Heavy leg feeling began at the swim....
2954
Member
1369 days
Anton posted 2 years ago.
First...Good job on finishing!Despite what we are often told,sometimes races are not that fun..
New clothes can sometimes cause problems.
Poor nutrition too.
While I'm not a Dr. (and don't play one on TV) I doubt the chest cold affecting your legs.
Have you everhad sciatic nerve problems before?
The sciatic nerve supplies the muscles to the back of the knee and lower leg. It also provides feeling to the back of the thigh lower leg and foot.
How does it feel today?
I have heard that sometimes, in the open water washing machine we can damage it without really realizing it.
Hope it's better!
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
283
Member
1388 days
Amy Lee posted 2 years ago.
Hi Anton,
Thanks for your thoughts!
I think I've figured out the problem. It was probably the combination poor nutrition prior to the race and the compression of the really tight elastic on the tri shorts. When I put my wetsuit on, it must have really blocked the blood flow and made my legs feels like there were 50 pound weights attached.
Today I tried to run with those same tri shorts and I had the same feeling mid thigh. I changed in to my old loose pair and was able to run and swim with my wetsuit on no problem.
Who would have thought that an elastic band could destroy a race? Oh well, we race and learn every time.
2954
Member
1369 days
Anton posted 2 years ago.
Great! I love it when yer able to figure things out and solve a problem...those must be some tight shorts!
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
477
Member
1344 days
geochuck posted 2 years ago.
Amy Lee great that you found out the cause of your problem.
I'm stumped. I just did my 1st oly this season yesterday. It was the Shipbuilder's in Bath Maine.
When I started the swim I felt ok-just a little nervous cause it was my 1st open water swim/first time in my wetsuit this season. Everything was going fine until about four minutes in to the swim when suddenly I felt this incredible heaviness in my both of my legs mid thigh down. It was actually painful to kick my legs. I tried to swim without kicking and that made things more difficult. I never felt this feeling ever before. I finally finished the swim and lugged my weak body into T1.
The pain continued on until 2/3 of the way through the bike. My bike time was 10 minutes slower than my last olympic race. My run was the slowest ever in the history of mankind. My right leg was actually numb from the hip down by the end of the race. I was just happy to finish but I wanted to know if anyone had ever experienced anything like this before.
Here are some of the things I think may have caused it...
1. A new pair of Voler tri shorts with a tight and thick elastic at mid thigh which decreased my leg circulation. I had worn them before cycling but never in combination with my wet suit.
2. poor nutrition prior to race, ie. too few carbs, very little to eat for breakfast cause I had to repair 2 flats before the race.
3. some kind of bug in my system. ( I have a chest cold)
gosh, if anyone has any ideas I would love to see them.
thanks,
Amy