cramps!

Last night I hit the gym after work. I thought I would do a little Brick, with 45 minutes on the bike, plus 20 on the treadmill. I hardly ever bike, so I decided to push myself on the bike, and take it easy on the treadmill.

It's funny, the "old me" used to ride the bike at the gym for 20-30 minutes and barely break a sweat. I would take over one of the "reclined" position bikes where you basically sit in a chair while pedalling your legs. I would set it on Level 3 or 4, and read magazines or watch TV. I have taken a few spin classes, but basically avoided those because, well, they were hard.

Not last night. I took the "tall" bike, set it at level 10 on a random course, and set the "race" feature for 40 minutes. I came prepared with good music on my MP3, and a bottle of Vitamin water. I was sweating big time, heart rate was up to 150+ for most of the ride. I had the RPM as high as 100, and speeds of up to 25 MPH. Distance was 12.5 miles, calories burned were over 300. Definitely a lot higher intensity than my normal meandering Sunday bike ride style.

Time for the treadmill. Towelled my sweat of the bike (eww), took a swig of water and hopped on the treadmill. Walked for about a minute just to start, then upped it to 5.5 (11 min mile pace) with a .5% incline, planning to increase to ~6.5 (9.5 min mile pace).

Jogging about 2 minutes when sharp pains hit my left calf, then my right. Oww! oww! oww! It really hurt! Really sharp pain, enough to bring tears to my eyes, and a little embarassing when surrounded by people at the gym. I slowed down the treadmill, walked a minute or two, then tried to speed up again. OWW! Just couldn't do it at all. I walked the rest of the 20 minutes, increasing the incline to 5-6% to help stretch the calves and give me a little better workout. Did LOTS of extra stretching afterwards. Then I did some crunches, and got a cramp in the arch of my foot! Oww!

This isn't the first time I've had tightness or cramping in the calves/feet. My calves have been getting really tight lately, and sometimes I get a sharp cramping pain first thing in the morning. Not a nice way to wake up. Also get cramping in the feet when I swim sometimes. I need to head off plantar fascitis at the pass. I do stretch, especially the calves, usually in the morning, and definitely after running. But, definitely need to do more. Here is my strategy:

- Stretch! Every morning, plus before and after workouts. (I usually only do it after running)
- Hydrate! I think I am constantly in a mild state of dehydration, which definitely makes it worse. Drink more water, drink less alcohol. Today I am hyper hydrating.
- Massage! I have this back massager thing which is about to go right on the calves. I also have one of those foot roller things. Every day.
- Shoes! I'm going to try not to wear heels until after the marathon. They really aggravate it for days. Sneakers and flip flops for me -- so much for my professional image.

Today I'm just planning to do some yoga, and some swimming.