Subject: cure for side stitches--odd but true! So I did a brick this weekend. 20 miles-3 miles. Second one of this distance, and the first one went perfectly. This one ... a quarter-mile off the bike, and I ran into one of the worst side stitches I've ever had. I tried to alter my breathing, stretch, everything I could to run through it, but it did nothing but intensify until I was close to crying from the pain. Then I remembered something one of my coworkers told me that one of HER friends had told her: a sure cure for a stitch is to do a somersault.
I ground to a halt, holding my side, and spent what felt like a ridiculous amount of time trying to decide whether to try to somersault on the sidewalk or on the dirt next to it (I so sweaty and in my tri suit I thought the dirt would bother me the rest of the run ), though was only a few seconds. Then it took me a couple more seconds to really remember how to do a damn somersault. I don't think I've done one since I was around 7!. I put my head on the ground and thought, "I'm going to freaking injure myself doing a somersault after 5 months of injury-free training!" I rolled over, got to my feet, and the stitch was completely gone. I trotted away for the 3 miles without another twinge.
I really don't think I stopped running long enough for it to go away on its own, so I'm pretty damn convinced the somersault worked--I just hope I don't have to use it again!
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