The longest run we did in high school was around 7 miles.
We called it 8 miles. Mind you this was pre GPS.
So back in my day we just lied about how far we ran. But, now Strava keeps us honest, so it turns out our long run was 7 miles.
We called our long run the “whole thing”. And if you ran the whole thing you were a beast.
Before my first stab at the “whole thing,” I had eaten an entire serving of fettuccini alfredo.
Carb loading, right?
I hit the bike path, and within minutes I had awful side stickers on both sides of my torso. The ones that are like behind your ribs so you can’t get at them with your hands.
It. Was. Brutal.
I couldn’t bail on the run because it wasn’t an out and back and I had no idea where I was going.
I stopped at stop signs like they were red lights. I gave myself “recovery” after any hill. I just wanted to stop.
It was one of those runs where you never think it will end. Where you are more likely to die than finish.
But I did finishing and subsequently eliminated fettucini alfredo from my diet.
It was all the foods fault. Not my fault.
This moment sent me down a weird eating path.
I wouldn’t eat for HOURS before any run. I was scared of side cramps.
I hated having thoughts like “I can’t eat because I need to run today.” or ” maybe I’ll skip my run today because I am trying to get at this quesadilla.”
In hindsight, I must have left some performance on the table because of poor energy balance. But to me, aside cramp was not worth it.
Side cramps, stickers, stitches, whatever you call them are a runners nightmare. They hurt like crazy, slow you down, and sometimes stick around post run.
There isn’t any consistency between runners, which makes them extra tricky. Some runners, like ya boy, blame eating too close to running. Others believe it is dehydration. I’ve even heard weird things like blaming carbonation in soft drinks.
There is not a great explanation for the causes of these cramps. But, you need to know that you can handle them.
You can fight off side cramps with your breathing.
When “chest breathe” you can create a “pinching” in your ribs and diaphragm. This pinching is that “cramp” feeling.
Chest breathing can be a byproduct of stress, poor posture, and bad habits. When we worry about the things, we ate or drank we feel stress. Stress will change your breathing patterns.
So what you need to do is breathe using your diaphragm or practice “belly breathing.”
Engage your diaphragm by breathing through your nose while pressing your belly outward as your draw air in and push your belly in toward your spine to exhale.
You can practice belly breathing during your run, pre-run, and post run. Once you get the pattern down it will become second nature and you will rarely cramp again.
Below are a few ways to activate your diaphragm to beat cramping.
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