Sunday, February 3, 2008

A Ways To Go


Yesterday was quite the day. I woke up to horrible cramps in my right calf. I have been battling cramps now for two weeks! It all started with the Winter Survival Race in Dubuque when I started getting cramps at about mile 3-4. Then, I have gotten them off and on ever since, but yesterday morning I could barely walk for the first hour or so I was awake. I will admit, I have been taking creatine for the last two months so I am going to take a break from it as I think it must be the contributor as cramping is a side effect.

I didn't get to my ride until about 3:30 or so and I was feeling a lot better. I decided to go north towards highway 20 approximately 30 miles up the road and then ride back. It is part of the GRAID route so I decided I better check it out a bit. It wasn't even 10 miles or so into the ride that I started cramping again, and at the 15 mile mark, in Jewell, Iowa, I just about turned around for home. I continued to drink my Boost, PB sandwiches and Gatorade. I pushed on towards Blairsburg and once there I turned around and headed home. The last 15 miles weren't easy as I was a cramping mess and had to talk myself into going one mile at a time. I ended the day with 64 miles in 6 hours total.

Some things I learned:
1. I need to invest less time into running and lifting and ride more. I am not in good riding shape at all.

and

2. Take a break from the creatine and see if my cramping problems go away.

It was a good ride, but I also know I am in poor shape. When riding level ground and it looks like you are going up hill in both directions then you know your screwed.

Happy training.

4 comments:

SquidBuzz said...

You are probaby correct on thinking that the creatine is your problem.

Check out this question at Hammer Nutrition. You will find it interesting.

http://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=ARTICLE&ARTICLE.ID=677&OMI=10089,10071&AMI=10089&RETURN_URL=/za/HNT?PAGE=EXPERTS&OMI=10089,10071&AMI=10089&RETURN_TEXT=Ask%20the%20Experts

(Sorry for the long link mess, couldn't get it to just do a nice hyperlink for me)

Taugimba said...

I would have to agree, when I was taking creatine and racing a lot in Tejas I continually had problems with cramping. I found even large doses of liquids did not do the trick.

Good luck with the training!

Neve_r_est said...

Don't feel too bad about the slow going. I've been lucky to get my average over 14mph lately. Maybe its the road conditions, I hope.

DG

Paul said...

Right now I would be pretty happy averaging 14. I need to through on a different cog as what I have just isn't fast enough for me right now. We will see if it makes a difference or not.

Heck, I think all of the clothes slow us down too! My coat is like a sail out there!