Suffering from cramps in training for marathon

ZiggyStardust

Hi guys, I'm training for the Dublin Marathon. I did a 20 mile run in the park on Sunday. (loads there training for the marathon). After about 16 miles, I started suffering big time with cramps. Really painful too.
Just wondering does anyone know anythin to help me here. I here something about sodium, pottasium, magnesium etc. What foods can I eat to help this, or just put more salt on food. Also going to get a massage.
One thing....I started feeling really cold after about 15 miles. Could this have casued the cramps?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Myksyk

Hi Ziggy ... not sure about the cramps but feeling cold is usually a sign of dehydration. Were you getting enough water in? If not this certainly may have contributed to cramps.

jasonb

Do you mean stomach cramps, or leg cramps?

If you're talking about sodium, potasium, magnesium etc., maybe you mean getting some water / energy / electrolytes back into you? Something like Powerade or Gatorade will help there, as will lots of the energy gels out there ( I like Go Gel myself, but it's very much a personal preference ).

I really wouldn't recommend running 20 miles without taking on hydration, electrolytes and energy, especially if you're a first timer like myself...

J.

ZiggyStardust

Hi Guys, Thanks for the reply's.
Leg cramps is what I was getting, basically, inner thigh, hamstring and calf. I run with one of those camelback resevoir packs on my back. Had High 5 energy drink in it. Also used two GU energy gels, after 10 miles and 15 miles. So I think I'm pretty much hydrated. Just wondering is there anything I could add to my diet.
Thanks

netman

Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium and Chloride are all mentioned in the context of electrolytes, and you could go off and buy some fancy sports solution, or you can just pop down to your local pharmacy and get some cheap Dioralyte or Rabolyte or a similar product.

Basically these are oral rehydration solutions for patients suffering from diarrhea.. I know, they'll look at you strangly when you ask them for the full 20-packet box, but you'll get over it when you see how much cheaper they are than the sports additives

And they do work the exact same way, just without the price tag.

High5 probably has electrolytes in it already, and so might the gels. In which case your problem isn't dehydration or loss of electrolytes but something else. Could be that you're overtraining, or it could be bad stretching habits.

Do you stretch before and after each run? Do you properly stretch your calf, hamstring and quadriceps muscles? A lot of runners are perfectly willing to spend 2-3 hours running but won't spend 10 minutes stretching.

Also, I could suggest splitting your 20 mile run into 4 runs of 5 miles, and stretching at each interval, along with some rehydration. Overall it won't hurt your time but it might help your muscles.

ecksor

I don't think it's a good idea to use those sachets on a regular basis, which is why the pharmacist might not be keen on the idea of giving them to you or in bulk.

I did use them once for a few days coming up to a national indoor championships when I just couldn't seem to get rid of my dehydration and I managed a couple of personal best performances over the weekend.

One friend of mine went off to tibet climbing stupidly high mountains and he was told to bring them with him.

Odysseus

I don't think there is any problem with using dioralyte I work with a few pharmacist's who recommend them for running long distance, one of the guys himself is a runner.

tunney

netman wrote:

Do you stretch before and after each run?

Stretching afteer - great. Before, bad. Don't stretch cold.