Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High • Hacker News Board

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#21

Post by Kurtz79 » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 2:15 PM UTC

moron4hire wrote: post #8

emddudley wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have only experienced it once in my life, so I consider people who feel it regularly to be pretty lucky. I would love to have more motivation and reward in exercise. As it stands exercise is a tedious chore for me.

My thought process during running: Oh great, let's stare at the ground for the next hour. Let's trod the same ground, day after day. Yep, that pile of cigarette butts is still there. Oh look, the street cleaning crew missed that weird children's doll in the gutter again. This is so much fun. Let's do this for the rest of our lives.

Really ?

I usually try to run in parks, and usually I end up thinking about a bunch of stuff (work,daily life...), barely noticing the fact that I'm running, or where, or the music playing.

Also my thoughts during running tend to be much more positive and optimistic (to the point of daydreaming) than otherwise.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#22

Post by realquick81 » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 2:19 PM UTC

chipgap98 wrote: post #16

kstenerud wrote: post #15

Huh. This would certainly explain a lot. I can't get high from cannabis, and I've never ever gotten a runner's high despite doing a weekly 6 mile run for the past 3 years and training hard for boxing.

I've only hit runners highs on much longer runs. Like 10-15 miles. Totally anecdotal, but you might need to try going further. Also, what do you mean you can't get high from cannabis?

That usually means they don't understand how to use their diaphragm to suck the smoke into their lungs. They suck it into their mouth and then blow it.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#23

Post by jobu » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 2:21 PM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #15

Huh. This would certainly explain a lot. I can't get high from cannabis, and I've never ever gotten a runner's high despite doing a weekly 6 mile run for the past 3 years and training hard for boxing.

I definitely get a high from exercise - lifting weights as well as running.

Exercise also tends to increase my appetite, especially when lifting weights. I wonder if this is related to the endocannabinoids.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#24

Post by roymurdock » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:04 PM UTC

js2 wrote: post #20

One possible if slightly disheartening lesson of the study could be, in fact, that we may need to cover considerable mileage in order to experience a runner’s high; the mice in the study, small as they are, averaged more than three miles every day on their wheels. I'm on track for 3000 miles this year. I ran over 2000 miles last year. My shortest run in the last few months is 4 miles, and that's on days when I double…

Strange...I do 6-8 mile runs 3 times a week, so I'm by no means a high-mileage runner. I find that I get a high around on around 1/4 of my runs, usually around the 4-5 mile mark.

It starts out with a cool rush of euphoria felt in the head and behind the eyes, which quickly spreads to the extremities and blankets any perpetual pain/discomfort, replacing it with a weightlessness, like every tendon and muscle in your body has been renewed. It's a pure, cool, iron-like high that allows me to cut 30-60 seconds off the next 1-2 miles once it kicks in.

I don't think it's a distance thing - it's more of a pushing yourself to the point where your brain feels the need to intervene. I expect that if I had a disciplined training schedule and ran long distances regularly, my brain would get used to the idea of running and stop getting me high.

I also lift weights 3 times a week, but I never experience a high while deadlifting, bench pressing, running sleds, etc. I'm fairly certain it has to be biking/running where you have no rest in between sets in order for your brain to flip out and turn on whatever chemical switch it is that produces the effect.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#25

Post by saiya-jin » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:10 PM UTC

tetraodonpuffer wrote: post #18

saiya-jin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much did you smoke when you decided to cut it? I find the extra creativity, and sometimes vastly different viewpoint on many matters in life (probably all of them) is invaluable. Another thing is (in some circumstances) almost constant stream of out-of-blue ideas, solutions to situations/problems etc coming from subconsciousness. In life as usual, these are much more scarce. Some of best ideas/decisions in my lif…

I bike commute to work for a significant amount of time (about 1:15 each way) and most days I get out-of-the-blue ideas and solutions to situations/problems starting usually around 45 minutes in. It also often happens that I get a shift of perspective/viewpoint on something that is affecting me. If you are not getting any of this when working out may I suggest going longer? After all for most people the "runner's hig…

That might be partly explained by it, my gym sessions/interval runs don't last more than 30-35 minutes.

But I also do plenty of stuff in mountains - hikes, alpinism, ski touring, climbing etc. These are 3-10 hours activities (apart from short&intense burst while climbing), similar to slow running (sometimes actually pretty intense). These could be classified as some sort of "high", but more in a sense of euphory, joy of being in nature, seeing some amazing places, random meetings with animals etc. But nothing comparable to other "high" states from drugs. Just 2 very different worlds, both amazing but for different reasons.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#26

Post by agumonkey » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:31 PM UTC

js2 wrote: post #20

One possible if slightly disheartening lesson of the study could be, in fact, that we may need to cover considerable mileage in order to experience a runner’s high; the mice in the study, small as they are, averaged more than three miles every day on their wheels. I'm on track for 3000 miles this year. I ran over 2000 miles last year. My shortest run in the last few months is 4 miles, and that's on days when I double…

I'm barely a noob (did run/jog 15 miles once), but I love running and when I reach groove, it's a bit more than groove. I feel a strong uplift. Not a high, but suddenly pain and even effort just vanish from my mind and I just 'fly' contemplating the world. It's a very happy sensation. Unfortunately it's also a zen exercise because it's usually when you become aware that you're 'flying' that you start to drift away from it. Maybe a relation between not running for the sake of it, but running while thinking of something else.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#27

Post by tetraodonpuffer » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:32 PM UTC

saiya-jin wrote: post #25

tetraodonpuffer wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bike commute to work for a significant amount of time (about 1:15 each way) and most days I get out-of-the-blue ideas and solutions to situations/problems starting usually around 45 minutes in. It also often happens that I get a shift of perspective/viewpoint on something that is affecting me. If you are not getting any of this when working out may I suggest going longer? After all for most people the "runner's hig…

That might be partly explained by it, my gym sessions/interval runs don't last more than 30-35 minutes. But I also do plenty of stuff in mountains - hikes, alpinism, ski touring, climbing etc. These are 3-10 hours activities (apart from short&intense burst while climbing), similar to slow running (sometimes actually pretty intense). These could be classified as some sort of "high", but more in a sense of euphory, joy…

gym does not do it for me at all, as it's not really aerobic, and hiking in general requires too much brain power figuring out where to put your feet to allow me to get in the flow state plus in general it's not intense enough for long enough.

For me it really seems like working out at a high enough level that you'd have to stop after 1:30 or so that does it, if I have longer rides (I have ridden up to 5 hours) it does not seem to be hard enough, while if you go shorter it's too hard, there just seems to be something about the hard-but-manageable-effort that does it for some reason

Same deal with running, when I was marathon training and running for 2+ hours it did not happen as often as it did when I was half-marathon training and I was focusing on 1-1:30 workouts

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#28

Post by tatx » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:38 PM UTC

js2 wrote: post #20

One possible if slightly disheartening lesson of the study could be, in fact, that we may need to cover considerable mileage in order to experience a runner’s high; the mice in the study, small as they are, averaged more than three miles every day on their wheels. I'm on track for 3000 miles this year. I ran over 2000 miles last year. My shortest run in the last few months is 4 miles, and that's on days when I double…

I only started running regularly a year back, and I certainly feel something like a long-drawn low-ebbing pleasant kinda 'high' after a run. I also have double the energy now-a-days and am twice as productive since I started running. Concentration has improved along with temperament.

I am in my mid-thirties though and I can't recollect having run more than a mile before in my life. Maybe I will get used to this high and stop feeling the difference. Maybe I am feeling the kick because it is novel to me. But yes, it is nothing like the high you get from smoking marijuana :)

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#29

Post by jslatts » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:43 PM UTC

mtbcoder wrote: post #9

moron4hire wrote: post #3

I have never experienced it. Even when I was very physically fit (I was a martial arts instructor in college), I never got any pleasurable sort of feeling from working out. I enjoyed the activity itself, but the end result was always exhaustion and a vaguely nauseous feeling. Considering other things that are supposed to make you feel "high, aka good" (like the Vicodin I had been prescribed when I got my wisdom teeth…

I do quite a bit of running, some lifting and I've never personally experienced this with either. However, I also do a lot of mountain biking and experience this during and after each ride. As best I can describe it, it really becomes of a sense of "flow" and you feel connected to what you are doing while a wave of good feelings hits you. The only similar expression of this that I've been able to come across is how s…

This is dead on. Almost every mountain bike ride I go on gets me into a state of flow where I'm not thinking, just doing. It does happen when I run as well, but generally external conditions have to trigger it (awesome music, beautiful day, great views, etc). This feeling is usually accompanied by a general feeling of happiness and punctuated by occasional thoughts of how great and lucky I am to be alive and able to participate in these activities.

I never considered that euphoric feeling during exercise to be the "runners high". I always thought it was the euphoric and satisfied feeling I have _after_ exercise that is the high. I pretty much always feel great afterwards unless I really over exerted myself.

Re: Homing in on the Source of Runner’s High

#30

Post by comrh » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 3:55 PM UTC

mtbcoder wrote: post #9

moron4hire wrote: post #3

I have never experienced it. Even when I was very physically fit (I was a martial arts instructor in college), I never got any pleasurable sort of feeling from working out. I enjoyed the activity itself, but the end result was always exhaustion and a vaguely nauseous feeling. Considering other things that are supposed to make you feel "high, aka good" (like the Vicodin I had been prescribed when I got my wisdom teeth…

I do quite a bit of running, some lifting and I've never personally experienced this with either. However, I also do a lot of mountain biking and experience this during and after each ride. As best I can describe it, it really becomes of a sense of "flow" and you feel connected to what you are doing while a wave of good feelings hits you. The only similar expression of this that I've been able to come across is how s…

I think most people would use the word "mindfulness" for what you're describing. It is an amazing feeling that I get from lifting but never quite got from cardio.