Triathlon - Completed 1st Duathlon....CRAMPS!!!

I just finished the Bad to the Bone Duathlon (http://www.badtothebonerace.com/) in N. KY. The course was pretty tough: 5k x-country run, 25mi hilly bike ride, same run. I finished in 2:44 and the last hour was, physically, the worst of my life. Everything was going great until the suffering started somewhere around the half-way mark on the ride. I was rolling along nicely when I got the worst cramp of my life in my right calf. Moments later the same thing popped up in my left. It hurt like Hell, but it wasn't bad enough to make me stop. I entered my next circle of hell when my chest/diaphram cramped up to the point where I could only take quick, shallow breaths. That went on until I uncliped my foot at the transition. The instantaneous pain in calf was so bad that I almost fell off my bike. You can imagine how well I did coming off the bike for that second HILLY x-country run. I was miserable for the first ~2mi of the second run, but then the cramps went away around the last mile or so.

Here's my question: Why did I cramp and what can I do to avoid that scenario in the future?

I thought that I was well hydrated prior to the start. I drank a bottle of water and a bottle of gatorade on the bike and then a cup of water at mi 1.5 on the second run.

Also, it seemed like the calf cramps were much worse when I was down in my aero bars.

I'm not an expert by any means, but I experience calf cramps like these on one of my tris not to long ago. It seems that it was mostly due to my seat being a bit to high, and I was pushing with my toes pointed down to much. Since then I've started to pedal more flat footed and the cramps have all but dissapeared. This is just me, but it may help you also.

My advice would also bea lower seat and flatter foot. Having your toes pointed will overly stress your calf muscle.

My advice is to train, train, train. It'll take away all the chest pains and it'll make you sexyer. So theres nothing to lose.

That is a decent distance to do your first DU on. I would like something of that distance, NOW, not when I did my first one. Nice job man! Most DUs around here are 2-15-2 give or take some miles on the bike.

pointed toes like nite gamer and triguy said for the calf cramps.

chest cramps, I don't know. ever exerted yourself for close to 3 hours like you did? just getting in shape I guess.

The first week I started running I had a lot of chest pains but a few days later I quit getting them and now have bigger lungs. It's all about making yourself work through it and making yourself better. The sooner you train with the cramps the sooner they'll go away.

I agree with Ryan (rplong) that it was a long du. Conditioning could be an issue, but I really don't know. Other than that, I wouldn't rule out a nutrition issue. Could you have been lacking some electrolytes? Consider trying out some electrolyte solutions...tabs, drinks...other than Gatorade. I had a thigh cramping issue related to it last year. Let us know how it goes.

congrats! I also do duathlons... my advice would be more potassium in your diet, it worked for me! :)

Stretching? I did a sprint triathlon yesterday and i forgot to stretch before the start... After coming back in from the bike portion, my calves started to cramp up on the run about 30 seconds after leaving the transition area. I had to stop for a minute to relax and stretch them out before getting back to running. I was perfectly fine after that.

[water/nutrition wasn't an issue since i made sure to eat/drink enough before the start and while on the bike and i never had cramps during my training either]

Agree entirely with stretching. I was in a hurry to get going on Saturday so skipped even a basic stretch out, did an extremely mild bike ride shorter distance than I was expecting and skipped the big hill. My calves are SORE! It's going to ruin my week.

Don't underestimate how important fully stretching all of your muscles is! Especially in multisport!