Side Cramps - WHO HAS THEM FIGURED OUT????

I was peaking for a half marathon and got a bad side stitch on one of my last big training runs. End up having to walk home it was so bad. A week later, coasting through 9 miles in the race, not even working hard, it comes back and I end up walk/jogging the rest of the way.

I spent over $2,000 on medical stuff -- with health insurance -- over the next five months because I was in contast discomfort. My stomach wall felt like it had been ripped and my lower right rib felt like it was going to pop out of my skin...again, all started with a side stitch.

After finding a Dr. who competed in a couple of Iron Mans, he claimed it could of been a combination of tendons holding various organs in place and or intercoastal muscle damage. Somehow everything is linked according to him.

I stuck to what he was saying, and esentially stopped running for five months -- yes it took that long. I road the bike, but still wasn't getting better. Finally, I decided to give the core stuff a try, something I should of been doing all along. I think it was partially the rest, but after doing to core stuff (plank routine by far the best) I was able to first, get rid of the constant discomfort sitting down at work, and second, slowly start running.

All told, I was injured last December, and began running agains in late July. I still feel it some but have stuck to doing the core workouts and just taking it slow and doing nothing over 7 miles.

My take is that trying to run through the side stitch in the half marathon did the most damage, whatever that was. I also believe that as a result of just running for years and doing nothing else, when peaking, my body called upon other muscles or whatever, and I could respond, hence the breakdown. All I can recommend is that the core stuff is important and no question a large part of the reason of why I am back to running.

Sorry for this being so long...

All great stuff everybody, thanks a ton.

What seems to be consistant and what makes a lot of sense is how efficient you are with your diaphram. Whenever I get a side cramp I notice my upper body is tense and my shoulders are raising to inhale. Being able to take a deep breath without raising your shoulders (having your lungs expand and push your diaphram downwards to push your stomach out) is very key - and it's harder than it sounds to have it be second nature. When people thinking of breathing deep - it's usually by raising their shoulders.

What seems to be consistant too is my experience w/ core work. I basically do NONE - and whenever I start doing any core work (cause deep down I know it's good), I get side cramps for next couple days even on my easy runs. So, out the window goes the core work until next time I realize (am told) it's really important. Since I don't have consistant core work, are my tendons/muscles getting sore/strained from the initial new core work I put on them (causing the cramps) and eventually I'll get over it as they're strengthend (and the cramps will go away). Similar to when you start running after doing none, you need to get over the initial soreness.

I usually concentrate on exhaling all of the air out of my lungs with my diaphram. I pretend that I'm actually pushing the pain out with my breath - I'm not sure why it works - but it usually does. If that doesn't work then I'll put the arm of the side that's hurting over my head - opening up that side of the body and do a little minor massage with my other hand. One of those or a combination always seem to work.

upnorth wrote:

check this website out

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/side-stitches.html

This is a really good/informative read

Flexibility is often an issue. Make sure to stretch your abs and other core muscles.

Wait, I get a lot of cramps and I am not a pussy.

it is eating the wrong kind of food too close to running that will predominantly give you side cramps. learn what your body can and cannot handle, and how close to your workout that it can be ingested.

Push your belly out as you breathe in and raise your shoulders at teh same time. There is no reason to not raise your shoulders. In fact most people do not use their shoulders properly while running.

I've struggled with this from time to time for years. It seemed to me that strenuous ab work triggered bad side stitches. I quit all ab work recently and always make sure to stretch out before a run (trunk rotations). It's working great so far. They also can flare up when I'm over tired.

I was actually going to start a topic up on here about this.

I've had this quite a few times in the past, it's always on cross country never on road. however this was my first 10k and it came on viciously at around 6.5km. it was pretty warm that day and was sweating a lot. could it have been dehydration? i drink all the correct drinks prior to the race but it could be down to sweating x amount of fluid and that's why i feel it beyond 6km.

only last week i ran a 15k and was very very wary of the cramp coming on. so at every mile marker i took on around 1/2 a mouthful of water. i didn't get any pain what so ever during the race.

i did however go through 10k 2 mins slower than the pace in the 10k a few weeks back.

I've also experienced this on up and down muddy cross country courses. i always though it was the hills setting the cramp off as it's never on the flat courses.

so at the moment I'm thinking is it hydration levels during the race?

and also once i get slightly dehydrated downhill running is a catalyst for the cramp.

I am now also introducing more core work into my training to see if that helps the problem.

and it's not about 'running through' these things. somthing is cramping up for a reason and that needs to be worked out. if you've trained hard and running just above a comfort zone but still inside your ability then there's no reason to suggest it's cramping up because you're not physically fit enough.

Recent work in the Ex Phys literature (Schwellnus et al.) has failed to find a link between cramping and any of the classic "causes" such as dehydration or electrolyte imbalance. They argue that fatigue is the major factor, which is why new, less fit runners cramp alot - they are simply running too fast relative to their fitness. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that most fit runners predominantly cramp during hard workouts and races, which is consistent with the fatigue explanation. Also, elite racers get cramps during the occasional race, so you do not grow out of this as you become a better runner, as some posters have suggested. Again, this is consistent with a fatigue model.

Hall of Mirrors wrote:

2:20 marathoner wrote:

only pussies get side cramps.

it's all in your head.

only insecure posers put their marathon time in their screen name - you're the guy at the office ALWAYS talking about running aren't you? douche

You'll be extremely pleased to learn I registered 2:20 marathoner's handle with a password and everything. Unfortunately I was completely schnockered when I did so, and for the life of me I cannot remember the password.

Looks like it sucks to be you 2:20 marathoner.

Well before this morning session i didn't drink very much and on came the cramp.

not so severe as my right side did begin to relax during recoveries and also i didn't have the stress of a race situation, but it was definitely the same pain I experienced.

I think I have found the root of the problem for myself anyway.

I'm not one for blowing my own trumpet here, but I'm not far off that elite category and I train damn hard and still get these cramps in races where I am not racing beyond my capabilities therefore I agree in saying it's not something you can overcome with training.