calves

wheelermuk

hi
not really a cycling specific thread, but kinda relevant.

last night i was running a 5k race, and despite doing alright my calves severely cramped up for the last k or so, and i was in pretty much agony as soon i crossed the line and slowed down. i'm pretty sure it's due to cycling, i'd done a fairly steady 40 miles the day before and although i'd try to stretch the calves out a fair bit they were still fairly tight during the warm up for the run.

is there anything extra i can be doing to try and help prevent this apart from the obvious calf stretches? also, may it have anything to do with having a fairly large amount of caffeine (for me) about 2 and a half hours before the race??

cheers

ride_whenever

well dehydration coupled with loss of electrolytes from sweating can cause cramps, how well hydrated were you?

I've found i get really bad cramps if I burn out on an off-road uphill section and try and run up it. Remember you need to stretch warm muscles, so try and do it as soon as you finish warming down. Possibly next race stretch post warming up.

gandhi

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. It would always happen about 10 mins into a squash game (It wasn't proper cramp, but it was a very sharp pain), and it wouldn't go away.

I have no idea why it was happening, but I made it stop by forcing my self to stretch out well after long rides, and going for a short recovery run (not ride) to sort the muscles out. I decided it was just toxins staying in the bits of muscle that don't really get used in the warm down on a ride.