Restless Legs - I've got them
Restless legs have become a part of my life over the past couple years. They have been getting worse as I increased intensity and volume over the past two summers before IM Wisconsin. It usually wakes me up at least once in the night, and I get up, go get some milk, pee, and walk a little. That seems to reduce the agitation. If not, I then stretch a little in bed and try not to wake up my wife as I do happy baby and pigeon stretch. Doesn't seem to be much out there and my doctor friends just shrug when I mention it to them.
Curious if there is any one else who wants to whine with me. I guess anyone who does endurance has restless legs in a metaphorical sense.
I do drink a lot of coffee, but don't feel like I'm ready to give up that addiction. 
Comments
Stephan....I have RLS too. Not every night, but seems to come in spurts sporadically....usually 2-3 days in a row and then gone for a week or two. Totally screws up my life. I'm a physician (surgeon) but don't really know much about it (no one does). There are some new meds for it, but I'm not ready for that yet. If it were a consistent problem for me, I probably would try one of them though.
My experience, for whatever it's worth, is the following: it tends to happen when I'm very tired and fighting going to sleep (eg...trying to watch a football game on TV in which I'm interested, but really just need to fall asleep; falling asleep/dozing on the commute home from work). Once they start, it's game over. I try to just go to bed as soon as I sense they're starting...but sometimes life/kids just don't allow that.
I've learned what works for me to overcome the inability to fall asleep when my legs are constantly asking to move. But, it still wastes over an hour of valuable sleep time. If I lay in bed flopping around for >30 minutes (I'm usually asleep well before then if it's a "good" night), then I get up, eat something (bowl of cereal usually), get in the recliner, turn on Sportscenter and allow myself to doze off in the recliner. Once I awaken (which on occasion has been the next morning!) I can usually go right back to bed and immediately fall asleep.
I think some meds have RL side effects, but I don't take much (yet). If you're on any medications, you might look at the common side effect profile or talk to your doc about them.
I have also noted more problems with RLS on nights when I've done a run (I usually workout in the evenings/night) and more so during a build for IM or HIM. I also notice it more when I'm too warm/too many covers/etc.
I too am a total caffeine addict. I'm sure this problem would probably go away or be less common if I got off of it, but I just don't see that happening! I have noticed that if I completely cut out all caffeine >4hours before bedtime, it seems to help. You might try "shifting" your caffeine intake to earlier in the day. It's helped me.
Not sure that helps any, but there you go....
Thanks Jeff and Brenda. The web link and articles there were excellent I think. I chuckled at this home remedy:"Exercise your legs. Moderate exercise often helps, although excessive exercise can aggravate restless leg symptoms. A daily walk at a moderate pace is an excellent exercise, especially for folks who haven't been very physically active in a while." I will have to ask the coaches to work this into my Ironman Plan this coming summer. Seems like one cure might be cutting out Ironman and Marathons. Not gonna happen this next year if I can help it.
Jeff thanks for sharing some of your story. Sounds very similar. I have a few ideas that can possibly help me for now. I don't want to go on any pain meds for sure. Before I did that I would work at cutting back or out my coffee. Right now, I'm saying no coffee after noon. We shall see.
I was told at one point, that if you've got RLS, it's the same treatment plan as low iron (supplementation?). And, surprisingly, RLS is covered by most insurance, while low iron is not.
Like I said, that's only secondary-tertiary information, so it's not necessarily true at all, but it's what I've been told.
I have restless legs too. It got really bad when I starting running. Did some research and found out that we sweat out sodium,magnesium and calcium. All of which contribute to muscle movement. So I started taking 2 tums before bed. Boy has that helped! I rarely have a problem now. I don't drink much milk so I wasn't replacing the calcium. I tried taking the tums in the am. It didn't help. It seems to be the proximity of early evening that helps me. I also wear compression sleeves at work and on the days I run. That has helped too. I am on my feet for 13+ hours so my legs were swelling a small amount.
I can plan on having a problem the night of my long run. So I just take 1 tylenol right before bed. Works well. Hope this gives you some ideas on things to try.
Quinine has been used for years for restless legs too. It can be found over the counter in tonic water. Tastes terrible. Guess that's why people add Gin.
Can't taste worse that some of the sports stuff we drink and eat.