I feel like crap when I run, but have heard of others that get a bit high from the run. Not I, but I certainly do feel better after the run is over with, and am in much better spirits. There are quite a few chemicals being released if you keep your heartbeat up there for long enough time. Some also refer to it as an afterglow effect. That’s what it feels like to me, but not during the run, but after. The same chemical that meth heads are seeking, you’re getting as well with dopamine being released, although you got to work for it to get it, although I doubt it is quite as high of a dose, and is in much smaller amounts. But it does work. I’ve been enjoying the effects of it, and it does effect my mood for the worst if stop jogging over a period of time. Here are the all the chemicals I know that get released into your system when jogging: dopamine, epinephrine, endorphin and serotonin, and every one of them will effect your mood. Do yourself a favor sometime and attend a 5k or 10k jog. Those are the most energetic and upbeat people you’ll see on the planet. Many are middle-aged or seniors too. You’ll see what those four chemicals are doing to those peoples mood.
Endorphins, naturally produced opiods substance released in reponse to pain. You run for LONG enough, you build up enough to feel like you’re floating above the pain.
I’ve been running for years, usually 4-5 times per week, 4-6 miles per run. I don’t get the high very often, and while there are times during a run where I feel better than ok, most of it is just a thing to do. It’s not a chore, but it doesn’t feel good. Afterward, I typically feel good, alert, loose, and just happy, but I don’t think of that as the Runner’s High. To me, it comes unexpectedly, and I’d guess it’s usually more than halfway through a longer run. I just sort of lose track of everything, and all of a sudden, realize I’m running a bit faster, and just…better. Of course, the moment it’s lost is the moment I realize I was in it. I can realize immediately after that I felt no effort to run, and I may as well have been running on air.
The best runners high is when (at about the 7 km mark) your 24 y.o. stepson calls “enough” and your (considerably older) lungs have just enough air to say “really, I wanted to do a bit more” before they both collapse along with your legs
or maybe the one where you take your always-at-the-gym-protein-shake-swilling workmate out for a 3.5 mile run, he drags the pace (admittedly, still at 8:30 per), and then when he tries to outsprint you for the final 1/2 mile, you totally smoke him and he can’t even face you at the end.
Those make me feel high.
For me, it’s the general feeling of wellbeing that working out gives - it does not matter what, exercise improves how I feel inside.
I never really understood the whole runner’s high thing until recently. I spent most of my life with no enthusiasm for exercise and I’d never experienced that phenomenom. Last summer I got into biking and began to experience something that might be called a high. For me, it’s really just a sense of well-being. I might be depressed or unhappy or stressed at other times, but when I’m riding I feel happy and content.
I wonder if it’s psychological as much as phsyiological? If you’ve ever tried to meditate, it occurs to me that the mental state you’re in while running is similar to that. At least, I find it very difficult to focus my thoughts on anything other than the simple sensations of breathing and moving. If I try to listen to podcasts or whatever while running, I just can’t concentrate on them.
So I don’t bother with an iPod, and during my run I find my mind to be pleasantly clear of thought. Except maybe “can I stop yet?”
After I ran my first 5K In June, I was high as a kite. I couldn’t stop talking or moving – I basically cleaned the entire apartment and didn’t sit still for a good five hours after the race. I’ve never felt that way in my life. Now that I’ve been running for several months (since March or so), I’ve not had that same degree of “high” after my runs – both training runs and races.
On my most recent long run of 7 miles, I noticed more acutely that although I felt like crap for most of the first 2 miles, I felt absolutely fantastic for the last 5. Running felt effortless – there was no thinking about putting one foot in front of the other, or how to breathe, or any of the mechanics. I was just running.
I hurt my foot more than a week ago, and haven’t gone for a run since. And quite frankly, I’m feeling restless, fidgety and slightly irritable. Walking is okay, but I miss the feeling of my body working the way it does when I run.
