Complex Numbers

Running Stitch

Here's another one for "Journalistic Intentions"  [18+]

Running Stitches

My running days are long behind me. I'm a safe bet to take on a hike now, because of bears. If you encounter a bear, you don't need to run faster than the bear; you just need to run faster than your hiking buddy. This is, of course, one reason I avoid going *shudder* outside.

Not that I was ever great at running, anyway. I used to have some stamina, at least, but speed? Forget it. Short legs and lack of competitive instinct. I might have been okay at running a marathon, though I'd never have finished first, unless I was the only one running it.

Those times when I did try to run fast, for whatever reason, it never failed that I developed a stitch in my side.

I've never been really clear about why they call that particular stabbing pain a "stitch." It's a pang, a twinge, a spasm. The only other time I can think of when "stitch" is related to one's body is when there's a cut deep enough that they sew the edges of the wound together with stitches. As I have never had those kind of stitches, except in my eyeball, I can't compare the pain.

Eyeball stitches are no fun, though.

I suspect the word is used for running-related pain because the Germanic root means something like sting, or prick. Not that kind of prick; the kind a needle does.

For a long time, smart people who study these things weren't sure what caused a running stitch. Apparently, these days, it's technically called an exercise-related transient abdominal pain (ETAP).   I like to think they were trying to make a pun, because the French word for step is étape. In any case, that link attempts to explain its cause, though apparently, there's still some debate on the topic. I say its cause is exercise. You can avoid it by not exercising.

Because English is weird, "running stitch" also describes the most basic embroidery technique, but I don't know much about that, so I chose to rag on exercise instead.