Cramp: what a bastard

Cramp: what a bastard. You are swimming along and you get cramp in your toes. You finish an open water swim and are running into T1 – wham – cramp in your calf. You put in your best bike leg ever then start the run leg and - bang – your entire leg cramps. Some cramp in triathlon is unavoidable. This is because you have to change muscle groups during races, you are increasingly dehydrated during an event and because your muscles are simply under such stress. Even after races, when getting changed, on the way home in the car, walking up the stairs at home, you name it, cramp can strike.  At least after a race it doesn’t matter as much, but it is still a total bastard. Cramp can also make your muscles sore for days after an event which impacts on your training.

Cramping then is something we all know a little about. It usually begins with spasmodic muscle twitches that morph into a painful sustained muscle contraction during the race. Cramp can involve one muscle or several. Dehydration and electrolyte depletion are considered by most triathletes to lead to cramp and this article focuses on addressing these causes.

It is however important to be aware that it can also be caused by localised impairment in the muscle tissue, with excessive activation of certain groups of muscle fibers within the affected muscle leading to their premature fatigue, failure to relax, and the onset of cramping. If you have previously injured an area of muscle this may account for the local impairment. This explains why many triathletes always get cramp in the same muscle(s).  I know I do, but I also know that most of the craps I have experienced have been self-inflicted.

My four worst memories of cramp are:

1. Driving from an all night party to run a half marathon. I got to 15km, threw up on the pavement while spectators looked on with disgust, started running again and then my leg cramped so badly I had to sit on the pavement until, after drinking around a litre of water, I could walk again. My ‘friends’ took a photo of me looking horrible at the end of the race.

2. During my first ever marathon I swallowed a gel every 20 minutes (with hindsight I feel like a total donkey for doing this). Instead of hydrating me, these gels just sat in my stomach and – I think – prevented any water from being absorbed. When I crossed the finish line I had to sit down on the ground before throwing up all this green goo all over the finish area.

2. I got off the bike in T2 at a middle distance triathlon and immediately started running. I could feel cramp coming on, but I was trying to maintain my place in the race. Then suddenly I couldn’t even walk. I was looking around me thinking that’s it. With my eyes swimming in my head, I reached down and pulled back my toe and counted to sixty. I then sat down and touched my toes. Finally, I could walk. I walked all the way to the next drinks stop. I lost places in the race because I didn’t listen to my body.

3. I once did a hard 200km cycle sportive the day before a sprint triathlon. I arrived at the race thinking: “sure I was only cycling yesterday”. I got through the swim, the bike and then cramped in both legs in transition while pulling on my runners. It was race over. I was so dehydrated from the day before that my body could not move any more.

What can you do to try to reduce the incidence of cramp? My advice is simple.

1. Before even thinking about racing, make sure you are recovered from any muscle injury or injuries you may have sustained. Any imbalances in strength, flexibility and activation of surrounding muscles can lead to cramp. If you are regularly cramping in training and races, you need to seek help from a physiotherapist and/or sports injury specialist.

2. Don’t enter a triathlon unless you are sure you have done the training to complete the event. Many people, often experienced triathletes who are having an easy year, will turn up to a shorter triathlon event and assume it will be no bother. Many of these will then experience cramping of muscles which have been under-trained. The old adage: “train hard, race easy” is true also for avoiding cramp. If you haven’t trained your body to withstand a certain number of miles or pace in training, you’re more likely to encounter cramping in a race, especially if you race faster than anything you have done in recent training.

3. To prepare properly for a triathlon, you need to do brick sessions to get your body used to transitioning between muscle groups during a single event. When doing these sessions, try to do them at race pace, so your body gets used to the sudden transitions. When you get to the race, stick to what you have practiced. Stick to the plan. IF you go faster, you risk cramping.

4. Ensure you rest before a race because cramps often results from fatigue. Triathletes have a tendency to over-race and to over-train. Your body cannot train or race every day. Depending on the length of the race, your body will need anything from a 3 week taper for an Ironman, to a two week taper for a middle distance event, a week for an Olympic and at least a few days for a sprint. To go into a race tired is to invite cramp.

5. Don’t go into a race sick or hungover. You see people turning up to races who are green.  Just because you have a race entry or your friends are going doesn’t mean you have to race. Even if you intend to: “take it easy”, think about what your body will think about this decision. Your temperature will be above normal and the race will increase this. You will be extremely dehydrated and the race will leave you in tatters. Then you wonder why you have cramped.

6.  In the days before a race stay well hydrated as your body will be recovering from training or other races and maintaining sufficient water in your body is critical for this. Keep a bottle beside you at all times.

7. In the hour or hours before a race, keep drinking water until your pee is clear. Twenty minutes before the swim start, drink around 250ml of water (carry a bottle to the race start). If you need to pee in your wetsuit, I forgive you. Better out than in; start all races well hydrated.

8. In shorter events you can transition from the swim to the bike without drinking, but for longer events (anything over Olympic distance), you may want to consider drinking around 500ml of water in transition: the longer the swim, the greater the need to drink straight after. On very hot days this is critical.

9. Once on the bike you need to drink according to your pre-race plan. For example, in an Olympic triathlon, I know I need to drink 1 litre of fluid between the swim and starting the run. This means drinking a 750ml bottle on the bike and also drinking a few mouthfuls of water in transition before and after the bike leg. I could carry two bottles on the bike, but I find this unnecessary. The general rule for me is around 500ml of water per hour of racing. Everyone is different and needs to perfect their drinks strategy across a number of races. If you get it right, you won’t cramp.

10. You will need to add electrolyte hydration tablets to your drinks during a race. There are many brands offering many flavours (Nuun, High5, Viper and Powerbar are all good examples). These replace the salts you lose as the race progress and help you to avoid cramp. You should practice with these to decide what works best for you. Longer spins provide a good opportunity to do this.

11. If you get a slight pre-cramp twinge: DO NOT IGNORE IT. Stop at the next drinks station and take at least 500ml of fluid on board and keep taking fluids on throughout the remainder of the race. If you are starting to cramp, your whole body is dehydrated and you need to remain conscious of this at all times. You may also need to drop your intensity by around 5-10% such that your muscles are not pushed beyond what they can achieve in a dehydrated state (better to finish than to have to stop).

12. Hold your form during a race. Even if you’ve trained properly, changes in your swimming, biking or running form as you fatigue can also cause problems as more demand is placed on the muscle system and this may lead to cramping. If you watch the run leg of a triathlon, you will runners who aren’t picking up their feet and driving their knees as they normally would, they are instead relying more heavily on other muscles that may not be prepared to handle the load.