Sideaches...

[runshorty05]

How do you make em go away?

It pisses me off when I get a killer sideache when I'm in the middle of a good run. I was doing 6 miles today, supposed to be easy but I felt really good so I decided to run negative splits, and then going up the last hill, BAM, I couldn't breathe at all cuz of a killer sideache and had to stop and screw up my time.

Any suggestions?

[mcflyxc23]

drink a lot of water during the day....stay away from sugar **** and eat good stuff. That always makes my cramps go away..

[E-town5000]

do core exercises, that's what i did throughout the winter and i rarely get a sideache during a run, no matter what i eat during the day or how soon before practice

[mcflyxc23]

yeah or do crunches....i should of said that

[OneMoreRunner]

I'm assuming you're talking about cramps that are up under your ribs (aka stitches), right? There's a number of things you can do:


Try alternating your breathing cadence. i.e. if you're breathing in & out when your left foot hits the ground, switch to breathing when your right foot strikes.
Often times they're caused by leaning back/pulling your shoulders up when you're running, thus pulling your ribs away from your spine. If you start feeling a stitch coming on, become real aware of your form. Drop your shoulders and lean forward a bit. This will usually fix ones that you get from going fast downhill or during track workouts.
This last one is a bit of a quick fix, I've been using it since middle school until I discovered the other ways. Stick your hand up under your ribs and lean over from the hip to the side of the stitch and slightly forward. Slowly straighten up and simultaneously slowly remove your hand. Sometimes it gets rid of it for good, sometimes only for 30 seconds. I'd say try the others first, this is a sort of last resort.

[flyingsquirrel]

Potassium is good for prevention...eat more bananas and oranges
Also, don't eat before you run. The amount of time to allow between eating and running is specific to your body. I've found that 1-2 hours is good.

[iceman_128]

If you're doing good ab workouts every day then you shouldn't have a problem with cramps. When I've done good ab conditioning I can usually eat anything I want before a run and not have any problems.

[atreyu77789]

eat a banana a few hours before you run. if i dont eat a banana before i run, i usually get cramps.

[WR_Hurdler]

This is off the subject of sideaches but still on the subject of cramps. During a performance, 1/2 way through the second show my legs cramped up to the point where I literally in tears. I had the stage crew rubbing the cramps out but it did nothing to help. I ended up toughing out the rest of the dance and then drinking fricking Pedialite before the next one. What a day that was. But it worked. Its good for hydrating a person....but not so tasty.

hmm just thought Id throw that out there ha.

[The Thnikkaman]

How do you make em go away?

It pisses me off when I get a killer sideache when I'm in the middle of a good run. I was doing 6 miles today, supposed to be easy but I felt really good so I decided to run negative splits, and then going up the last hill, BAM, I couldn't breathe at all cuz of a killer sideache and had to stop and screw up my time.

Any suggestions?

don't drink gatorade or eat anything greasy/sugary(not a word, i know) before your run.

[Sully 800]

I have found that if you get a side stitch, flexing your abs to reduce the pain only makes it worse, so while it may be be opposite of your natural instinct try to relax your abs instead of tightening them up. Also, sometimes varying your excercise can help reduce a side stitch if you begin working different muscle groups. Some times I will get a side stitch but if I start running up hill or doing high knees it might go away.

The ab excercises and potassium however are also great ways to prevent them from occuring in the first place, so I would certainly try both of them too.

[mvrunner]

my coach told me to breathe in really deep when i get one and then blow out as if you were blowing through a straw it seems to help!