What happened when you quit running?

Side stitch fix:Change your breathing/step pattern. You're procbly coming down hard on your right foot at full exhale. Your liver is mostly on your right side, and you are straining its suspension ligament. Keep your rib cage expanded by breathing deeper an and more fully. If you must touch down at full exhale, do it on your left foot. But best just to run tall with rib cage expanded.A college star I coached in high school recently took a few weeks of light training, and got side stitches (right side) when he restarted training. I gave him the same advice...and magic! Stitches gone. This season he's a PR machine.

When you say you get side stitches, is it more of an internal pain, like you ate too much (even if you didn't)? Or is it more like a muscle cramp directly below the surface?

If the former, have you tried running in the morning on an empty stomach? I used to have a really hard time running after eating, even if it was many hours later. As it turns out, I had Celiac disease the entire time, but regardless of whether that's your issue, it might benefit you to see if you can run easier on an empty stomach.

If the latter (or really, in any case) try strengthening your abs. If you have an unusually weak abdominal wall for whatever reason, that could definitely result in side stitches. Do planks, side planks, V-sits, scissor kicks, sit-ups, sit-backs (that's a sit up where you focus on lowering yourself back down slowly), Russian twists with a medicine ball, pushups, bicycles, and butt raises. (If you don't know what some of these exercises are, google them).

Thanks to everybody who replied to my post, I really appreciate the input. Lots of info about my side stitch problems, including an in-depth description of the stitches and a list of the prevention/alleviation tactics that I've tried, can be found at the following link:

http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/runner-communities/beginners/side-stitchesstomach-cramps

^I'm the OP in that thread, and I post under the name 'Striders.'

I'll respond individually to each comment below:

the average male runner- I definitely feel like an extended break from competitive running would be beneficial for me. While the side stitches are a big physical pain, they're a confidence-drainer too, and I need some time off to mentally recharge. As for seeing ''what the doctor says'', I've been visiting a reputable chiropractor over the past few weeks. My next appointment with him is on the 29'th or 30'th, and hopefully he'll have some helpful tips for me then.

what sport you play- I never said that the side stitches occur because I run too much (or, as you put it, need to run less). The cause(s) of the stitches are likely unrelated, or just minimally related, to my running volume. I just think that I should take a break from running because the stitches are such a pain (quite a fitting idiom, eh?).

help you- You really nailed it when you wrote "they totally ruin the sport of running." In my case, that's completely true. Thank you very much for the offer to help me find a good doctor, or to help me yourself. As I mentioned above, I'm currently seeing a chiropractor in the hope that he'll be able to solve this issue. The chiropractor that I'm seeing is the same chiropractor that several professional sports teams, such as the Toronto Raptors and Toronto Blue Jays, use (knowing that, you should be able to figure out my location =p Toronto).

FogRunner- I'm not sure I understood what you mean by "keeping my rib cage expanded." I've tried several breathing tactics, including breathing in a 2-2 rhythm, changing from inhale to exhale on the opposite foot from the pain, belly breathing, and exhaling fully. The problem with many of these tactics is that I can't use them during high-intensity workouts or races, as they restrict my oxygen intake too much. Do you recommend that I change from exhale to inhale while I'm in the air? Your statement 'if you must touch down at full exhale' seems to imply that, but I may be reading it incorrectly.

Less Than Snake- The pain I feel is a constant, sharp pain, which grows worse as I continue exercising (unless I slow down significantly). Lots of info about my stitches can be found at the link posted at the beginning of this message.

As for running on an empty stomach, that helped when the stitch problem first occured (way back in April/May) but now it doesn't seem to make a difference. Even at morning XC practices, when I haven't eaten in 10+ hours, I can still get stitches during runs.

I currently do ab workouts 3 times per week. As I wrote at the top of this post, the specific exercises I do are: standard crunches, bicycle crunches, V-crunches, toe touches, heel touches, flutter kicks, scissors, planks, and up-and-downs. I do 20-30 reps per exercise (except for planks [1] and scissors [10]), and I manipulate the exercise so that it begins to hurt around the 18-20 rep mark (for example, I'll do bicycle crunches slowly, so that my abs are hurting by the time I reach the 20'th repeat).

I'll incorporate sit-backs, pushups, and side planks into my routine, and I'll look up some of the other exercises you posted, such as V-sits. Once I figure out how to properly do them, I'll incorporate them into my routine as well.

I already do butt raises as part of an exercise routine my chiro has prescribed to me, although their main purpose is to help with a minor knee injury I got ~1 month ago.

If the pain is always just beneath the right side of your rib cage, it's most likely your liver's suspension ligament.

Yes, change when you inhale/exhale with your step pattern.

If you are a heel stomper, stop doing that. Instead of a solid "heel strike," work on a lighter "foot stroke." Paint a stroke, don't pound a nail.

By "expanding your chest" I mean imagine you're in a pool and you want to float better. What do you do? Expand your rib cage, filling your lungs with more air. Want to sink? Empty your rib cage. Try this with about 10 pounds (medicine ball or 10 lb. plate): lay flat on your back, and move the weight from your thighs to the floor above the top or your head. Also, do the same thing standing. Breathe deeply with each rep up over your head, and exhale fully to your thighs. Do this daily. If you feel a little stitch twinge during these or while running, stop and massage deeply on the spot that spot (you may have a little scar tissue that needs to be broken up). Stick your nose in an anatomy book and become a student of your own body. Remove the mystery, and you'll have confidence to overcome.

Just about every kid I knew had side stitches when we were your age. Lord knows I had them (and shin splints). I remember them being very rare by the end of 10th grade as I ran more and more for soccer. We had a 2.2 mile hilly timed run we did 2-3 times per week, and I got down to 12:15 in 10th grade. But one year before that stitches drove me nuts.

I'm 52 now, and my first mile in today's 5K was 5:14. I can still run 16:high for 5K, and 4:45 for 1 mile. So I understand your discouragement, but it is a challenge you can overcome, and when you do you'll be on a path to a healthier, more enjoyable life.

FogRunner

By the way, I take about 8 steps/inhale, 8 steps/exhale when running easy, and about 4/inhale 4/exhale when I have the hammer down. 2/inhale 2/exhale seems like shallow breathing to me. And it's going to work the heck out of your diaphragm, possibly making it cramp.

Something else just occurred to me. Change your steps/breath from an even # to an odd #, like 5/inhale 5/exhale. An odd # will break the loading pattern on the liver ligament.

Thanks a lot for your tips, FogRunner! It's reassuring to know that you used to deal with stitch problems, but got past those and continue to run.

As for your chest expanding tip, I've heard from most sources that I should try to belly breathe (expand my belly when I inhale), and keep my chest (and therefore ribs) still. However, that hasn't worked too well for me, so I'm open to trying your recommendation.

As for the exercise, I'll start it ASAP; I think I might use a heavy book, though, as I don't have any medicine balls or 10-lb plates lying around. How many reps would you recommend I start off with? Maybe 2 sets of 10-12, building up to 3 sets of 15?

Finally, thanks for the tip about an odd-numbered breathing pattern. I'll try that during my run tomorrow, although there's no way I'll be able to hold a 5-5 or even 3-3 pattern late in a race, as I'm gasping for air too much. It could definitely help in the opening kilometres, though.

if you can only run 10-15 miles/week, do it all at tempo pace or faster.

A little different story. Never ran in HS or college. Started smoking cigarettes at age 18. Army in '66, Vietnam Nam. Ran only when I had to--PT Tests. Hated gagging and seeing white spots while I coughed up some of my lungs after a 1 mile run. Decided to quit smoking at age 32 and started running prior to being promoted to Major.

It is nearly 37 years later and I have run just over 76,000 miles (over 450 races from 1 mile to 50 milers.) Amazingly, I love it more each year I run. Reading a lot of the posts, I am glad I didn't run when I was in school, I doubt I would still be running. Getting in gear for my 19th marathon, and more importantly, it will be having completed a marathon in the last 5 decades(70's,80's,90's,2000's, and 2013)!!

I am very grateful that I have my health, and have had very few injuries. Running has been a gift.

DoubleNick wrote:

Reading a lot of the posts, I am glad I didn't run when I was in school, I doubt I would still be running.

Running in HS/college is a mixed blessing. On one hand, I'm glad I ran my hardest when I was young and had the most potential. On the other hand, I'm an old beat up guy now. Jogging is painful; hard training is unthinkable. I see guys my age doing really well at local road races and kind of envy them; none of them were running in high school or college. I got mine early in life; they're getting theirs later.

I guess the ones I really envy are the select few who can train hard young and can keep going hard for decades as they age. Those folks are few and far between.

I think it's kind of odd, when people find out I run they tell me they used to run a 15:xx 5K when they were in high school/college, and they are all heavy and out of shape now. Where as guys like myself who didn't start running until they were middle aged are still at it, logging anywhere from 30-60 miles a week. While we might be classified as fitness or hobby joggers on here, at least we are still out there everyday, cranking out the miles and trying to be competitive in races. Funny how things work out.

I quit running at age 39 due to always being injured. I got tired of getting up every morning in pain. I had a few possible medical procedures that might have helped, but realized it was just time to walk away. I'm 41 now.

Lost about 10 lbs as I realized I had to start watching what I ate a lot more. Stabilized at 165, a good weight for me. Walk about an hour a day, that's it. Life is good.

Update: I started back running today and ran 1 mile. Stopped midway to puke. As I mentioned before, I live in a rural area with only a tiny road to train on. I have no car to get me anyhere else. I just run back and forth. Hopefully, I can get under 200 pounds by Christmas.

I stopped running regularly around 25. I was able to be competitive at the DIII level on ~50 mpw, but I'm not even a good weekend warrior at 20 mpw. I don't really get any pleasure out of being a crappy recreational runner - I enjoy competing. I was able to get out of that mindset with other sports/activities that I wasn't previously so attached to, so I can hike or play soccer or try new things without the hangup of being depressed at how much I suck.

I am 10 lbs heavier than I was when I finished running competitively. I was notably underweight although not anorexic then, and I am at a normal-thin weight now. Non-runners would say I was very thin.

I can jog 6-7 miles no problem.

I (sort of) quite twice, with semi-disasterous results.

At 35 I sort of knew I'd set all my PRs and decided to focus on work and such, and took a few months just running easy (20 or 30 mpw) and jumping into a few races. Got the itch and promptly became injured by doing a couple workouts in which I was not quite ready. That resulted in a four year downward spiral, adding about a minute per year to my 10K time.

I bounced back for masters running for about three seasons, but again sort of hit a plateau. At this time I had young kids and a less than flexible work schedule and decided to hang it up for the sake of family and career. Just jogged 20 miles a week for about 6 months, gained 8-10 lbs, but ran a couple races for fun. Those efforts resulted in another set of long term injuries, and I had to sit out for almost two years. I hated it.

After that I decided I'm not giving up until I can't do it anymore. My volume isn't anything great, about an hour a day, but it feels good to be in decent shape and while I'm slower (much slower) than I used to be, I keep moving up on the age grade scale and I'm having fun while having time for a regular life. This is a balance I can live with.

If you're not actively eating a ton or working out, you'll probably only gain about 10 lb from the simple act of not running. Trying to gain muscle and become "normal" looking again or attractive, is an absolute bitch but it can be done with the proper work ethic and dedication.

which one -

did you ever look up that female ncaa xc runner from a few years ago who had a rib problem? She said it felt like a side stitch but was actually a rib problem - something wrong with the shape of one of them.

__

as for me - I stopped competing for my 30s. I stayed active - went from 140 lbs to 145. When I hit 39 I revved back up, lost 10 pounds and am back to near my hs times.

I severely regret missing my peak distance runnign years.

Wow, lots of people can relate to this! Getting out of shape happens much faster when you get even older! I lifted weights with zero cardio for 5 years and it finally dawned on me with a resting PR of 90 that this was not good. Now I run about 10-15 miles a week with a resting pulse of 64 or so. Took months though! Healthy move glad I finally woke up

I'm one of those guys in denial. At 27, it's probably time to walk away but it's all I have at the moment. Life hasn't interrupted.

This year for the first time in almost a decade I'm facing some career-ending injuries. An insertional Achilles problem that hasn't responded to non-surgical treatment. I get this sick feeling in my stomach when reading a out those who were forced into retirement. I might only be capable of a 15 min 5K but the training for it is so rewarding. I love this sport and would compete until my dying days.

For those who have questions about the sanity of serious hobby jogger racing, just remember those who would give anything to be in your shoes. You're not a slave to running or unbalanced just because you like to get out the door and hammer, no matter what the pace.

Iffley Road wrote:

Update: I started back running today and ran 1 mile. Stopped midway to puke. As I mentioned before, I live in a rural area with only a tiny road to train on. I have no car to get me anyhere else. I just run back and forth. Hopefully, I can get under 200 pounds by Christmas.

You can. FIrst three weeks will suck. Don't go over a mile, and stay slow. Second three weeks, things will start to get better. By six weeks, you'll be able to go 15-20 minutes.