Runner's High - Article

Anyone up for a run???

http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/archiv...exercise.shtml

Hey buddy, so how much for a dime bag of runners high? You're not a cop, right?

"David Drake" <david.drake@fuse.net> wrote in message news:<40038506$0$88850$a04e5680@nnrp.fuse.net>...
> Anyone up for a run???
>
> http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/archiv...exercise.shtml

I have a problem with the idea of pinpointing the feel-good benefits of running on some particular
chemical or narrow group. It just doesn't work that way. The chemical component of the runner's high
is a whole soup of chemicals that work together. You can't discount endorphins and dopamine just
because something else is discovered whose action resembles that of a popular recreation drug.

Then there are strictly psychological benefits. The sense of achievement, confidence from physical
fitness and so on. If that's all chemicals too, there must be a ``personal best'' chemical that is
released strictly only in that moment when you realize you knocked down a great time on some
favorite course, and on no other occasion.

I believe that the number one chemical that is responsible for feeling good is---guess what---
oxygen. You get lots of that when you run. I find that I feel even better after I run aerobically
than when I do hard tempo runs at lactate threshold, experiencing bouts of oxygen debt. Running
below the anaerobic threshold is like holding an oxygen mask to your face. Your heart and lungs work
hard to deliver oxygen, but there is lots to spare for you brain.

People who take oxygen recreationally, like at these so-called oxygen bars, experience something
like a runner's high: feelings of elation, energy, clarity of mind, etc. If there is a single
chemical explanation, oxygen would be the most obvious, simplest one.

Lastly, just because some chemicals are discovered in someone who is experiencing a runner's high
doesn't mean that they are the cause. Co-occurence does not imply cause and effect. It could be just
that the happiness of running gives rise to some processes that release the chemical, or that both
have some common cause.

You truly are a dumb pollock.

kaz@ashi.footprints.net (Kaz Kylheku) wrote in message
news:<cf333042.0401191157.654bfbbe@posting.google.com>...
> "David Drake" <david.drake@fuse.net> wrote in message
> news:<40038506$0$88850$a04e5680@nnrp.fuse.net>...
> > Anyone up for a run???
> >
> > http://www.whistle.gatech.edu/archiv...exercise.shtml
>
> I have a problem with the idea of pinpointing the feel-good benefits of running on some
> particular chemical or narrow group. It just doesn't work that way. The chemical component of the
> runner's high is a whole soup of chemicals that work together. You can't discount endorphins and
> dopamine just because something else is discovered whose action resembles that of a popular
> recreation drug.
>
> Then there are strictly psychological benefits. The sense of achievement, confidence from physical
> fitness and so on. If that's all chemicals too, there must be a ``personal best'' chemical that is
> released strictly only in that moment when you realize you knocked down a great time on some
> favorite course, and on no other occasion.
>
> I believe that the number one chemical that is responsible for feeling good is---guess what---
> oxygen. You get lots of that when you run. I find that I feel even better after I run aerobically
> than when I do hard tempo runs at lactate threshold, experiencing bouts of oxygen debt. Running
> below the anaerobic threshold is like holding an oxygen mask to your face. Your heart and lungs
> work hard to deliver oxygen, but there is lots to spare for you brain.
>
> People who take oxygen recreationally, like at these so-called oxygen bars, experience something
> like a runner's high: feelings of elation, energy, clarity of mind, etc. If there is a single
> chemical explanation, oxygen would be the most obvious, simplest one.
>
> Lastly, just because some chemicals are discovered in someone who is experiencing a runner's high
> doesn't mean that they are the cause. Co-occurence does not imply cause and effect. It could be
> just that the happiness of running gives rise to some processes that release the chemical, or that
> both have some common cause.