Runner's High -- Fact or Fiction?

Yep-I liken it to the feeling you get when you are driving, you go like 10 blocks and all of the sudden think "Was that light red? I don't remember ANY of the last 10 blocks!" You KNOW you paid attention, but you were just zen with the situation.

I've tried really hard to like running and although I'm currently too overweight for it (kills my knees and back) I plan to give it another try once I've lost enough weight to make it tolerable again. I've never achieved the runner's high...but I know so many runner's that have and their description is what makes me keep coming back to running.

I've only been running for 11 weeks (C25K grad ) and I sure haven't experienced it. I pretty much hate every minute of running. But, I do like how I feel after. When I'm running and other runners go by, they are NEVER smiling, most often grimacing. When I'm dancing, everyone out on the floor is all smiles. Just sayin'.

For me it's not so much *while* I'm running but it's the hours after. I'm giddy, playful, happy etc.

I've ran half marathon and I don't do them because I'm happy while doing them...but I feel like a 6 year old who just got EVERY toy they asked Santa for at Christmas.

The research on this is split as to whether this is a real phenomenon or not. I think I get this periodically when I run, maybe 10-20% of the time. The feeling of total weightlessness, like every step is on clouds, where there is no pain in any part of the body, and my breathing is very rhythmic and calm, even though I am running a 7-8 min mile pace....so while there is some disagreement medically about what I've experienced, just wondering if anyone else has ever felt this "runner's high"?

I have had that on the rare occasion. All other times I pray that I finish my run alive :laugh:

Running makes me very happy.. it makes me feel good and alive... a feeling only running gives me but that's not what I consider a runners high...

There are some rare occasions when YES, ABSOLUTELY I get HIGH from my run and it's something I can't explain but it's very euphoric... I can't even really describe it, but it sometimes lasts for a few seconds, sometimes a few minutes or hours, and on even more rare occasions, it will last for a day or two... It usually happens when I achieve something new in my running... a furthest distance or a PR for a certain distance.

ETA: I didn't mean that I only feel good or alive when i run LOL just that running makes me feel like nothing else does

I'm not sure if it's a medical phenomenon - but I know that when I run my mood is better (all day) and I sometimes get into that zone where running just seems easy, breathing flows naturally and the world seems like a wonderful place.
By contrast, when I don't run (like the last week ) I'm crankier and more miserable.
So, I don't know the medical facts, but running is definitley good for me - good for my head at least, whether it is good for my joints is a matter of opinion at the moment.

Fact!!!! Especially when it's from the popo's.

regardless of what people say about whether it exists.

it is a medical fact.

When you exercise your body releases endorphins, that gives your a euphoric and high feeling.

in running the true high typically truly occurs after your break through the runners wall, which is usually about 20 miles or so give or take.

As an ultrarunner i can assure you, you may feel great after 6 or 10 or whatever, but really hit the wall and break through then feel the heroin rush on the other side let me tell ya, you never want to stop running. I guess that is why ultraruns are so popular nowadays it is a cheap healthy drug

I don't have any science or links to web-sites but I can share my first hand experience.

I haven't been a runner in over 10 years but I still remember this vividly.

I use to run 5 miles 3x per week. The first mile was always the hardest. What worked for me was to really concentrate on my breathing. In the nose, out through the mouth, with a series of hard inhales/exhales through the mouth alone as needed. What use to happen in the second or sometimes third mile was pretty outstanding. My breathing would become perfect and I would no longer find the need to 'make up for running' with the extra mouth breathing. As my breathing became perfect, I would experience almost an outer body experience. Not like tripping or floating, but just like I was completely inside my head at the controls of this body but, not actually in the body.

It was outstanding. Very similar to the 'in the zone' feeling that can be achieved in competitive sports. I miss running and I cannot wait until I've lost enough weight that I can safely pick it back up.

In my experience the "runner's high" is completely real.