Forums >General Running>Help please
A little bit of back ground - I'm 28 yrs old, 5'3 and ~100 lbs. I've been running for about the last 6 months. Prior to that I was mainly hiking and doing some mountain biking.
I did did my first 5k in March and have done a few other trail runs since then with the longest being 5 miles. The problem I'm running into is that I keep getting bad side stitches at about mud distance of the races. I never get side stitches on a typical run (typically run in the evenings) just races. Most of the time I can just run through it but the past couple have been very painful causing me to have to walk for a second.
I know that I probably start off at a faster pace during the races, could that be the issue? I believe I am eating a fairly healthy diet. On race day I typically eat 2-3 hours before and it's typically a low sugar oatmeal with half a cup of coffee.
i guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice? Is this something that other new runners have experienced? It's just frustrating!!
English Villain
Do you have enough salt and fluid in your diet?
I try to drink between 50-70 oz of water a day. On the morning of the race I typically only drink a small glass when I get up. I'm not really sure about the salt, I've never really paid attention to how much salt I eat. I typically go for low sodium or unsalted items.
Side stitches are very annoying. I have had them in almost every marathon I've run, but never in training runs.
I make them go away by deliberate belly breathing. Exhale completely, inhale toward your belly until your belly cannot go out any farther, then continue inhaling by raising your rib cage until that cannot go any farther. Repeat until the side stitches go away.
It's Tuesday every day
Have you tried eating something other than oatmeal before your races? Reason I ask is, the one time I had a bad side stitch in a race, I'd eaten oatmeal before. --Christine
Side stitches are very annoying. I have had them in almost every marathon I've run, but never in training runs. I make them go away by deliberate belly breathing. Exhale completely, inhale toward your belly until your belly cannot go out any farther, then continue inhaling by raising your rib cage until that cannot go any farther. Repeat until the side stitches go away.
Thank you so much! I will give that a try! When it happened this past Saturday I did find that taking a deep breathe and holding it for a second helped but it's kind of difficult to run holding your breathe lol
I tried eating half of a plain bagel for the first race I did and then on another occasion I ate fig bars but I ended up with the same results. What do you typically eat the morning of a race?
I used to get them and was that my "running fitness" was not not ready for that pace and distance(went out too hard). As your training comes along you will be handle that speed during the race and you will not get them as Often. Try on your next race to go out with the slower crowd and pickup during the race and finish hard\strong. You may get a faster time.
A little bit of back ground - I'm 28 yrs old, 5'3 and ~100 lbs. I've been running for about the last 6 months. Prior to that I was mainly hiking and doing some mountain biking. I did did my first 5k in March and have done a few other trail runs since then with the longest being 5 miles. The problem I'm running into is that I keep getting bad side stitches at about mud distance of the races. I never get side stitches on a typical run (typically run in the evenings) just races. Most of the time I can just run through it but the past couple have been very painful causing me to have to walk for a second. I know that I probably start off at a faster pace during the races, could that be the issue? I believe I am eating a fairly healthy diet. On race day I typically eat 2-3 hours before and it's typically a low sugar oatmeal with half a cup of coffee. i guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice? Is this something that other new runners have experienced? It's just frustrating!!