{"id":1445,"date":"2024-02-28T18:15:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T18:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2024-02-28T18:15:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T18:15:37","slug":"how-to-stop-a-stitch-while-running-and-preventing-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/how-to-stop-a-stitch-while-running-and-preventing-them\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Stop a Stitch &#8211; while running and preventing them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I ran a half marathon all out the other week, as part of Paris Marathon training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>19\/21km of the race went swimmingly, until I stitchiest of stitches\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t usually get stitches but this felt like being stabbed repeatedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I kinda don\u2019t want this to happen on marathon day\u2026 So I delved into the world of stitches &#8211; what causes them (so I can prevent them) and what to do if I get one on the run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What causes a side stitch and how do I prevent them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are&nbsp;<em><strong>4 main causes<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;worth talking about, PLUS a bonus fifth that\u2019s emerging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are: Dehydration, Improper breathing, Digestive issues, and Weak core strength (postural and abdomen).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s hard to pin down exactly which one of these are causing your side stitches but it\u2019s best to cover all bases by ticking each one off:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dehydration<\/strong>: Make sure you stay hydrated on the run and well before it, including electrolyte supplementation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improper breathing:<\/strong>&nbsp;Breathing should go as deep as possible IN to help take in oxygen and go far enough OUT to help expel carbon dioxide (I blame elite marathon runners for global warming). Get into a steady, consistent running like 2 steps in, 2 steps out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digestive issues<\/strong>: Avoid heavy, indigestible meals immediately before running. Stick to highly digestible carbs like white bread, bananas, honey, dates, jam, etc. if eating close to run time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weak core strength (postural and abdomen):<\/strong>&nbsp;The more stable you can make your torso while running, the better. You do that through traditional core work like twists and crunches, PLUS posture improving moves like deadlifts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now BONUS time\u2026 There\u2019s even&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ingentaconnect.com\/content\/wk\/jsm\/2022\/00000032\/00000005\/art00010\">research<\/a>&nbsp;now suggesting that stitches are a reflection of your&nbsp;<em>stress and anxiety<\/em>&nbsp;levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research isn\u2019t that robust though. It\u2019s based on surveying peoples\u2019 stress levels and there isn\u2019t even a biological explanation of how stress can cause a stitch. But it\u2019s interesting food for thought to contextualise race day nerves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What if I get a side stitch while running?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, prevention is better than treatment here, but it\u2019s good to have this protocol in the back of your head if you do get a side stitch on the run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Do everything in your power to relax.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Just drop your shoulders away from your ears, so that you unlock the natural motion of your arms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And then just get some deep breaths in, nice and slowly, through the nose and all the way into the belly, then let go through your mouth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We\u2019re trying to get as much oxygen as possible in to help clear any waste build-up, and nasal breathing encourages this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>If that doesn\u2019t work, slow down to a walk for a couple of mins.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>And if that doesn\u2019t work, then stop for a few mins.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I ran a half marathon all out the other week, as part of Paris Marathon training. 19\/21km of the race went swimmingly, until I stitchiest of stitches\u2026 I don\u2019t usually get stitches but this felt like being stabbed repeatedly. I kinda don\u2019t want this to happen on marathon day\u2026 So I delved into the world [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1446,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions\/1446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/completeathlete.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}