Getting cramps/stitch in "bricks"

Stitch is usually either your Diaphram cramping or your stomach is "bouncng". Try breathing in slow and deep and it will usually subside. I get them alot and usaully run through them and they go away on their own.
To prevent it can be tricky, if you are drinking alot on the bike cut back a little (drink enough to feel is swish around a little, when the swishing stops drink a little more). You can also go into the run slower, start with a walk and graddually build up to your pace.

Doesn't happen to me often, but in case I have one and feel like I need to keep going, here's a tip: change your breathing pattern so that you breathe out when your foot on the same side as the cramp strikes the ground. Weird, but it works.

It'll hurt much less and you might make it back home/finish line while still running.

When I get them, I do a thing called "Belly Breathing." This is when you inhale, breathing in with your stomach first, then fill up the rest of your lungs. Try not to run with a wash board stomach. If you do the belly breathing before you run, it helps out as well. Make sure you see your belly move out, this will put the air in the bottom of your lungs, relax your stomach, then it will fill up the rest of your lungs. Give this a whirl and see how it works. It has worked well for me.

Another thing that I have heard is eating things that contain potassium, like bananas. However, I hate bananas and many other fruits, so I tend to stick to the belly breathing technique. Good luck.

Cory

Try slowing the pace down a bit.

yeah....stitches are pretty normal in a brick workout. You'll find that the more bricks you do, the less stitches you'll get. It's a good idea to suffer a little while training. You don't want to end up like me: in my first olympic distance race I had to walk for miles because my side hurt so bad I couldn't even stand up straight. That was also the first time I'd ever started running right after getting off a bike (oddly enough all the other tri's I'd done up to that point had either been run, bike, swim, or bike, swim, run. Wierd huh?)

Now, after doing tons of bricks, I still feel a little shitty for the first 10 minutes of running, but I can run and I don't get bad stitches any more.

Have fun suffering.
-S

stiches and cramps usually happen when you are dehydrated, so drink up in the 24 hours before your training/race... but remember too much can be a bad thing so drink wisely my friend

.::aidan::.

thanks everyone...i'll let you know how it goes. I have a rest/yoga day today but workouts over the weekend. i will drink plenty of h2o today and see what happens.

thanks again!

thanks everyone. the "belly breathing" on the left foot really did the trick when i felt the stitch coming on!