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Jeff Linger
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« on: March 07, 2009, 07:07:04 pm » |
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Although this isn't technically an injury, its certainly something along those lines that is quite annoying. So, often after runs of 20+ miles, or runs over 10 miles at a fast pace, I get significant calf cramping. I'm not a big stretcher and probably should work on this, but my biggest guess is that I'm losing a lot of sodium on these runs through sweat. I will often wake up in the middle of the night with extreme cramping (you know, the shoot out of bed and reach for the toes kind), but it seems if I drink a cup of chicken bouillon after these runs it helps quite a bit. Any time I get the opportunity to add sodium to my food via salt I do so. I'd like to hear from any medical experts or nutrition experts on this matter. What's going on? Am I doing the right thing? Is it bad to be taking in a lot of sodium even if I'm sweating a lot of it out? What can I do to address this issue?
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Sasha Pachev
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« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2009, 12:48:19 pm » |
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More thoughts on this from personal experience, or "Sasha Science" view. I am aware of two types of cramps:
a) Taper Cramp - you've been running a lot of miles, then you taper, and something goes wrong between the brain and the muscle from the muscle being unexpectedly too fresh, and you get a charlie horse at night. Then you have to deal with it during the race. Happened to me before the Desnews Marathon last year, and I had to deal with it from mile 1 during the race. The problem went away in two days after Josse scraped and massaged it and never came back.
b) You get really excited during a race and manage to trick your nervous system to push above your muscular fitness. Happened to me in Freedom Run 2004 10 K. Prize money went 3 deep and there were 3 collegiate runners at the start. I was furious and determined to beat one of them or die. One was gone right away and out of reach, but I was able to hang with the other two. I made it to 4 miles with them. Then in the 5th mile I could not go any more with them. Around mile 5 my quad cramped really bad. I was not sure if I'd be able to finish. I backed off to about 6:00 pace and it recovered in about half a mile. I was able to kick and hold on to 4th place. I've seen it happen to other runners, except they were not as fortunate - the result was a DNF or jog-in. The pattern is the same, though - the runner feels he has something to prove to the point that he is able to override his neurological safety limits.
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Jeff Linger
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« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2009, 01:59:35 pm » |
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Yes, I'm referring to the 'charlie horse' kind of cramp. Where you literally shoot up in bed reaching for your toes, but because of the cramp you can just barely get to your toes and to unlock the spasm you have to pull your toe back towards your body. I get these pretty much like clock-work after runs in excess of 18 miles or medium distance runs at a more intense pace. As I said, I assume it is from loss of sodium through sweat.
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adam
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« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2009, 10:57:09 pm » |
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neurological based - yes
electrolyte imbalance - yes
calcium related - yes
how to stop them is not known. Lots of ideas, but not necessarily a cure. there are plenty of people that never deal with those issues, or do on a rare basis. there are also people that deal with them all the time. what makes them different is what makes anybody different from anybody. why do some get them during exercise and not after? why do some only get them hours after exercise? that relationship is still not really understood.
the one thing i don't necessarily support in the article is the anti-gatorade fight they are making. I do agree that the gatorade sports science institute is hardly unbiased, but generally most non-gatorade funded research that involves the use of some type of "sports drink" will take just about any product or create an electrolyte drink of their own as part of the research and the premise for electrolyte and carbohydrate replacement during long-duration exercise is mostly a good one. declaring it a cure or necessity is obviously far from the truth, but it is useful and sometimes effective.
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Fredrick Teichert
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« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2009, 11:18:25 pm » |
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I'm not an elite runner or nutritionist, but i've dealt with exercise related calf cramping for twenty years. Experts blame range of motion, stretching, hydration, heredity, fitness and, of course, loss of electrolytes. After trying everything, I've been able to avoid cramping by making sure I get enough sodium, potassium, calcium and manganese in my diet and by making sure I drink a lot of water before and after my runs. If you're not getting 6-8 servings of fruits and vegetables in a day, you're probably not getting enough potassium. I also take an electrolyte capsule for insurance every ten to twelve miles on long runs. Sports drinks contain electrolytes, but not the full compliment of minerals your body needs. Sodium by itself is not enough since it depends on potassium and other minerals to be used properly in the body. I think "Enduralite" is the name of one of the electrolyte products I bought in a running store. "EmergenC" has all the same electrolytes as the Enduralites plus a lot more stuff, so I drink one of those before my daily run. If I go really long, I take an Enduralite after about 12 miles. BTW- my cramps were debilitating. I could barely walk after an "episode" and usually had to wait 4-6 weeks before I could get back to running.
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Jeff Linger
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« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2009, 12:08:03 am » |
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Wow, I wouldn't call my cramping debilitating, but certainly painfully annoying. So far, after a long run, or intense medium-long run drinking a cup of water mixed with a teaspoon of chicken bouillon has mostly solved the problem. As such, I'm assuming its sodium related. Interesting info on the sodium-potasium relationship though. I actually usually eat a banana after a long run, but only because its a great nutrient packed fruit that provides quick results.
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Dallen
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« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2009, 07:56:35 pm » |
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Nobody has good answers for this. If there was a good treatment, we wouldn't be seeing professional athletes on the sidelines with cramps.
If sodium works for you, take sodium. Unless you have high blood pressure or other medical problems a little extra sodium is not going to hurt you. You kidneys will take care of it.
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