AnimeNfo

[Shiru (#135861)]

 Quick Poll about the "Mystical" Runner's High

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

I never ran or jogged. Don't like those sports. Too boring. Whatever running I ever did back when I was still in school was on the basketball court running un and down the length of it, chasing balls and whatnot. Doesn't quite count as running, but I did get a good workout.

If you ask me, I think I did get a certain high. Probably from the adrenaline. Seemed to make me tireless. I could go on all day shooting hoops, chasing rebounds, getting elbowed in the chest. I was young and fearless. If you consider that "runner's high", then yes, I have experienced it before and I kinda like it.

[Shiru (#135861)]

That's part of what's so misleading about the runner's high. It doesn't just occur while you're running. Some people get it even just by walking. You can also get it doing aerobic/cardio exercises, bicycling, hiking, and, of course, by playing sports.

It is essentially what you described Ken. The high that makes you feel good, energetic, and like you could keep going forever.

There are some feelings that are similar, that are often misinterpreted as a high. Hyperventilation is an example.

[bluecrystal_19 (#77299)]

After exercise I usually only feel a few things: Damn tired, almost dead or dead. The woes of an unfit person...

[Zefiris (#127560)]

I am of the impression that if I'm not wishing I was dead while running then I'm not running fast enough or far enough, but that is becasue I know I will feel like that all the time when running at Commando training so better get used to it

[Rosepetals (#42525)]

Re: Quick Poll about the "Mystical" Runner's High

[zitch (#80114)]

Yeah, I've never really had a "runner's high". I might have experienced something more like a "skater's high" when ice skating though. When I've just gone end-to-end on a sprinting start and start my turn around the end of the rink, as I'm leaning into the turn, legs crossing over to maintain my speed, it just feels exhilarating.

When all I have to keep me from crashing into the boards at 25 MPH* is a piece of steel that's only 3/16" thick on ice, the strain on my legs as they are supporting even more than my body weight on each stride through the turn, the feel of the cooled air on my face, the movement of the ice under me, and the sound of the ice on my skates, well, you should get the picture... Those are times when I can just keep on skating.

* Yes, I have actually clocked this with hockey inline blades on the street. On the ice, I am probably even faster. Or was, as I last tested this about 5 years ago...

There are also times in hockey games where I get, essentially, "in the zone". Where my body just seems to move on its own performing maneuvers that I never practiced, but it feels like this would be a different topic.

[Anothar (#136418)]

Rose's definition is just about perfect... There comes a point when you're running or exercising at a steady rate that you just get into this "zone" where you're off thinking in your own world and your body just goes.

It sometimes takes me quite a while (usually 2-3km in a run) to get to that state, and sometimes I don't get there at all. but when I feel it and realize it, it's freaking great. I feel like I could keep going and that my body's really cleaning itself inside-out.

The next best feeling after that is the shower you take after the said exercise.

[Shiru (#135861)]

Yeah, I have never felt it myself (I'm like bluecrystal), but I know what it is on an intellectual level. I also know that if I ever did hit that point, I would know, and I'm pretty sure I've never hit that point. I've mostly either:

1. Hyperventilated towards the end of running when I push myself to run as hard as I can. As a result, I need lots of water and I need to sit down or hold onto something because the high quickly becomes dizziness in a minute or 2.

or

2. Started off with an adrenaline high that caved in a few minutes into a run. The adrenaline also comes at stressful intervals during competitions, but I would never consider that to be a high.

________________________

I think I should qualify what I said to Ken:
Did you get the high, that you could keep playing basketball forever, outside of competition? Like, did you get it during practice with a friend where winning wasn't important? If you did, then you probably truly experienced "runner's high," because it should be endorphins from dealing with the pain rather than adrenaline over winning driving you.

[~*~Moi~*~ (#128504)]

I don't know if I experienced this. Right now my fitness level is nil and I get breathless really easily. But back when I used to be fit, I don't think I ever pushed myself very hard so I don't think this is the high you're talking about. But I do remember I felt really different back then. I was super alert and could think clearly like constantly. It was like always having an adrenaline rush but it's not due to adrenaline and it was normal. I'm guessing this is the effect of endorphins - being in the zone all the time. (I used to run around my backyard for like 5 hours or so everyday). Now my head feels like it's made out of cotton. But still. I vaguely remember that feeling of euphoria but I really can't pinpoint it in my memories. Because my head is now made out of cotton. T_T And I should really get back to exercising.

[Shiru (#135861)]

No that's not quite it. Athletes often experience this zone thing where they've established a rhythm. By then, they can run for longer periods of time, maintain energy levels even after they're finished exercising, and think more clearly in-between.

I'm pretty sure if you've experienced a runner's high, you would know though. It's been called an "out-of-body experience," that would stand out from being part of a zone.

Don't worry, not all athletes experience runner's high. Most of them experience what you've described.

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Shiru (#135861)]

[SupraGuy (#92823)]

Definitely yes. I could/would never have stuck it out through some of the really hard parts of my martial arts training if it weren't for that endorphin rush. It was that more than anything else that got me as far as I got, and the desire to do even more.

I think that everyone will get this to some extent, but not everyone will be as affected by it. I for one never even realised that it was happening until specific physiological reactions were described to me, and I could say "Yeah, that happens to me."

After that point, I started realising what the other effects were, and that I was actually seeking these out (Though I hadn't been aware of this before.)

[Shiru (#135861)]

Yeah totally. You actually have to explain what it is to most people before they realize they've had it. What I wonder, however, is if the runner's high never happens to some people. I know I haven't ever had one. It's why I never could stick to exercising even though I'm trying to now. But I'm not the best person to ask.

I asked my brother before and he's pretty big on sports and exercising. He tells me he's never experienced a "runner's high" and he plays tennis, goes swimming, goes running, etc. He's way more fit than I am at least. Maybe it runs in the family. *sigh*

[SupraGuy (#92823)]

For some people it's not even so much a "high" as it is just feeling good when you're done. Also, for some people, it takes a lot more excercise to get there than others.

It's also harder to get there when you're not in good shape. You'd THINK that because you're working further from your general fitness level that your body would start releasing the stress chemicals and endorphins sooner, but it doesn't. I think instead it has to "learn" to do so. Once it does, then it starts the process earlier next time and so on. The result is that you have to be motivated to get to the point where you can make yourself hurt to the point where your body feels a need to defend itself.

[Shiru (#135861)]

[Shiru (#135861)]

I have a question concerning runner's high that has never occurred to me before but (to those of you who voted yes): Does anyone know exactly when their runner's high kicks in? Is it when you push yourself extremely hard where it's so painful you can't almost bear it and then the high kicks in? Or is like clockwork and comes in like, 15 minutes?

Any tips on reaching the runner's high? *looks hopeful, but is skeptical of actually getting any definitive answers*

*EDIT: Changed # of people who voted yes to encompass future voters.

[sakurafice (#142452)]

i get runners high
it's hard to explain though...
i get it in varying circumstances

i usually get it when i catch a rythm. (that is, my whole body is moving according to my legs, and i feel fast/powerful
i also feel that i am actually getting somewhere, and with speed (sense of accomplishment)

a wierd/exceptional circumstance when i get runners high is when i look at my shadow, it feels as if someone else is running, and not me...
and so i watch this "person" run and kind of feel detached,

also, when i'm i've been running for a long time, and feel slight fatiigue in my legs, i remind myself, that i have in fact, alot of energy left over, and still have a long way to go, and i suddenyl become more energised

it's wierd, but when you run practically anywhere you go, you get used to it, and you get develop your own "style" of running

[Shiru (#135861)]

So I suppose that a runner's high (particularly when it applies to runners and not other forms of exercise) will only occur to people who have a daily regimen? It seems that people who are out-of-shape never experience the runner's high when they run every once in a while, otherwise they would be running more often (and getting in shape ).

[sakurafice (#142452)]

[Anothar (#136418)]

Runner's high, to me anyways is when your body is sort of in "cruise control" You're running and it just feels like you can keep going and going without thinking about it. Your mind wanders into different thoughts and you don't think about any pain you're feeling in your muscles or joints.

[Shiru (#135861)]

[SupraGuy (#92823)]

I like my endorphin rushes.

After a while, I think that that high starts to kick in earlier and earlier. After you're in good enough shape, you start to relax and it feels good as soon as your muscles have warmed up. I don't know how it is for other people. When I started running, I was badly athsmatic. It was torture to complete even a relatively short run, but I was doing it as a part of something else that I was focusing on. After a while I was running further than I realised until much later, after damaging my knee, and I could no longer do so.

As a part of the excercise that I do now, I can still feel vestiges of that same thing, though I'm no longer capable of going that kind of time or distance. It still starts to kick in fairly soon after I'm warmed up. I'm sure that your body "learns" to react that way after a while.

I think that it's also different for different people, but I'm fairly sure that it's still a reaction to "pushing" with the excercise levels. I feel that the endorphin release is triggered as a defence mechanism to relieve pain. "No pain, no gain."