Runner's High?

tkillion810

My runners high come at different points of my runs, usually depending on how far I am running that day. Sometimes I don't feel it until I'm done with the run. I really don't like doing hill repeats, but when I am done, I feel strong and fabulous! During a 20 mile training run, I might experience my runners high two or three times during the run. It really is different for everyone. Great job on getting out there and moving!! C25K is such a great program!

Here is an article from Science Daily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303101110.htm
Mar. 6, 2008 — Throughout the world, amateurs, experts and the media agree that prolonged jogging raises people's spirits. And many believe that the body's own opioids, so called endorphins, are the cause of this. But in fact this has never been proven until now. Researchers at the Technische Universität München and the University of Bonn succeeded in demonstrating the existence of an 'endorphin driven runner's high'. In an imaging study they were able to show, for the first time, increased release of endorphins in certain areas of the athletes' brains during a two-hour jogging session.

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Tweet127These results are also relevant for patients suffering from chronic pain, because the body's own opiates are produced in areas of the brain which are involved in the suppression of pain.

Runner's high

Endurance sports have long been seen as reducing stress, relieving anxiety, enhancing mood and decreasing the perception of pain. The high that accompanies jogging even led to the creation of its own term, 'runner's high'. Yet the cause of these positive effects on the senses was not clear until now. The most popular theory was and still is the 'Endorphin Hypothesis', which claimed that there was increased production of the body's own opioids in the brain. However, since until now direct proof of this theory could not be provided; for technical reasons, it was a constant source of controversial discussions in scientific circles. The result was that the myth of 'runner's high through endorphins' lived on.

Endorphin hypothesis confirmed

Scientists from the fields of Nuclear Medicine, Neurology and Anaesthesia at the Technische Universität München (TUM) and the University of Bonn have now subjected the endorphin theory to closer scrutiny. Ten athletes were scanned before and after a two-hour long-distance run using an imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET). For this they used the radioactive substance [18F]diprenorphine ([18F]FDPN), which binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and hence competes with endorphins.

'The more endorphins are produced in the athlete's brain, the more opiate receptors are blocked,' says Professor Henning Boecker, who coordinated the research at TUM and who is now in charge of the 'Functional Neuroimaging Group' at the Dept. of Radiology, University Hospital Bonn. And further: 'Respectively the opioid receptor binding of the [18F]FDPN decreases, since there is a direct competition between endorphins in the brain and the injected ligand'.

By comparing the images before and after two hours of long distance running the study could demonstrate a significantly decreased binding of the [18F]FDPN-ligand. This is a strong argument in favour of an increased production of the body's own opioids while doing long-distance running. 'We could validate for the first time an endorphin driven runner's high and identify the affected brain areas', states Boecker. 'It's interesting to see that the affected brain areas were preferentially located in prefrontal and limbic brain regions which are known to play a key role in emotional processing. Moreover, we observed a significant increase of the euphoria and happiness ratings compared to the ratings before the running exercise.'

Professor Thomas Tölle, who for several years has been head of a research group called 'Functional Imaging of Pain' at TU Munich, adds: 'Our evaluations show that the more intensively the high is experienced, the lower the binding of [18F]FDPN was in the PET scan. And this means that the ratings of euphoria and happiness correlated directly with the release of the endorphins.' This has clear implications for those who suffer from chronic pain. 'The fact that the endorphins are also released in areas of the brain that are at the centre of the suppression of pain was not quite unexpected, but even this proof was missing. Now we hope that these images will also impress our pain patients and will motivate them to take up sports training within their available limits,' he concluded.

Running down the pain?

It is well known that endorphins facilitate the body's own pain suppression by influencing the way the body passes on pain and processes it in the nervous system and brain. The increased production of endorphins resulting from long-distance running could also serve as the body's own pain-killer, a potent potential therapeutic option. 'Now we are very curious about the results of an imaging study using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging which we are currently carrying out in Bonn in order to investigate the influence of long-distance running on the processing of pain directly,' Professor Boecker says.

Further research is required so as to investigate the exact effects on depression and states of anxiety but also on possible aspects which may promote addiction. That is why the relation between genetic disposition and opiate receptor distribution in the brain is being currently investigated at TU Munich. 'A scary thought,' Thomas Tölle comments, 'if we ran because our genes wanted us to do so.' The first step towards researching these connections has now been made.

The results of the study " The Runner's High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human Brain" are published in the journal 'Cerebral Cortex'. This research was supported by the German Research Association, as well as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Association of Neuropathic Pain.

dsjohndrow

I just ran my first 10k this past Sunday and I felt my first "runner's high"... it was glorious! I honestly thought it was all a bunch of nonsense this "high" but I really struggled miles 2-3 during the race and once I hit that 4 mile mark I really picked it up and felt so much better, like "I got this!" kinda feeling.

That's why I stopped running short distances.

HypersonicFitNess

You're just starting out...give it time. When I was a beginner runner; I would get this around mile 1 (and I didn't run and take walking breaks). Now I get it as soon as I start...sorry but I just LOVE to run and as soon as I start my heart sores.

emilydiehl08

I am the same way! I hate every minute of running. My running buddy feels great when shes running, but I can't get past pure hate for it. Not to mention I am incredibly slow. It hurts every part of my body when I run and I try to push through it and the harder I try the worse I feel. Is this just me being out of shape? Or should I listen to my body when it is begging me to stop?

hatkinson87

I get my runners high afterwards. It's the elation that I did something I never could have dreamed of in my 20s. The best feeling in the world.

This is exactly how I feel! I'm still in my 20's, but not as healthy as I was in college and running cross country. My runners high also comes after my first mile. The first mile is just painful and everything isn't working right, but when I get in that sweet spot...boy I run!!