Also, tell her to make sure she is pushing out enough air on the exhale. If she is taking in more air than she is breathing out, she can get a cramp or a side stitch. If I am having problems with side stiches or especially cramps in the center of my torso, I breathe in for two counts and out for five. It forces me to push out all that carbon dioxide. She won't need to count for the entire run. Just until the stitch subsides and if it returns.

I've always been told that the side stitch is a diaphram spasm. You get it if you advance too fast.

When I ran competitively, we would do three quick forward rolls and it would go away. Be careful because you'll be dizzy. I can only imagine that the tucking forward "resets" the diaphram.

Similar to getting rid of hick-ups by drinking from the far side of a glass.

Good Luck.

*grin* Now I am just picturing people mid-race doing some somersaults before continuing their runs :)

I never had to do one in a race, but have done several in training. Not only does it look stupid, you get real dizzy; but, it works.

My friend is a track coach at a local high school. I asked him about this when I first started running. He said that a lot of his freshmen have this same problem. He said it has a lot to do with your abdominal muscles being weak. Do some core exercises a couple of times a week and keep running but maybe go a little slower or a little shorter distance. It has helped me. I used to get stitches everytime I did speed work. I dont know and I have a stronger core.

Main thing is, dont give up just because it hurts.

I'm going to endorse the "weak abdominal muscles" theory as well. When my knee was bothering me, I started doing planks for 1 to 1.5 minutes and side planks to stablize my obliques. Before doing these exercises, I would get a side stitch at about mile 3 every run and had to take deep breathes to relieve it. Once I had been doing the abdominal exercises for about two to three weeks, I noticed they no longer really occured.

I am pretty lazy when it comes to core exercises especially during racing season. Your core will get strong enough from running but it'll take longer than if you're doing core workouts.

When I do core workouts, I do planks. I'll do a normal plank for 10-15 seconds, then do side planks for 10-15 seconds and switch to the other side. I'll switch side to side 6 to 8 times then do another normal plank. Then I lay on my back, put my arms out so my body is in a T-shape. I bring my left leg straight up, then over to the floor on my right side. Bring the leg back to the straight up position and back to the ground. I'll do that with both legs one at a time about 10 times. It's a good stretch and helps stregthen core muscles. I may or may not do some crunches or reverse crunches(lay on back and bring legs up) and I will end with another plank session. I'm usually pretty tired by the end.