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!)
Starting early February 29, 2008
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Other Runners, Uncategorized
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Enjoying a 4 miler out at Lake Hefner yesterday afternoon, I happened to spy a Mom and her two kids out for a run. As is my norm, I smiled…nay…grinned, gave a little wave and went on my way. It was only after I finished and met back up with one of my running buddies that I found out that the kids were participating in the OKC Memorial Kid’s Marathon. After they finished their run, we chatted a bit (they were parked next to us) and I couldn’t help but notice how enthusiastic the two boys were about running this marathon. It cheered my heart!
Curious to see how long the Kid’s Marathon is, thinking that it must be a mile or so and not a real marathon, I looked up the information and was quite surprised to see that the kids run the full distance. Not all in the same day of course, but they run a mile at a time until they reach 25 miles, and then they finish the last 1.2 on the day of the actual race.
How incredibly cool is that? I don’t have kids, but if I’m granted that privilege someday, I can think of few things that are better to instill into your children than the love of doing something athletic. Not only that, but to pick a meaningful event for participation!
I love the idea of including your children in something you are passionate about, whether it’s yoga, swimming, biking or any other sport. So I encourage you, if you have kids, include them in your Sweat365 goals and activities!
Of course, be careful, use common sense and caution so that your child doesn’t suffer injury or burn-out!
It’s all about the heart February 14, 2008
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Motivation, Run, Running
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Valentine’s Day is about your heart, right?
Avoid the consumeristic trap they call Valentine’s Day and do something that actually benefits the heart…EXERCISE!
Today’s run will be a 3 miler. What will you do for your heart today?
Advice? March 19, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Injury, Other Runners, Running
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Fellow runners; someone needs our help! Connie left this message on my “Worth. Less.” post with the following question:
- “Dear runners,
I get severe stomach cramps after my long runs. Today I ran in my first half marathon (it was GREAT!!!!); however, my stomach has cramped off and on ever since. I drink lots of water…I just do not know what causes this. I am training for the marathon, and I just hope that my stomach will not start hurting before I actually finish the race. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.
Many thanks!”
My question for Connie is this: what are you drinking during your run, how much, and how often? Also, are you “eating” Gu or any other type of performance food? Hopefully with some more info we can answer the question better. Do any of y’all experience anything like this?
16 Miles = 25.749504 Kilometers February 26, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Marathon training, Running
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Whate’er the conversion may be, it’s the farthest this chick has ever run.
Once again, 22 mph winds with gusts over 30. At least the temperature was comfortable and the sun was shining! All in all a tremendous morning out at Lake Overholser. According to the OKC Landrunners, there were about 80 people out on Saturday morning! A nice large group with plenty of encouragement, water, photo-ops (There I am in my Frigid Five shirt crossing the bridge with my eyes closed. Who needs to see where they’re going anyways? I’m also helping myself to some water at the end of the 16 miles…that’s me with the long braid) and even some delicious homemade pumpkin bread and some mini-muffins at the end of the run.
We crossed over a historic Route 66 truss bridge as we rounded the north side of the lake while the photographer snapped our pictures.
As the first lap around the lake ended, I walked through water stop #3, chugged down a cup of water, took a deep breath and miraculously felt like I was just starting out. Maybe it was purely psychological, but it felt not like I was starting a second lap and had already run 8 miles, but like I was starting fresh, on mile one! At mile 11 I met Prabhu, who was a great help in keeping me going for the last 6 miles. He was a wonderful help!
Next Saturday is the Deer Creek Classic, so the 12 mile training run is on Sunday. Sundays are my “church-goin’ days” so I don’t run the Sunday training runs, but before the run on Sunday, one of the marathoners will be giving some training tips. I think I’ll do 12 by myself on Saturday and squeeze in 3 or 4 Sunday morning, after listening to the training tips, before starting my Sunday.
Training update February 19, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Marathon, Motivation, Other Runners, Running
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Ten weeks to go and the miles are piling up!
Thirteen was the magic number on Saturday. Thirteen very windy and very cold miles. Twenty mile an hour winds with gusts up to double that and a chilly 34 degrees! As I heard someone comment, it didn’t seem to matter which way you turned, the wind was always against you, sometimes even blowing a lifted foot into a leg!
I’m fortunate in the fact that the OKC running club, OKC Landrunners, host free marathon training runs in preparation for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. “The Runner” so helpfully provides water stops, and the camaraderie is a great incentive to get out there and run a set mileage. They run on Saturday or Sunday mornings, Sundays if there is a major race on Saturday. I’ve been wanting to get in on the runs, but either because I was out of town, or because the runs were on Sunday, I have missed all of them prior to this last Saturday. As I was a new runner in the training group, I’m even in the picture on their website! :-)
Edmond Frigid Five February 12, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Race, Running
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While a huge mass of dark clouds hovered on the western horizon, the sun shined down and turned our Saturday’s forecast for rain and wind and lots of cold to naught. Not that we didn’t have the cold and the wind, but at least we didn’t have the rain!
Arriving to Mitch Park at 8:45, I was pleased and excited to see so many people mingling around. There was great music on the loudspeaker and the volunteers were super friendly. The flags were flying and everything was very well organized. The 1 mile fun run started at 9:30 and Moni and I cheered the little tykes at the finish line. (Man! Some of those kids were fast little buggers!) As it got closer to race time, 10:00, we moved over to the finish line making the last minute adjustments to the shoes, the gloves and the hats!
I had two goals for this race, the first was to beat 47 minutes, the second was to not come in later than double the time of the first person in. My official time was 47:21 so I didn’t really make my first goal. I was a little ticked off as I rounded the curve and saw 46:58 on the finish line timer. With about a hundred feet to go, I realized that I couldn’t make it in 2 seconds! Oh well. I came in 50th of 156 female runners, and 7th in my age group with a pace of 9:29.
The second goal I made easily. The winner of the race came in at 26:42 and I came in well below the 53 minute mark.
I’m fairly pleased with my pace, especially in light of the fact that the course was fairly hilly and I don’t train on hills at all. Making the comment to Moni that “Lake Hefner doesn’t have hills!” someone walking close by responded with “I just had that conversation!” I guess there were quite a few of us who aren’t used to the hills. Of course, in Oklahoma you’re doing good to find a place to run (Oklahoma ranks 44th in US states for health).
My family braved the cold weather to cheer us on at the start and the finish and even took a picture or two! This race created a monster, I’m afraid. Moni now wants to race in the Creek Classic on March 3rd and the Redbud Classic on April 15th! I’ll probably join her for a 10K on both of those races!
Better run February 7, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Race, Running
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Monday, a beautiful day for a run (58 for the high) was indeed just that. Working on speed, I only did 3 miles, an out and back, racing myself back. I beat my out by 30 seconds, with my best mile at 8:37 and an average for the 3 of 9:13. Most importantly, I felt great.
Thanks to all who commented on my “Worthless” blog. There are a couple of issues I need to address, most importantly, properly fueling up for and during my run. On my last 10 miler, I did have water at 3 and 6, but that was it. Next time I’ll drop a water/Gatorademix or use nuun (which sounds pretty perfect…thanks zappoman!) instead of plain water. Zippered pockets are a great way to hold onto gel packets, so I’ll remember that next time. I guess I just need to spend a little more time practicing eating! Bananas are now on my grocery list, a perfect compliment to chocolate milk!
I’ll also skip the hot shower/hot bath one-two punch combo that I went with on Saturday. As my blood pressure is normally quite low (60/40 the last time I saw the doc) the hot bath was a really bad idea (but it felt so good!).
This week will be sort of an “off” week with the 3 mile “speed” run I did Monday, a root canal on Tuesday (instead of a scheduled 7 miler), a possible 4 miler tomorrow and the “Frigid Five” on Saturday. Hopefully next week will be better!
Worthless. Worth. Less. February 5, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Running
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How do you feel after a short run? How do you feel after a long run?
After a typical short run (4-6 miles) I feel great. Cold here lately, but physically great.
After a long run, I feel worthless and Saturday was no exception. Last Saturday was an exception, however, because I felt way more worthless than usual. It was a decent 10 mile run. I had water at 3 and 6 miles, but I don’t think I fueled up before and during properly. An hour before I ran, I had 2 blueberry oatmeal pancakes and water. During the run I was planning on a PowerBar Gel packet but when I got to my water and reached into my pocket, it was gone. Therefore, no fuel during the run.
After returning home I wolfed down a bowl of oatmeal and some more water and hit the shower. And that’s where things started falling apart. Feeling woozy and with a throbbing head, I showered and then soaked in a hot bathtub. I almost fell asleep/passed out(?) in the tub but when the water got cold I finally dragged myself up and out of the tub. Wrapping myself in my big fluffy robe, I sought out another bottle of water and a couple of Advil. Feeling completely spent and unable to move I curled up on my bed to let the Advil kick in. After about 15 minutes I knew I had to get up (I had a baby shower I was supposed to attend) and promised myself that I’d stop by Starbucks on the way. If I could just get up. It took everything in me to push myself off the top of my bed. I managed to get ready and then took another Advil before rushing off to the shower (I was about 10 minutes late…and Starbucks was an empty promise because I knew I didn’t have time). During the baby shower, I kept myself as awake as I possibly could by snapping photos. Unfortunately, there’s only so many interesting photos you can take of people sitting in a circle for hours on end. Standing (instead of sitting…trying to stay awake) against the back wall, I kept thinking, “If I could just close my eyes for 5 minutes I’ll feel better”. After repeating that mantra to myself for about 20 minutes, I finally slipped off into another room and laid down. When I drifted off, the presents were being opened, and when I awoke and quietly slipped back onto the scene, the presents were still being opened. I’m not sure how long I was gone, but not too terribly long.
Point being, I felt horrible. I couldn’t move, I had absolutely no energy. I couldn’t carry on a decent conversation because I felt like my mind was just completely blank.
Is this somewhat normal? I don’t think I’ve ever felt this bad after a run before! Is it a fuel problem?
Later in the evening, I was completely wired. I stayed up until almost midnight (I’m generally an early bird)!
So my more experienced runner friends, what do you think the problem is?
At the finish line January 30, 2007
Posted by regivizz Fitness, Marathon, Motivation, Race, Running
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John’s blog today really struck a chord with me. On some of my longer runs, I try to imagine the thrill of crossing the finish line of my first marathon. The thrill isn’t from the victory of completion, it’s from envisioning my friends and family gathered there to cheer and scream wildly as they see me finish. Alas, besides my running partner NordicTwin, there will be nobody there at the end or even toward the end of the marathon.
I wish there was a way to convey how important running is to me. When people ask why I run, my response is generally “because it keeps me sane”. And it does. It makes me feel good. It’s a sense of accomplishment. It’s the feel of the pavement under my feet. I am a runner and it’s the rhythm of my life. It’s the struggle against the wind and the struggle against my own laziness. It’s the chance to grin (or grimmace!) and lift a finger in acknowledgment of other runners on the trail. There’s a sense of freedom, a release of my cares and stresses. It’s selfish. It’s so I can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and say “I am a runner!” It’s “me time”.
So why do I imagine my friends and family at the finish line?
Like John said:
