Hurty legs

[CaptainSlow]

Ok not the IT bands this time, they seem to be sorted. On the ride earlier after about 90km at 700m of elevation my legs really hurt on the muscles on top of the thighs and I struggled to get home.

During the ride I had 3 Sainsburys own Tracker type bars and a mini bag of Haribos fizzy mix (the free ones you get from Wiggle). What else do I need to stop my legs hurting?

[rhinochopig]

What do you mean by hurt? Where you fine before and they've suddenly started hurting or have you upped your miles and now they are?

If the latter, they will, until your body adapts to the increased distances. If the former then it suggests possible over-training / injury / have you changed the set-up on your bike: bar height, pedals, seat height etc. lack of fluids, etc. There are myriad possible causes so some more info would help.

[S6PNJ]

Rule 5?

Sorry, I can't help on the nutrition side other than to suggest some electrolyte in your water bottle, High5 or Nuun might do the trick.

[CaptainSlow]

There has been an increase in distances. They haven't hurt before and didn't hurt earlier on the ride. Is there a foodstuff that provides a nutrition to help with this?

[rhinochopig]

S6PNJ said:

Rule 5?

Sorry, I can't help on the nutrition side other than to suggest some electrolyte in your water bottle, High5 or Nuun might do the trick.

The electrolyte stuff is a waste of money. Try and catch the recent documentary on sports drinks. Obree explained his secret diet for breaking all the records he did: Jam Sarnie for a mixture of complex and simple carbs and water. The experts in the field all agreed with him.

[S6PNJ]

rhinochopig said:

Try and catch the recent documentary on sports drinks

Any links or hints to find this please? Genuinely interested.

[TheFungle]

rhinochopig said:

S6PNJ said:

Rule 5?

Sorry, I can't help on the nutrition side other than to suggest some electrolyte in your water bottle, High5 or Nuun might do the trick.

The electrolyte stuff is a waste of money. Try and catch the recent documentary on sports drinks. Obree explained his secret diet for breaking all the records he did: Jam Sarnie for a mixture of complex and simple carbs and water. The experts in the field all agreed with him.

He was still saying you need a certain amount of food types in your body for fuel, just what the energy drinks provide rather than a jam sandwich .

[rhinochopig]

TheFungle said:

rhinochopig said:

S6PNJ said:

Rule 5?

Sorry, I can't help on the nutrition side other than to suggest some electrolyte in your water bottle, High5 or Nuun might do the trick.

The electrolyte stuff is a waste of money. Try and catch the recent documentary on sports drinks. Obree explained his secret diet for breaking all the records he did: Jam Sarnie for a mixture of complex and simple carbs and water. The experts in the field all agreed with him.

He was still saying you need a certain amount of food types in your body for fuel, just what the energy drinks provide rather than a jam sandwich .

They went further than that to say that there was no discernible benefit from sports drinks. The only caveat was that it may have an effect in Elites, i.e. pro athletes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18863293

Watch here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l1yxk

[TheFungle]

rhinochopig said:

TheFungle said:

rhinochopig said:

S6PNJ said:

Rule 5?

Sorry, I can't help on the nutrition side other than to suggest some electrolyte in your water bottle, High5 or Nuun might do the trick.

The electrolyte stuff is a waste of money. Try and catch the recent documentary on sports drinks. Obree explained his secret diet for breaking all the records he did: Jam Sarnie for a mixture of complex and simple carbs and water. The experts in the field all agreed with him.

He was still saying you need a certain amount of food types in your body for fuel, just what the energy drinks provide rather than a jam sandwich .

They went further than that to say that there was no discernible benefit from sports drinks. The only caveat was that it may have an effect in Elites, i.e. pro athletes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18863293

Watch here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l1yxk

I watched it at the time and thought it was utter guff with a clear agenda, un-balanced reporting and full of contradictions

Most of us on here will be out on our bikes for at least an hour and for that we need fuel, that can take the form of jam sarnies, pasta, milkshakes or energy drinks, of that list I know what I'd rather in my water bottle to keep me going.

[racerbob]

I always think hurting legs is normal !!!

seriously though with this hot weather (where I am anyway) you really need to keep hydrated even if only water.

Other than that, just means you need to get fitter perhaps ?

[crisisjez]

I would suspect you have let your cadence drop. Its even more important on the longer rides to keep a good rpm to save the legs.

[rhinochopig]

TheFungle said:

rhinochopig said:

TheFungle said:

rhinochopig said:

S6PNJ said:

Rule 5?

Sorry, I can't help on the nutrition side other than to suggest some electrolyte in your water bottle, High5 or Nuun might do the trick.

The electrolyte stuff is a waste of money. Try and catch the recent documentary on sports drinks. Obree explained his secret diet for breaking all the records he did: Jam Sarnie for a mixture of complex and simple carbs and water. The experts in the field all agreed with him.

He was still saying you need a certain amount of food types in your body for fuel, just what the energy drinks provide rather than a jam sandwich .

They went further than that to say that there was no discernible benefit from sports drinks. The only caveat was that it may have an effect in Elites, i.e. pro athletes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18863293

Watch here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l1yxk

I watched it at the time and thought it was utter guff with a clear agenda, un-balanced reporting and full of contradictions

Most of us on here will be out on our bikes for at least an hour and for that we need fuel, that can take the form of jam sarnies, pasta, milkshakes or energy drinks, of that list I know what I'd rather in my water bottle to keep me going.

No less an agenda than the drinks companies though. I was involved in a study in the early 90s when at uni (whilst I was rowing) and the experiment found no performance benefits between water and hydration drinks so I have to say I side with the findings of the programme.

And speaking from personal experience of 24 hour races, I've always found energy drinks really rather unpalatable in terms of giving you stomach ache, and I'm not the only person I've spoken to that has had the same side-effects. Biologically we're just not designed for a sustained diet of a humming bird.

But hey, placebos have been proven to have genuine benefits in medicine and sport so if it works for you and you can afford it then go for it. Interestingly, the only one of these 'snake oil' products that I've used where I noticed a genuine benefit in performance was one of these inspiratory muscle trainers.

[okgo]

It won't be food I doubt, cramping can be down to hydration etc, but leg ache personally I don't think has much to do with food, certainly not over something as short as 90km.

1. You're pushing yourself, so it will hurt, everyone gets that.
2. Your position on the bike isn't right so you are putting stress on your leg in a way that isn't natural.

[anonymous-user]

spend 15 mins after the ride just doing hamstrings and quad streches, there will be loads of good stretching guides on the triathlon websites as they benefit the most on the bike to run leg.

[daz3210]

I use the electrolyte drinks personally, and one problem I have is that I feel bloody thirsty afterwards.

Usually use one bottle of water and one of electrolyte.

[Birdthom]

I watched the BBC program and thought it was really one sided tosh. The point is that although there is nothing magic in a bottle of high 5/SIS stuff which you couldn't get from a healthy diet, we don't all eat brilliantly for exercise and it's an easy way to get what you need. If I am heading out for a long ride on a hot day I would rather stick an electrolyte tablet in my bottle and take a couple of gels in the back of my jersey than trot round like paddington bear with some jam sandwiches and a flask of tea. It's easier and more convenient, and not particularly expensive compared to most other bike-related tat.

[bert11]

respect for not eating the wiggle harribo straight away!

[yellowjack]

I did my first 100+ miler last Thursday, and, having seen the documentary referred to, I've saved myself some pennies recently by coming over all 'Obree'.

Pre-ride:
1 Sausage, 2 Bacon, 2 Fried Egg, 2 Buttered Bread, Fried Tatties, Baked Beans, some weak squash and a cup of coffee

Mid-ride:
Home made Fishcakes (2) and Chips - from Chinese chip shop in Toft, Cambridgeshire

I took 2 x 750ml bottles of Hi-juice Apple squash, and topped up with 2 x 500ml bottles of Raspberry Lucozade Sport in the village shop in Toft, along with 1 x Kellogs Elevenses bar and another soft fruity Kellogs bar, along with a Zipvit energy bar. I took on all of the fluids, and the elevenses bar, lost the other fruity bar, presumably when I pulled the OS map out of my middle pocket at a navigation stop, and the Zipvit bar was 'emergency only' rations and is safely back in the cupboard. The ride took 8 hours, but my moving average came out at 15.4mph(lots of time waiting for the fishcakes to be cooked fresh).
Previous long rides with all of the expensive drinks/bars have found me fading at the 50-60 mile point. Thursday I felt much better until the 80-90 mile point, but that fade may have been due to losing one of my fruit bars, and may have been psychological.
Compound all of that with the fact that my 'recovery' meal was a bag of Doritos with some Hot Salsa dip, and a Chow Mein Pot Noodle washed down with another litre of the Hi-Juice squash followed by a 100 mile drive home at 2230hrs, and I'm surprised that I've felt no ill-effects at all.
103.4 miles, from Saffron Walden to Ely and back, in a lazy clockwise loop around Cambridge and Newmarket. None of this is meant to be a boast - more an observation that, when I was a slave to 'proper' energy drinks and bars/gels, I would blow up at the 50 to 60 mile point, and with a far bigger ratio of 'normal' food on board, I didn't feel too bad until nearly 90 miles in.

One caveat, though, is that sometimes you have a bad day, and Thursday may just have been one of my rare good days. I'd been out on the Tuesday for a 20 miler and that was barely above the pace I made for the 100 miler just 2 days later. It's a funny old world, but I'm now a convert to the 'Graham Obree School of Cycling Nutrition'.

[AyBee]

How used to riding that sort of distance are you? I find my legs hurt there when I'm really pushing myself but that's just normal and nothing I worry about, the next time, it'll happen later in the ride etc etc.

[Gizmoish]

I've always found that the sugar content of hi-juice lemon squash is more or less sufficient, plus a pinch of salt for electrolytes.

Peanut butter on toast before leaving home.