How to Handle Side Stitches

Side Stitches. We've almost all experienced them. On a regular run they are frustrating. During a race they can ruin your day. But yes, with the right information you can stop side stitches.

The reason we get them remains open to controversy but most authorities suspect that it happens when the ligaments which run from your diaphragm to your your liver and other internal organs stretch.

The best way to stop them is to change your breathing pattern or alter your pace (slower, preferably). Of course the optimal situation is to prevent them before they happen. Different things work for different people but the usual recommendation is to hydrate well and not eat much before you run; the emptier your belly is the more room for lung expansion you will have.

If you want to impress friends at a cocktail party or when socializing around the post-hash keg, just tell them you've been experiencing ETAP (Exercise related Transient Abdominal Pain).

You might also be interested in stretches for curing runner's knee.

Are You Wearing the Right Running Shoes?

At the end of January there are still some New Year's Resolutioners hanging in there and losing weight. Good at you! But what do you have in common with many of us that have been running for years? You may not be wearing properly fitted running shoes.

Wearing the wrong shoes can result in injury and the medical costs associated with that, not to mention the depressing downtime. The best bet is to have an analysis done at a running-specific shoe store, not your typical mall outlet. These specialists can determine your special needs and perform a gait analysis.

You must determine whether you are a neutral runner, an over-pronator, or an over-supponator. You must take into account your foot width. Many manufacturers don't offer different widths. New Balance and Brooks are good bets for wider feet.


Once you have determined a shoe model that is right for you, you will know what to buy in the future. Since running shoe companies are notorious for retiring favorite models, you need to remember the key specs for your favorite. This will allow you to pick another model when your regular one goes away.

Don't be shy about asking the manufacturer about model changes; sometimes it is just a name change. For example, many, many years ago, my shoe of choice was the Brooks Chariot. The model didn't really go away, it was just upgraded and renamed the Beast.

How many miles should you put on your shoes before changing them out? That is largely a personal matter and you can't rely on looks. Knowing when you need new running shoes is a case of trial and error. I personally find 500 miles to be the right distance.

The bottom line? Don't gamble with your running shoe selection. Medical treatment is always more expensive than a new pair.

Supplements-- Are Getting a Bang for Your Buck?

As I see it, the main problem with supplements marketed to runners is that the industry is unregulated by the FDA, unlike drugs. And make no mistake, this is a huge industry. One source estimates that yearly sales hover at estimated at over $17 billion.



With no real way to know what are in those supplements means you may be wasting money, not getting the results you expect, or in the worst case you could be harming yourself. If you decide to roll the dice you can only put faith in manufacturer's claims. Even if the claim is made that "studies have shown blah, blah, blah," in may cases the study has been funded by that very same manufacturer.

Many ads sound downright bizarre. For example, for a while now a supplement made from jellyfish claims to help brain function. By all rights jellyfish should be swimming Einsteins. But they're not.

This isn't to say that all the news is bad. Vitamins and some herbal supplements have undergone legitimate studies and do offer many benefits. Many have been independently tested and bear a label on the bottle. For example, Consumerlab.com says, "To further help consumers, ConsumerLab.com allows manufacturers and distributors to use specific CL Seals to identify products that have met ConsumerLab.com standards based on its product reviews."

The bottom line? Be skeptical and do your homework before shelling out that hard-earned money.

Informal Club Runs are Motivating

My running club holds informal group runs at the Seabrook Trails on Sundays so I showed up for it yesterday. I hadn't run with this particular group before, and I didn't really this time either.


Not that I didn't start with them. They were just too fast for me. Oy vey! There was a time when I would have pressed on with them, but the years and the miles have conveyed a bit of wisdom to the rational part of my mind. It happens.

But I did get to talk to my old friend Lou, who I hadn't seen for many years. He's always been faster than me, but one year I was able to hang with him for about the first eight miles of the Dallas White Rock Marathon. Awesome course.

Finding Your Own Pace

When the running club is large enough, these informal runs take on a real social flavor and there's several runners in each slice of the pace pie. Track interval workouts are the same way. This is where the motivational aspect comes in. In my view, the social aspect is as important as the psychological training aspect.

We all want to get faster, but it's important to temper the desire with a smidgen of reality and train scientifically, not haphazardly. And above all, keep it fun.

Case in point: a few years ago, the club was doing race management for a local 5K. Jay and I set up the course in the dark pre-dawn. Since we were going by clumsy handwritten course instructions, we set the turn-around cone about 50 meters too far out. Oops.

Curb Your Enthusiasm!

Should have been no biggie, right? Well, to most folks it wasn't. But the first guy through the finish chute was one of Houston's elite runners. You know, not fast enough to make a paycheck, but fast enough to score free "sponser" Powerbars every now and then.

He had a good enough sense of pace to know that the course was long, and he let us have it with both barrels. By golly, he was 3 seconds off his predicted finish time! Reason enough for a major temper tantrum. Very sad, even for this regional demi-God.

Sometimes being a middle-of-the-packer is its own reward. I'm blessed that talent and genetics haven't turned me into a Lord Farquaad.

Begin a Fitness Program on National Running Day

Despite the fact that fitness incentives and promotions crop up from time to time, we're still a country of chubbies. Sad but true. This week there's another drive to raise awareness. June 3rd, 2009 is National Running Day.

Find a Local Running Event

There are locally organized events all over the nation. Find a running event that you can participate in. Sad to say, the dialog box where you enter a state, zip code, etc. didn't work too well for me. Just scroll through the list and see if you can find one.

Can't find one? Doesn't matter a whit. You don't need something organized to begin a running routine. Running is a minimalist sport, yet it's one of the best ones for your heart, lungs, immune system, attitude and more.

Get Your Fitness Gear

At a minimum, you'll need a properly-fitted pair of running shoes and a pair of shorts. Cheap, eh? No greens fees, no gym membership, no gasoline and boat trailer tax. Once you really get into it, there are some really cool toys, er, ah, I mean accessories! Check upon it out:

• Hydration. No doubt you've already got a basic plastic water bottle even if it's just the one from the grocery store, or a used Gatorade bottle. But there are handy water bottle belts. Check out Fuel Belt for one.
• Identification and emergency medical information. This is one that a lot of runners forget. Anytime you wander from home, you risk a medical problem. It's easy to have that info on hand without getting it tattooed on! For an affordable wrist ID, ankle ID, shoe ID, or shoe pouch ID, check out www.RoadID.com.
• Heart rate monitor. These come in handy for training in specific zones based on your maximum heart rate.
• Performance-enhancing MP3 recordings. I recently found this one and it's awesome. It uses gamma and beta waves to get you "in the zone" and boost endorphins, better known as the "runner's high".
  

So there you go. Motivated yet? Lace up those shoes!

Hot Weather Running

The heat is really starting to creep up now, day by day. A week ago the daily high was in the mid to upper eighties. Now it's beginning to nudge 90. And yet it is cooler than normal for a historical perspective. Global warming? I don't think so.

Not that they call it that anymore. Now it's "climate change". I guess even an egghead like Al Gore knows how to hedge his bets to keep the money tap open on the lecture circuit. Now that's a convenient truth.

The trick is to adjust the old running schedule and locale to minimize the pain. It's a good thing to have some heat so as to become acclimated and not crash and burn at a weekend race. But not too much, eh?

During the week I have to run in the late afternoon and I've got a good spot nailed down. A couple of years ago, the powers-that-tax put in the Armand Bayou Hike n' Bike trail along Red Bluff. It's a crushed granite trail so it's easy on the body, but the really good thing is that it's shaded, folks. Shade is your friend.

Actually, I prefer the Seabrook Trails, but shade is a wee bit lacking there. But for early morning on the weekends, it can't be beat.

Funny thing is, both of these routes are extremely under-utilized, unlike Memorial Park up in Houston proper. I can't understand why, but hey, I can't complain.

The bottom line is: pick your route carefully, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Boost Your Running with Gamma, Beta Waves

It's no secret that athletic performance and mental attitude, or mindset, are as tightly coupled as a boa constrictor on its prey. The trick is to puzzle out how to use that relationship to our advantage as runners. I think a company called Brain Sync has one solution.

Train the Brain, Train the Body

Do you remember your first marathon? You know the feeling in the last few miles. You're no longer running on body energy; you're running on sheer will power and the enthusiasm of those around you. When all else is gone, it's mental, folks.

Think it's just new age bunk? Consider up and coming Kara Goucher. She ran in the 5K and 10K in the Olympics. She recently led the woman's field for most of the race in the Boston Marathon and finished third. But when she went to the New York Marathon, she took her sports psychologist with her to keep her focused. Hey, if it works for her...

I Can Get This From a MP3?

Indeed. I have used Brain Sync's products in the past and have been pleased with the results. So when I found their Running Meditation, I decided to try it.

When you think meditation, you think zoned-out, right? Granted, you don't want to do this while running. But this recording won't do that, despite the name. Instead, it's just some very cool music that has Beta and Gamma waves embedded in it, plus some spoken affirmations.

The site says these waves work by enabling cognition, alertness, precognition, concentration, clarity, and perception. I don't have the background to understand all that, but I can tell you this; I stayed focused, involuntarily fell into pace with the peppy music, and actually enjoyed the dreadmill.

I downloaded their Running Meditation MP3 and put it to the test. Not just any test, but the boring treadmill test. It was a complete success. I really do think that this will take my training to the next level.