Bananas

Friday 9th July 2010

Back at the gym today for another treadmill run, with baby Lily-Rose in the crèche. In a way it’s a good thing, as it is unbelievably hot outside and the gym is cool and air-conditioned.

Now that I have managed over 8K (5 miles) on the treadmill, it seems a bit pathetic to go back to the 5K runs that I usually do on here so, gritting my teeth, I program in 8.3K, just to make sure…

After about a mile I start to get terrible stitch in my right side, which is unusual for me. I try to run through it but eventually I have to slow down. I grab my iPhone (I am listening to a shiny new episode of the Imprint podcast) and attempt some serious multi-tasking.

I slow down to 6.5Kph (which is still a pretty fast walk) and log in to the gym’s wifi network – no easy task typing in user names and passwords when you are walking briskly on a treadmill! I then Google “stitch when running”, which brings up a nice list of results, mainly to do with running and sport, but the odd one about embroidery!

The tricky part was reading the information on the tiny iPhone screen, whilst trying to keep up my fast walking pace. Here is a selection of the advice on offer:

• eat a banana 2 hours before your run.
• don’t drink anything for an hour before your run.
• stretch both arms up above your head for a few minutes, whist running.
• adjust your breathing so you breathe in for 2 counts and out for 3.
• breathe from your diaphragm.
• strike the ground forcefully with the opposite leg to the side the stitch is on, as you breathe out.
• breathe out forcefully as if you are blowing into a paper bag.
• drop your arms down to your side and breathe out twice through your mouth.

Hmm… well, it was obviously too late for the banana and the not-drinking beforehand! I sped the treadmill back up to 10Kph and tried stretching both arms above my head (feeling very self-conscious), and the 2:3 breathing, neither of which had any effect. Being a singer, I am used to diaphragmatic intercostal breathing, so I tried that next, but again no effect.

Striking the ground with the opposite leg to the side the stitch was on, whilst breathing out, was tricky took a few attempts to get the rhythm right (and gave my brain a work out at the same time!). I then tried the paper-bag breathing AND the dropping-arms-down-and-breathing-out-twice.

Nothing worked!!

However, the combination of concentrating on all the breathing and advice, plus the amusing dialogue on my podcast, helped to distract me from the pain of the stitch enough that I could finish my run.

Next time I will definitely eat a banana first!

Distance run (in miles): 5.2
Total mileage this week: 13.5
Total mileage for July: 22.3
Total since starting blog: 72.3