Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 8

A couple of people in my group have been fighting those nasty side stitches; that pain that grabs you in the waist and makes you pray for the walk break. So, I turned to my trusty handbook and here's what it had to say about avoiding the stitch: alter your breathing pattern, exhale forcefully (grunt on exhalation), belly breath (breathe mainly with the diaphragm), increase your abdominal strength through exercises.

It makes sense to me that breathing is related to side stitches because I've noticed that they seem to strike the people who talk the least. For example, when other kids join us and Liz is chatting while running, she does well. When she's stuck with a bunch of boring adults and doesn't join the conversation, the side stitch attacks. So I'm going to add one more thing to the list of ways to avoid the stitch: talk! It seems to help regulate your breathing by forcing you to breath out adequately (which also keeps you from feeling like you can't catch your breath). I told Liz to start singing while she runs, she thought it was dumb until it started helping.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we're following the gradual running program outlined in the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program *. Here's the schedule for this week and next.


Week 8 (easy recovery week)

Day 1: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk1 minute. Do this 4 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 2: 8-minute warm-up, run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 3: 8-minute warm-up, run 5 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Do this 7 times. 5-minute cool-down


Week 9

Day 1: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk1 minute, run 20 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 10 minutes. 5-minute cool-down

Day 2: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 3: 8-minute warm-up, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Do this 3 times. 5-minute cool-down


*A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!