Sore legs; Very wierd!

[rickeolis]

I did an autocross this weekend, and during my second lap I got a charliehorse in my left calf, Ouch!
I toughed it out and turned in decent times, but could not understand why it happened... (Both calves actually got sore by the end)
Does anyone else have this happen?!!?!?

[John Rogers]

Sometimes after a race my left leg is tired from pressing on the dead pedal so hard. Especially true at a track like the CA Speedway where I am doing 135 or so in my 914 around turns 1 and 2! Of course there are lots of guys who go a lot faster!!!

[J P Stein]

Standing/walking /running on hot asphalt all day will do a number on ya.
I got home from AX today, sat down & put my feet up on the puter desk and my left calf objected.....strenuously. I'm 59 and that's my ecxuse

[jluetjen]

It most likely wouldn't hurt to try to be sensitive to tensing up while driving in competition. You want to be loose, not tense. The next time that you're driving on track, try to take a second occasionally to see how you tight you're holding yourself. If you set in a normal chair and just drive some mental laps, you might even find yourself tightening up which would be a pretty clear indication.

As to what to do about it; there's yoga, mental practice and doing stretching excercises before and after sessions to name a few. Another good trick is to do some breathing excercises when you are waiting on the grid to tone yourself down and condition yourself to relax. Finally, check your car to be sure that your leg is adequately supported and not being pinched by the roll cage or some other part. If in doubt, put some roll bar padding over any protrusions.

I used to go through the same experience when I used to played the drum set. With practice it went away and I learned to stay nice and relaxed when performing. Driving at speed or in competition in some respects shares the same stresses as performing in front of a large crowd.

[GUMBALL]

Is it possible that your seat & harness system is not sufficiently supporting you? If you are bracing yourself with your knees/elbows/hips.....or even if you are putting a lot of weight on the dead pedal, you might want to re-think your seating .....

[rickeolis]

I am extremely tense during the runs for sure, I'm sure it's got a lot to do with it.
Also, yeah I ran in the afternoon after having been a corner judge for the previous 4 hours in the hot sun, so that probably didn't help either!
Just wondering if anyone else has seen that -

[jluetjen]

A couple "wellness" things that I've learned help me a lot at the track.

1) Drink a lot of water. If your body doesn't have enough water is it more likely to cramp up, not to mention your attention will be down, etc. etc. I usually drink at least a couple of gallons of water a day when I'm outside at the track. I'll often follow-up sessions on the track by drinking some sports-ade (pick your favorite) mixed 50/50 with water.

2) Avoid heavy greasy meals before driving, especially such track favorites as burgers, brats, etc. I also try to drive on a fairly empty stomach, so I usually won't eat much for an hour prior to a session. Personally I like salads for lunch, but there are lots of things that you can eat which aren't heavy and greasy. A great snack when at the track is fresh fruit, especially citris fruit since it has a lot of water (again) and natural sugars. Bananas and melons have a lot of potassium which helps with muscle cramps.

3) Try not to rush to the grid. Get there early and spend the time mentally relaxing and visualizing what you are going to do. Do some breathing excercises to to settle your self down.

4) Avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours before track time. (In the SCCA that's a rule). Alcohol actually takes water out of your system. So having some beers the night before will mean that you're starting out the day behind the curve already.

5) Drink a lot of water. We're not talking about cups here, but gallons. You sweat a lot when you're standing on a paved pad in the sun. Better to drink too much rather then too little. If you are not urinating about once every 60 minutes, you quite possibly may not be getting enough water. If you're not drinking enough water for some of it to make it to your bladder, then it most likely means that your sweating it all away and may be getting dehydrated.

[emcon5]

Originally posted by jluetjen
5) Drink a lot of water. We're not talking about cups here, but gallons. You sweat a lot when you standing on a paved pad in the sun. Better to drink too much rather then too little. If you are not urinating about once every 60 minutes, you quite possibly may not be getting enough water. If your not drinking enough water for some of it to make it to your bladder, then it most likely means that your sweating it all away and may be getting dehydrated.

One of the things stressed during my Navy survival training was urination as an indication of hydration. Not just the frequency, but the color. What they teach is that generally speaking, the darker yellow your urine, the closer you are to dehydration. This will vary some due to what you eat, but it is a decent barometer.

The field portion of the school was in the desert outside San Diego, in August. They told us that if we were not pissing clear, we were not drinking enough water.

If you are borderline dehydrated, don't drink alcohol or caffeine. They just make it worse.

Tom

[rich22]

Cramps indicate that you need more than water. Drink Gatorade or the like.

[rickeolis]

Aha!
I tend to drink a lot of water while at work, but the day of the race, I had about 3 Mountain Dews, and NO water.
Next time WATER out the yin\yang! (And\or Gatorade)
Thanks guys- Good call

[jluetjen]

Next time WATER out the yin\yang! (And\or Gatorade)

Keep in mind that your body needs water, not Gatorade. Gaterade is good as a suppliment, but water is what your body needs.

[david c.]

if you spent four hours at a corner station I would kick the chief of workers in the arse once your leg feels up to it.

[emcon5]

Originally posted by rickeolis
I had about 3 Mountain Dews

Mountain Dew has pretty much the most caffeine of any soft drink.

Tom

[bigrubberjeep]

Caffeine and racing dont mix to well unless it is in a small proportion.

Whatever you do, don't have anything with caffeine on an empty stomach before a race, your nervs will be onpins and neidles.

Then the lack of water will just magnify the issue.

[rickeolis]

Yeah, the combination of nerves and caffeine could not be good! I'll replace the Dew with water next time out!

Dave, I am used to doing it that way. First, the guys who race in the morning have the afternoon drivers do the duties, then vise-versa.
Is that different where you are??

Tom, interesting web site on the caffeine, thanks-

[david c.]

Rick, our SCCA events rarely see more than an hour work time. We split the day into four or five heats so you work one heat and drive or watch the rest. Essentially you have one labor force for each heat so no one works for too long.

I also have been having cramp problems in my calfs after events lately. I usually drink about 8 bottles of water a day at the track. I do notice that days that I have a beer at the end of the event, I'll have worse cramping. My doctor says it has to do with circulation and physical position of the legs, but I think being too stressed is the root cause.

[rickeolis]

Cardone- Must be nice! There is a SCCA event next week and I'm going to try to run in it. Maybe I'll see some differences in that club compared to our PCA.

Drew- Finally someone who knows what I'm talking about; it doesn't hurt too much, just annoying during the run.

I'll cut the sugar and caffeine for sure next time out, and add lots of water.