# Runners high? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402 "2006-03-15T01:56:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/1 "2006-03-15T01:56:38Z")
I run 3 days a week for about 6 or 7 miles. Sometimes during my runs I’ll need to stop for traffic and I’ll get a slightly… well, euphoric isn’t the right word, but “good” feeling. I don’t feel light headed or dizzy or out of sorts… It just feels good to not be running, I guess. Sometimes I’ll start walking just to get that feeling. It lasts a few minutes and then I start running again. Is this the endorphins kicking in? If it is endorphins, is it common to experience this only after you stop running? I don’t get the same sensation at all while I’m running. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/2 "2006-03-15T03:34:49Z")
I always got it while I was running, and usually in the second or third mile. Do you let your mind wander off while you’re running? You might just not notice the feeling until you stop because your brain’s off on Mars whispering stray thoughts about the funny thing about your dog to Susannah York. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/3 "2006-03-15T14:15:17Z")
[Obligatory google search link.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22runner%27s+high%22+explanation&btnG=Google+Search)🙂 Some interesting reading in the articles that turn up there. The whole endorphin thing seems to be a load of hooey. Seems to be different hormones involved with the process, according to [http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-197-200-0-1102,00.html](http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-197-200-0-1102,00.html) Personally, I don’t get it every time I run and usually not until I’ve been pounding pavement for at least 4 miles. When I do, I don’t really zone out so much as enter into a nearly zen state where I feel like I can sprint forever…or I feel like I’m a cloud drifiting along the trail. It’s neat. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/4 "2006-03-15T16:33:06Z")
I get the same feeling **slortar** does. It takes about 3-4 miles, but if it’s a good run, I do have that feeling that I could just keep running forever. Of course an hour later, I’m changing my tune, but it’s great while it lasts! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/5 "2006-03-15T16:38:31Z")
I have NEVER experienced this. running makes me sick 9nausea and dehydration). I’ve gotten up to 10 miles, but its all the same sick and puking at the end. that’s why i walk now, or ride a bike ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/6 "2006-03-15T17:36:43Z")
A few times, I had the feeling that I could run forever. One time I was at about 7 miles and although I felt great, it had started raining about 3 miles before and I was shivering, despite my body’s desire to keep running. No heavy breathing, no fatigue, just goose pimples and blue lips. So I ran home. Other times, and more frequently, I experience a much different feeling. It’s almost as if I’m kind of euphoric, and it also becomes much more noticeable if I have to stop for some reason. Not exactly a light-headedness, but a sense that my limbs are actually objecting to being taken out of their machine-like motion and if I have to stop, they feel almost awkward and heavier than when I was running. Within 20-25 running strides, I’m back in my groove. I think this feeling is the “runner’s high” that many runners mention, and whether it’s an actual physical condition or a head state, I can’t really say. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/7 "2006-03-15T18:23:40Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > The whole endorphin thing seems to be a load of hooey. I agree. I have been running 25-35 miles per week for a few years now and I have _never_ felt the “Runner’s High” – I do feel a certain degree of achievement at the end of a good run, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/8 "2006-03-15T19:11:45Z")
Count me in as another person who has had to run 3-4 times per week, 3-5 miles each for the last 9 years (Army), and I have never ONCE felt great about it. I absolutely despise running, and I’m so glad that from now on, if I’m running, it’s because I CHOSE to run. FWIW, I really only hate the horrible agony of distance running. I quite like to sprint. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/9 "2006-03-15T19:22:31Z")
As I said, I don’t get this feeling while I’m running. I actually truly despise running. There is just something that happens when I stop and walk that feels really good. I don’t tend to get the same feeling at the end of the run, though. I also don’t think I’ve ever felt like I could run forever. My question was really intended as a GQ, though. I realize there is debate about the “runner’s high” and I couldn’t find anything that talked about getting that same sensation after stopping. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/runners-high/348402/10 "2006-03-16T17:57:32Z")
My shrink says the body throws in additional **dopamine** after 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. Perhaps that’s what some runners are getting.