Runner's "High" - Fact or Fiction?

[Danjo]

I've only had one real High,

I've only had one real High, but it was a heck of a high. I get the smooth, effortless feeling a lot, pretty much any time I run without a shirt on actually, and I guess it comes with a bit of a high, but its not a full on one. The really, really strong one I got was between mile 60 and 65 the time I ran 70 miles in four days. (That also happended to be the time I messed up my calf so that I could only run barefoot.) I was definitely, without a doubt, HIGH. I think it pretty much only happens when you beat the crap out of your body, and your brain is just trying to keep you from dying. I was still tired, sore, and stiff, but I also felt like I had the strength to push through it all and just run forever. You know how Ultra-runners talk about "The Beast"? Well that was pretty much my first time facing him, other than in 400's when I'm too tired to put up a fight, and I was just kinda like "Yeah, I'm tired and beat up, but I can take you. I can take anything." The most amazing feeling ever. Its a dangerous game to chase it though, 'cause I injured my calf by running another 5 miles after the high, and my calf is still bugging me a bit 2 months later. I was trying to find my body's limits this summer, and I think that was my body's way of saying "Thats it. You've hit the wall."

You have to really hit your body's limit though, which is hard to do, and a terrible idea for anyone who's any kind of new to barefooting. It'll probably be years before I hit another high like that.

 

[Barefoot Larry]

I usually get it at mile 5,

I usually get it at mile 5, if I'm going for a 10 mile run. During this phase, my breathing rate slows down as if I was sitting on the couch watching TV. It feel like no effort for the rest of my run. I wish I could enter into that state at mile 1, sometimes the first 5 is annoying because I can't find my breathing rythym.

 

[Barefoot Larry]

I asked Nate for some

I asked Nate for some breathing tips. He told me to make sure my inhalation and exhalation breathes were equal in length. I tried this techique and I got into that "zone after 1.5 miles instead of 5, which improved my time.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Good to know, Larry.  I will

Good to know, Larry. I will try that.

 

[Tender Toes Mark]

I've wondered about the

I've wondered about the runner's high, as well.

I've never had a feeling of euphoria, but in about half of my longer runs - of an hour or more - I experience that state many of you described where everthing just seems to "click." It feels almost effortless. I become more aware of my surroundings, while less aware of my striving to move forward. I just seem to go into an "auto-pilot" state, and feel like I'm enjoying a cool ride. I've wondered many times if this is "runner's high."

If the euphoria is the body's response to really pushing your limits, I may never get that because I'm really slow about progressing to new lengths.

 

[Blind Boy]

I believe there are two

I believe there are two different "highs", one is the extreme one encountered in an ultra where you push yourself so far beyond exhaustion that your body starts doing crazy things and basically drug itself to stop the pain.

The other one is something you can experience anytime you run, no matter how short. This is the one where you simply float and you can run as fast and as far as you like without getting tired. The key difference is that in this one, there is no pain, it's all high and no low. At least that's what I've experienced.

I actually bought a book on how to create this high, Body, Mind & Sport by John Douillard, but I haven't bothered with following the instructions in it yet so I don't know if his theories actually work but it's an interesting read either way. We discussed this book quite a bit last summer on the other forum, did anyone else actually follow the program? Did it work?

 

[rdwhitaker]

I used to experience runner's

I used to experience runner's high a lot back when I ran shod. It happens much less frequently now.

Back then I was running longer distances at a faster pace. A few miles into the run I would feel as light as a feather, and my running seemed more like floating along, running from the core - as they say. My breathing and heart rate came back down to just over my standing rates. I became oblivious to time and distance, and it was almost as if I was running in place. But I wasn't oblivious to my surroundings! I noticed all kinds of little things, a bird chirp, dandilions floating in the air, dew reflecting off of leaves, shadows from clouds passing by. Quite a few times I would "snap out of it" and realize I had just covered 3 or 4 miles without hardly noticing it.

I don't experience it quite like that any more, partially because I feel that I have to stay in the here-and-now to watch out for bad things on the paths or to keep my form in check. Its still too easy for me to drift into some bad form habits which ends up hurting my feet or legs more. But still, once in a while, I do get a lesser version of runner's high where I am running more from my core, with much less effort, where nothing on the pavement or ground bothers me at all, and I feel as if I could just run forever. I love those runs!!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I experience the

I experience the opposite. When I was running shod, I didn't notice all the little, beautiful things about the run, that now barefoot running makes so pleasant. I was so in to listening to my MP3 player and trying to act and look like a "real" runner. But that's just me. We are all different and have different experiences for different reasons.

 

[peacekaren]

Before I became a barefoot

Before I became a barefoot runner, if I was in a grumpy mood my darling husband would pleasantly offer, "Karen, would you like me to get you a beer?"

These days if I'm in a grumpy mood, my darling husband suggests, "Karen, would you like to go for a run?"



RUN >= BEER



It may not be THE runner's high experienced in more extreme conditions, but every run gives me a pleasant buzz.



Peace,

Karen

 

[ajb422]

So no one here mentioned like

So no one here mentioned like a full body happy almost tingling sensation that comes with runners high? I've certainly had the effortless flying sort of feeling many times but I guess I never considered it runners high just a nice point in the run.

But during some of my faster runs around 4 or 5 miles (and when I'm breathing properly) I'll get the full body tingles combined with the effortless feeling. I always that this was what "runner's high" was. I guess I heard it compared to....uh lets just call it something else that gives you all over tingles, so I never considered it to be true runners high unless I got that as well. Now I'm starting to wonder if this is even normal?

 

[Tender Toes Mark]

peacekaren wrote:... every

... every run gives me a pleasant buzz.

That's a good one, Karen.

If there was ever a line that could coax sedentary folk to give running a try, that's it!

 

[Barefoot TJ]

There's a name for that there

There's a name for that there condition, and I think it's something you should talk to Dr. Ruth about soon.

Seriously, I've gotten the all over tingly feeling on my runs, but I think that has to do with overheating, although I feel really cold, like a dead person passing through me. I've never had the tingly feeling while I was on a runner's high though.

 

[ajb422]

lol no its not THAT type of

lol no its not THAT type of sensation , just comparable, which is how I've heard other friends describe it as well.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Hahahahaha!

Hahahahaha!

 

[peacekaren]

Barefoot TJ wrote:I feel

I feel really cold, like a dead person passing through me.

??? I can't really relate. I've never had a dead person passing through me. :lol:



Peace,

Karen

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I get that feeling sometimes

I get that feeling sometimes when I'm just laying in bed. It's the freakiest feeling. It leaves me chilled to the bone for hours. I've even taken really hot baths to try to warm up, and as soon as I am out of the bath, I'm freezing again. Weird. I know.

 

[migangelo]

the first time i got it was

the first time i got it was the second time i ran bf. i was trying out my huaraches on a muddy trail and when that didn't work i was forced to go bf. i wound up just flying through the rest of the park with a huge smile. i of course did too much and had tofp for two weeks but the run was incredible.



i'm now running everyday before school and get home when my second wind is kicking in so i feel good or like today, great, most of the day. i also had a memorable one, or run, a couple of weeks ago. running bf on the trail in the driving rain with only shorts on. laughing, sliding, smiling, and running the whole time. i felt sorry for all the heel strikers i passed who looked miserable and were covered head to toe in gear.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

So cool, Mig.That brings up

So cool, Mig.

That brings up another angle sort of on this topic. Second Wind.

I've only had this experience only one time, when I was a shod runner (and this has nothing to do with whether or not I was wearing shoes). I was running so hard, as fast as I could go at my turtle pace, completely out of breath, nearly hyperventilating, in the dead of summer, thinking I was going to pass out at any moment, face as red as a baboon's ass (as my precious hubby tells me), and feeling like I had better stop, or I would have a heart attack, when all of a sudden, it was as if God pumped my lungs full of air. I gasped and felt my lungs fully expand and then push all the air back out. All of a sudden, I was breathing normally again and not feeling taxed at all. Weird.