Run-Down Forums

[Guest]

I am in the process of training for a race at the end of July. I am not new to running, but have really been doing quite a bit over the last 3 months. The past 2 weeks, I have been experiencing regular side aches which greatly affect my ability to finish my run. Any suggestions about prevention?

[Anonymously Posted by: 'Sheri']

[Dan]

Sheri,

That's odd that you would only recently start experiencing side aches after several months of hard training. Often, they are a sign of being out of shape, and go away once proper conditioning is obtained.

Two suggestions: First, is diet. My experience, and many others that I've talked to, is that dairy is a big side ache culprit. This is especially bad if you consume dairy within a few hours of running. Second, experiment with belly breathing, if you haven't already. I recently added a description to the Running Tips page. Check it out and see if it helps.

Dan