runner's high

a group of german scientists recently showed that runner's high is actually a real, chemical phenomenon. they studied a group of runners before and after a two hour run and, using pet scans, discovered that the emotional centers of the brain were more active after the run. in the nytimes article i provided a link to above, they talk about directions for future work, one of which is looking at the difference between newbie runners and those who have been hooked for a slightly longer period of time. i'm not sure i get a runner's high in the completely euphoric sense of the term every time i run, but i can assure that i'm pretty much always in a better mood. the authors of the study mention that this high can be induced by intense or endurance exercise. i've often wondered though if after you've been running for awhile, for example, do you need to go longer to get the same response? kind of like a drug addict wanting a larger dose to get the same effect? and does this mean i have a chemical addiction? i know i have an addictive personality, but this brings a whole new meaning to things. in fact, i feel like i see my life and general athletic endeavors in a new light.

i started running in middle school, so at this point, i've been running for about 14 years (!!) and have covered 10s of 1000s of miles (in high school alone, i was doing about 2000 miles/yr). in college, i was injured a lot from running, put on a ton of weight and did not have the opportunity to race (or run in general) anywhere near as much as i would have liked. i hit a particularly low point my sophomore year, and later in college, looking back on that time, i kind of blamed the unhappiness on not being able to run, but really had no justification for that blame. after graduating, being able to run again and getting back in shape, i can't say that stressful times at school or in life in general have really hit me as hard. i've had an insane schedule for the last year, particularly with moving, and quite honestly, if running is the equivalent of a drug that makes me happy, i'm glad i am able to get my fixes on a somewhat regular basis because i don't know how i'd deal with everything that's going on otherwise. but aside from the chemical benefits, running also just provides an excellent excuse to go outside!

so here's to endurance sports. happy running, biking and swimming all!