar to exercise-associated leg cramps. In some ways, I think nocturnal leg cramps are more disease-related. However, I hardly know more than the next guy about what causes exercise-associated leg cramps other than over-fatigue and previous cramping in the same muscle.
Could be a nutrition issue, such as low calcium (spouse) OR a pre-cursor to a medical condition such as diabetes (n=1)
I had similar issues during my first few tri’s. Staying hydrated and electrolytes are important, but doing more bricks (especially hilly rides) helped the most for me. After an all out effort on the bike, the first 1-2 miles of the run are hard, but after that I usually loosen up and my pace improves.
Despite some of the well-meaning folks, cramping on the run in the vast majority of situations is a exceeding your training issue and NOT an electrolyte issue.
Marathon runners (pure marathon runners) deal with this all the time, even the best ones. One of the things you quickly learn in your first marathon blowups, is that no amount of salt, calories, or whatever, is going to save you from those cramps if you overpace the first half. It’s VERY clear, and every serious marathon runner learns this first thing - you never hear experienced marathon runners squabbling over how useful their salt tabs are - they almost never take them, because they know from experience it isn’t going to save them from overrunning their training.
Triathletes get more deluded because there are 3 disciplines that confuse the issue. Yes, events are longer, and yes, for uber-long IMs, you should def take some salt, but even then, your cramping is far, far more likely to be training related than salt related, meaning that even if you took liberal salt from the get-go, you’d still cramp at the same frequency given your training.
If you want to cramp less on the run, train more for the run, and bike slower on race day. It’s not just a matter of gutting it out - if you’re getting full on leg cramps (not the transient ones), forget any chance of continuing to run a decent pace.
Despite some of the well-meaning folks, cramping on the run in the vast majority of situations is a exceeding your training issue and NOT an electrolyte issue.
Marathon runners (pure marathon runners) deal with this all the time, even the best ones. One of the things you quickly learn in your first marathon blowups, is that no amount of salt, calories, or whatever, is going to save you from those cramps if you overpace the first half. It’s VERY clear, and every serious marathon runner learns this first thing - you never hear experienced marathon runners squabbling over how useful their salt tabs are - they almost never take them, because they know from experience it isn’t going to save them from overrunning their training.
I don’t disagree with you about exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC) being caused more by a mismatch between training intensity/distance and racing intensity/distance than by an electrolyte issue. But I think it is fair to say that the causes of EAMC may be layered one on the other, and that the order of layering may vary for each individual case. In my mind, the most important layer is the training vs. racing mismatch, then perhaps muscle ischemia/hypoxia because of the first layer, then perhaps electrolyte imbalance because of the second layer, then perhaps prolonged muscle contraction time because of the third layer, etc. Yet, it all probably begins with over-pacing on the bike. Both of my legs cramped up 100% in IMC. My body craved for salt, but they don’t make salt tabs available in Canada. They do, however, serve chicken soup after the turn-around and that instantly cured my cramps!