leg cramps

curraghyid

Ran kildare marathon and was moving well enough 4.15 pace when at mile 14 cramp beganto set in both legs hamstring, calf muscles and quads all at once i managed to keep going stopstart until mile 20 when they dissaeared as quickly as they came on. I had done lsr runs at 9.45 mile and this didnt happen taking on less liquid than in race.

Previous marathons this didnt happen either anyone got any pointers on ways to reduce risk of developing cramp, it was a strange experience to finish a marathon not feeling exhausted but every step absolute agony.

Any help greatly appreciated.

menoscemo

Cramps are more often caused by salts depletion than dehydration. You can help prevent this by taking a few electrolyte tablets in your water before/during the marathon. There are several brands out there, Zym, SIS, HI 5 etc.

It' possible that by taking on more liquid than usual, you sweated more and thus lost more salts.

nerraw1111

Quick question also on cramps.

Fecked up pre race and didn't get any salts on board. So in terms of what to after you made a mess of it before a cycling/running event has even started, is there anything you can at the first onset of cramps on the bike; besides drink/salt etc. I got some relief by shifting cycling position but that Might've been fluke.

Nwm2

menoscemo wrote: »

Cramps are more often caused by salts depletion than dehydration. You can help prevent this by taking a few electrolyte tablets in your water before/during the marathon. There are several brands out there, Zym, SIS, HI 5 etc.

It' possible that by taking on more liquid than usual, you sweated more and thus lost more salts.

Source?

menoscemo

Nwm2 wrote: »

Source?

No source, just pretty much common knowledge, something I didn't know about myself until I got cramps and asked around.

Nwm2

menoscemo wrote: »

No source, just pretty much common knowledge, something I didn't know about myself until I got cramps and asked around.

I was being deliberately provocative, but you nicely sidestepped it.

For the purposes of kicking off a debate if someone wants one, I will argue that this 'common knowlege' has no basis in fact and that actually no-one really knows what causes cramps.

TheRoadRunner

menoscemo wrote: »

It' possible that by taking on more liquid than usual, you sweated more and thus lost more salts.

Are salts in sweat not a by product of physical activity?

I suspect the majority of extra water is urinated out. Even if additional water makes you sweat more would the concentration of salt not be the same?

curraghyid

menoscemo wrote: »

Cramps are more often caused by salts depletion than dehydration. You can help prevent this by taking a few electrolyte tablets in your water before/during the marathon. There are several brands out there, Zym, SIS, HI 5 etc.

It' possible that by taking on more liquid than usual, you sweated more and thus lost more salts.

Thanks for the reply menoscemo your opinion sounds similar to what others have said will give them a go.

hot to trot

Interesting debate as to cramps. I read somewhere recently ( medical journal article) that fatigue has more to do with cramps than salts. I will see if I can dig it out.
I would tend to go with this more than the salts thingy myself IMHO. People often find themselves cramping when running fasterand longer on legs that might still be a bit fatigued and not fully tapered pre event. Will post linky as soon as I can track it down , or a similar reference.