Monday, May 01, 2006

I'm high!

Today, during and after my training for "tek trojk" an interesting thing happened to me. After running for about 45 minutes my state of mind was altered completely. Instead of feeling how heavy my legs are becoming, how damn hard it is to breathe when running uphill, how my running shoe is a bit tight.... I started observing the soft green of spring trees, the beautiful shape of the path ahead, the gentle nice feeling of the mild wid cooling me and simply realised how simple and beautiful life can be. The rest of my run was almost surreal, and I even decided to extend my track a bit. After I have calmed down, the feeling of euphoria calmed down a little, but the funny thing is, that I still feel great!
I have experienced this kind of a feeling many times and during different sport activities, but it never hit me so hard till now. I must say it is the best feeling you can have with your clothes on ( no I am not a naturist :) ).
I'm still full of energy so I decided to investigate this phenomena a bit. It is called Runner's High, because it is most likely to occure during running which is the sport activity that pushes the body nearer to its limits. To put it simply, what happens is that the body is flooded with endorphines, which is hypotalamuses replacement for morphine ( or vice a versa :) ) + other hormones ( but I'm not going to complicate matters here).
It is quite logical why they are released, simply to cope with physical streses. But then, if I understand correctly, there are other hormones realeased into the blood stream to coope with endorphines, and guess how these make you feel?
So, what have I learned? :
1. it can really make your day when you go running, especially if the weather prevented you from doing so for the last few days.
2. our thinking, preception and feelings are hughly influenced by our hormone levels. ( after running even a dumpster seemd estetical to me!? ) And we should be aware of this when we are a bit less high... there is always a way to change the hormone balance to your advantage!
3. I won't be so surprised when I meet runners in -20C and snow on the streets.
4. I' ll enjoy the "tek trojk"
Try this for yourself and add the list. Even the doctors say it is good for you :) .
Ps: and if you need company or encouragement call me!

3 comments:

x said...

I went for a jog today too, mostly because I?m trying to get in shape for the DM?s women?s run. But sadly no euphoria for me, just sore legs. Maybe next time, although being me I doubt that. I think I?ll keep getting my endorphins from little things packaged in a violet paper, and in other more pleasurable ways. :)

Špela said...

The good weather forced even me to go jogging today. However jogging around a meadow with hay fever doesn't really stimulate your body to release too many endorphines :) But after I finally found my handkerchiefs it eventually got better and when I finally took some time to look around I realised that the very same flowers which turned me into one of Paloma's best friends aren't only annoying but also extremly beautiful.
However I strongly believe that this perception of beauty was still very far from your Runner's High :)

* said...

Go girls go! :)