July 10th - Almost a Full Sprint then Auugh

I had some great experience preparing for the Hayden sprint today. I figured this would be my last day of full workouts.

In the morning I weighed 161.7, another 2/10ths of a pound lighter than yesterday's all time low.

Then I biked from Hayden to Post Falls, 14 miles on Lancaster, Heutter, Prairie and US 41. Not a bad ride except for Prairie which was way too narrow to be safe except early in the morning. I felt strong and was generally over 20 mph and many times 22/23/24 average.

When I got back, I ran 4 miles. 1/2 was a warm up up the hill, then 3 full consecutive strong miles, and 1/2 mile warm down. I felt great.

So in the evening to cap it off, I went down to Hayden Lake for a 1/2 mile swim. 1/4 mile into it I got a bad right calf cramp just while I was getting the forward crawl down better. I have just become comfortable in the water so I can attempt a crawl stroke Sat. I was hoping to practice, Wed, Thurs, and even Friday night because each day makes a big difference in my comfort level. Now to have a cramp. I swam on my back until I reached shore, then could hardly walk. What a setback.

When home I look all over the internet for the source of my leg cramp. Here is the list of what I found and what I decided to do:

• Drink V8
• Eat bananas
• Have electrolytes
• Warm up and stretch
• You were fatigued
• Tense ankles, loosen them
• Low potassium, salt, carbohydrates.
• Tight muscles
• Inadequate blood, nerve compression or mineral depletion
• Need magnesium to relax
• Stress, exercise, sleep deprivation, aging all increase need for minerals
• Kick from hip not knee
• Lift weights to balance muscles
• Do swimming before biking and running
• Take hammer Heed before swimming
• etc.

Knowing myself I decided that I was fatigued because I had hard biking and running work outs previously in the day, possibly needed some potassium, salt, and carbs recently (as I have been cutting down on weight) and should relax the next few days and probably be okay.