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How to prevent leg cramps in a marathon

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buzby123 Apr 2013 3:03pm, 22 Apr 2013 242 posts	Quote Pin buzby123 I've only done one marathon, admittedly it was multi terrain and hilly but, the one area I suffered was legs cramping up at the 20 mile mark. It coincided with a gigantic 2 mile climb, I tried to stretch off at the end and sent my legs into spasms. I then ran it off but it kept coming and going. On the finish line any slight twist of the leg a certain way would send those leg cramp spasms right down the calf muscle. So, is this down to the hills or something I can try to prevent? With a road marathon coming up on Sunday I am keen to work on getting the nutrition right to prevent it again. On the day I had had plenty of fluids with electrolytes, some gels (some with caffeine), flapjacks and jelly babies. Should I be taking some direct salt onboard i.e. salted foods etc?
RichHL Apr 2013 3:06pm, 22 Apr 2013 6,374 posts	Quote Pin RichHL I've read some research which suggests that cramps are associated with fatigue and not with electrolyte deficiencies.
MPHinLondon Apr 2013 3:09pm, 22 Apr 2013 379 posts	Quote Pin MPHinLondon I'm of the same opinion, I have only suffered once with cramps in a hilly ultra, was hydrated and took salt tabs, I was just wholly under prepared/trained for the actual event.
AB Apr 2013 3:14pm, 22 Apr 2013 96 posts	Quote Pin AB I used to get really bad cramp in my calves, I now use salt tablets and calf guards, never had an issue since.
Derby Tup Apr 2013 3:30pm, 22 Apr 2013 5,263 posts	Quote Pin Derby Tup Nuuns have helped me massively since someone gave me one (so to speak) at the Haworth Hobble a few years ago. Highly recommended nuun.com
missvivvy Apr 2013 3:31pm, 22 Apr 2013 19 posts	Quote Pin missvivvy I got terrible calf cramps in my preparation for vlm last year. They were exacerbated on hills. I do however agree that they are caused by fatigue. In the run up to vlm last year I broke my toe and had to take off the second half of Jan and most of Feb. I only came back to training at the end of Feb and ramped up my training in March from almost 0 to 120ish miles. This just crippled me. No amount of massages, stretching and nutrition helped. I limped round London. The good news! This year I am training for Windermere and I have been increasing my mileage month on month with (touching every bit of wood within reach) no problems at all. I have not changed my nutrition strategy either. Obviously you haven't time to change your training strategy but you could invest in some compression socks/calf guards? Try them first though, calf guards make it worse for me, but I love compression socks. Also have tried loosening your legs with a foam roller? Much cheaper than a massage and there's plenty of instructional videos on youtube. Yoga has also helped. Good luck with Sunday and I hope all goes well. Are you doing Manchester? If so I am on the Swinton RC run water station (don't know where) and will be cheering on Fetchies
Iron_Mum Apr 2013 3:36pm, 22 Apr 2013 3,869 posts	Quote Pin Iron_Mum This is so interesting - calf cramps have been my nemesis more often than I care to remember. Someone recommended Nuun tablets to me today, will have to check those out. Otherwise I agree it seems to be fatigue, worsened significantly by dehydration (had cramps like never before following diarrhoea bouts yesterday :-() so best advice is probably just to HTFU and do more training...
buzby123 Apr 2013 5:45pm, 22 Apr 2013 244 posts	Quote Pin buzby123 Thanks everyone, going to check out the nuuns. Typical me, last minute shopping the week before a race! I already have skins compression tights although the whole other issue with them is they don't seem to wick sweat away brilliantly and cause chafing. Missvivvy, yes its Manchester, I am already on the lookout for the Swinton watchtower (I know Steve H), I won't have fetch t on, probably my club vest (Burnden) although may actually be wearing anything but if the weather turns out like last year.
McGoohan Apr 2013 6:14pm, 22 Apr 2013 7,632 posts	Quote Pin McGoohan I got terrible cramping at Beachy 2 years ago at the 22 mile mark I nearly gave up. People were plying me with crisps to boost my 'salt'!
missvivvy Apr 2013 7:14pm, 22 Apr 2013 20 posts	Quote Pin missvivvy At least Manchester's flat We're at mile 23 I believe.