"codehammer" <
[email protected]> wrote
>I ran my first marathon Dec. 11, 2005 (Dallas, White Rock). All was
> good until mile 18, where leg cramps started. I was able to complete
> the marathon, although not in the 4:30 I hoped for. I did stay hydrated
> (water and Gaterade), had enrgy gells as well. At 6'1", 220 lbs, are
> cramps something I will have to deal with, or is there something I can
> do to avoid them?
If your cramps were affecting more than a single muscle (eg, both sides, if
you stop and stretch, something else cramps, if you feel funny pre-cramp
twinges in other places, etc), then you are dehydrated.
It took me a couple of years to figure it out. I would cramp on longer
races typically after 3.5 - 5 hours, especially in hot or humid conditions.
After one particularly bad race, I weighed myself after I had to walk in
because of cramps. I had lost about 8 lbs (and I started at 152 lbs).
You say you stayed hydrated, but did you weigh yourself before and after the
race? I have downed quarts of liquid in long races and still have come up
5-8 lbs light at the end.
The proof that it is hydration is this (if this sounds too simple to be
true):
Next time it happens, stop and drink 30+ ounces of fluid. Take a couple of
salt tablets (I use succeed brand), too. Start walking. If you can begin
to jog again without cramps, that was it. When this has happened to me in
races, as little as 20oz chugged quickly with salt has ended them within 2-3
minutes. Don't try and jog through the cramps -- that causes muscle damage.
If you rip yourself up, the water will stop the cramps, but not the pain
from running on shredded muscles.
You are a big guy, with a high BMI (look it up). The higher the BMI, the
higher the heat load (less surface area per weight). So you run hotter than
the skinny ones. So you sweat more. In addition, you may have a high sweat
rate to boot.
Next race, weigh yourself before and after, take into account how much you
drank during, and determine your sweating rate (under that set of
conditions -- temp, humdity). I need about 40oz/hour when racing in 65
degrees when its humid, for example.
Finally, you need to replace salt if you're going to be drinking more than a
quart or two of fluid in a race. To the tune of 1 gram of sodium/liter
(about 2/3 tsp of pure salt per quart). This is the amount of salt in your
sweat. Without salt replacement, your sodium concentration declines. When
that happens:
You sweat less (and overheat).
You drink and the fluid sloshes around in your stomach instead of being
absorbed.
(it sloshes around because you need to pump sodium into your stomach in
order to absorb water. When your body is low on it, it suppresses this
process to conserve your plasma sodium concentration)
You feel queasy, and may not even want to drink.
In extreme cases you can get Hyponatremia and it will kill you. (rare).
So you get a vicious cycle of your body needing water, yet you feel queasy
and it won't absorb. The solution is to take a Succeed tablet for every
pint or two you drink during a long race. Salt with water enables your
stomach to absorb a 20 oz bottle in 2-4 minutes.
NFI in Succeed, salt, or water...
-- Dan
Biking year round