Runner’s High: A myth substantiated March 3, 2008
Posted by regivizz Fitness, General Cardio, Health, Motivation, Odd news, Run, Running, Science
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As a runner and a scientist, I’ve always wondered about runner’s highs. Highs, not Thighs! Maybe I get them (the highs, I definitely get the thighs!), maybe I don’t, but I do know that after 7+ miles I feel like I could run forever. Is that what a runner’s high does?
After any distance of running, I feel happy. Maybe my knee hurts a bit, maybe my muscles are tight (especially after hills), but I feel good, both physically and emotionally. I run to thrive. Getting a runner’s high though? For myself, I can’t say one way or another.
However, via Scientific Blogging …
Up until now, it was widely believed and accepted that endorphins released during exercise were responsible for a runner’s high, but it was not PROVEN. These studies involved 10 athletes, 2 hours of jogging, positron emission tomography (PET) and a radioactive material that binds to opiate receptors in the brain. Using the PET they could compare images of the athlete’s brains before and after the 2 hours of jogging and noticed an increase of opiates in some areas of the brain!
Get out there and get your high today!
(I’m also extremely curious to know if you get them, how long it takes, how it makes you feel, etc!)
Comments
i totally believe this.
it happens to me after about 10 minutes… but i dont get the real high until after about mile 3/4, when i can go “forever” as you mentioned…
i don’t feel pain the same way, and everything around me sort of fades (i mention the pain because i cut my shin running a few weeks ago, was bleeding all over my shoe (yea gross) and didn’t notice… i think its the adrenaline!)
interesting post!
Runner’s high is the only reason I run. You never know when it’ll happen, so it makes it worthwhile to go run all the time. It can be rather addictive. I’ve managed to figure out a pretty sure way for me to get it. If I’m on a treadmill, I breathe through my nose only, listen to a “runner’s high song” (I have 4 so far that are almost fail-proof) and I kick up the speed a notch. Then I just breathe deeply and let myself get light-headed and get ‘high’ from my run. It’s really an amazing feeling.
I basically know outdoors when I get a runners high because I feel like I can run forever, there’s no stopping me, whether at mile 1 or 10.
So… I never get why people who don’t get the ‘high’ still run or don’t know what it is. It’s like my exercise orgasm! LOL