When I run I get a terrible pain in my side.

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AmyBecky74
AmyBecky74 Posts: 437 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm new to running and didn't know if this was normal or if I'm doing something wrong that's causeing this to happen. If you got any ideas for me I welcome them.

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  • mimstero
    mimstero Posts: 119 Member
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    Most people say it's because you are dehydrated....make sure you drink before you run. Also, it does help to push in on that side. I get this issue occasionally and that's how I deal. It usually lasts for a mile or so.
  • avir8
    avir8 Posts: 671 Member
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    Try and practice your breathing while you run, keeping a steady and maintainable pace will help prevent that pain.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    It's a side stitch. It can be from not breathing deeply and hunching over as you run. Make sure that you're standing up, shoulders back, chest out as you run and that you take in deep breaths. If you feel it starting, check your posture, take some really deep breaths and sometimes putting your hands over your head will help.
  • AmyBecky74
    AmyBecky74 Posts: 437 Member
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    Thanks everyone, i'll definetly try your ideas. :flowerforyou:
  • QuietLegs
    QuietLegs Posts: 42
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    Side stitches are the bane of a number of runners. Just practicing running will help a lot at first.

    Even after running for months, I could still occasionally suffer from side stitches, however. But with these techniques that I found, I no longer have side stitches - period.

    1) Try to exhale with your left foot impacting, not your right. Why? Apparently it's related to the location of the liver being on the right side. Exhaling with your right foot means your diaphragm is suffering just that much more. Or something. Anyway, it seemed to help.

    2) Occasionally, for several hundred feet, purse your lips and exhale slowly and deliberately, activating your core muscles to push the air out. I'll do this if I feel a stitch, or *anything* start to feel a bit weird. I breathe four steps in, four steps out when doing this. At tempo pace, I breathe 4 in / 2 out or 3 in / 2 out, so this does require easing up slightly, or just suffering out the lower oxygen / CO2 exchange.

    3) Belly breathing. Actively use the core muscles to aid in exhalation, even when breathing "normally." I've just started doing this, and I've found it to be a fantastic way to help move the air in and out of my lungs more easily than before.

    Anyway, best of luck to you! Running is such an invigorating, freeing experience, I wish everyone could do it, forever, painlessly, and as fast as they desired.

    Oh. One last thing. Make sure to *drop the kids off at the pool* before running. Just saying.
  • runnninginmd
    runnninginmd Posts: 67
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    In addition to drinking enough water and breathing properly like everyone else said, be careful about how much you eat before a run. If I don't give my food time to digest properly I often get side stitches too. I don't even eat before any run less than 8 miles because I get them so bad!

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