Runners - I have a question regarding a pain in my side.

In the past three weeks, I've really upped my running...but each time I run, without fail, I get this pinching pain in my side (my left side, if that makes a difference)

I'm not running cold...I do stretch. I walk for a couple minutes, then up it to a jog for a couple of minutes, then up it to running.

I have read that stretching before running isn't always a good thing. So I tried not stretching. Still get the pain.

Any ideas on the culprit and remedies? It sucks because I'll be in my zone running along and I'll get a small, sharp pain that turns into a sharp pain that I can't ignore and then I need to slow down and stop

It usually happenes when I'm about twenty minutes into my run.

TIA for any advice!

Re: Runners - I have a question regarding a pain in my side.

I don't think it has anything to do with stretching. I do get this pain once in awhile and at least for me, it has to do with 1 of 2 things:

Are you hydrating enough? The pain in your side is often caused by dehydration. You should be drinking a lot of water and possibly have a Gatorade in the hours before a run. Your pee should be a light yellow--that means you are hydrated enough!

You may not be breathing correctly---if you are taking short deep breaths, this could cause the stitch in your side. Make sure you are breathing in and out.

Re: Runners - I have a question regarding a pain in my side.

Maybe it's the dehydration...I've worked toward breathing better when exercising in general so I think that's okay.

I do run (usually) early in the morning and have some water prior to working out, but probably not enough...I'm going to up water/gatorade and see if that helps!

Thank you!

Re: Runners - I have a question regarding a pain in my side.

Yep--its probably the hydration thing then! You don't have to just house a bottle of water before you run in the morning but up your water intake during the week so your body stays hydrated. I used to be so bad with hydrating (water is boring) but now I just add Crystal Light or some other type of little packet to a few waters a day and I'm set!

Good luck!