Classical Values :: If running really produced a high it would be illegal

September 29, 2009

If running really produced a high it would be illegal

For over 14 years, I have been running 3 miles nearly every other day. I had to force myself when I started back in 1995, and I hated running then and now. Really, I hate it about as much now as I did when I started. What I have never quite been able to understand is the way people carry on about runners as if they suffer from a compulsive disease, like an addiction. They are said to crave running because (so the argument goes) it is supposed to give them a narcotic-like rush called the "Runner's High":

Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner's body pumps out, the greater the effect.

Leading endorphin researchers not associated with the study said they accepted its findings.

"Impressive," said Dr. Solomon Snyder, a neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins and a discoverer of endorphins in the 1970's.

"I like it," said Huda Akil, a professor of neurosciences at the University of Michigan. "This is the first time someone took this head on. It wasn't that the idea was not the right idea. It was that the evidence was not there."

For athletes, the study offers a sort of vindication that runner's high is not just a New Agey excuse for their claims of feeling good after a hard workout.

For athletes and nonathletes alike, the results are opening a new chapter in exercise science. They show that it is possible to define and measure the runner's high and that it should be possible to figure out what brings it on. They even offer hope for those who do not enjoy exercise but do it anyway. These exercisers might learn techniques to elicit a feeling that makes working out positively addictive.

I wish they'd hurry up. Because seriously, running sucks. Big time. I could certainly use the runner's high, because it hasn't gotten easier to run after all these years. In fact, on a cold and clammy day like this, it feels like genuine torture.

At the rate I'm going, I'll probably develop "Boomeritis" before I ever manage to eke out the slightest "high."

(And now I gotta run!)

MORE: Post-run, and still no runner's high! Being accused of getting such a thing is no fun; it's like being accused of having fun when you're making yourself miserable. (Like a celibate accused of hedonism...)

posted by Eric on 09.29.09 at 04:28 PM

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://classicalvalues.com/cgi-bin/pings.cgi/8842

Comments

Re Boomeritis: I stopped running 3-5 miles per day in my late 20s when I developed runner's knee.

My running helped me get through a rigorous engineering program that required 60+ hours a week of studying. If not a high, definitely a good stress reducer.

Some exercise when older is good. My 86 year old uncle has continued with working out with weights for years.

Gringo · September 29, 2009 06:54 PM

I complain about no runner's high, but without exercise I know I'd be a lot more miserable.

On my non-running days I do heavy calisthenics (including 120 consecutive pushups with stands and a minimum of 40 consecutive pullups). This makes me feel like dropping dead, but still no high!

Eric Scheie · September 29, 2009 07:11 PM

Got a runner's high, once, while running in high school, 50 - um years ago. Never had it again. Also got the "second wind" thingie once.

Either it's real-but-elusive, or I am losing it. Don't remember it making me want to run more. Never did like running after the age of 13 or so -

Charlie · September 29, 2009 07:19 PM

Runners high?

I'm not a runner but I've seen many joggers on the side of the road as I drive along and I have NEVER seen one smiling. Even when in the company of firends and loved ones those runners invariably have a grimace on their face that tells me they are in pain.

joated · September 29, 2009 07:38 PM

40 years of working on my feet, pounding pavement, running 5 miles/day. Knees and hips are gone and I now have a very sedentary, and peaceful, lifestyle. My 11 year old son wants dad to play football with him, and I can't. This is the price I paid for doing what I had to do earlier-not worth it.

gbbeard · September 30, 2009 10:42 AM

This was pretty obvious to me for a long time. It's not running but any strenuous exercise. Not so much WHILE working out as afterwards. So of course, watching people work out hard, they look like they are working hard, not high.

My personal belief is that they are released as painkillers, so you have to have the pain first :)

plutosdad · September 30, 2009 10:46 AM

I got an elliptical. A little easier on me.

Truth be told, I'm skeptical a lot of exercise is good for you. It's a big oxidation load.

Dave Price · September 30, 2009 06:47 PM

I jog/run 3-6 miles 4 or 5 days a week.
I've never experienced a 'runners high,' but I still enjoy doing it most of the time. I find that I'm often able to come up with solutions to problems in my life or great new ideas for stuff while I'm running- maybe it's the extra blood pumping into the brain.
I usually feel much better about life afterwards. It's calming.

Lynne · October 1, 2009 09:20 AM