Do you work out? Do you actually get that "runner's high" that people talk about? The closest I get is slight hallucinations accompanied by shivers. I'm not kidding. I'll get cold.

What am I doing wrong?

Or are you the kind who prefers to get their high on the couch?

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

Answers

When I skate for a really long time, like over an hour and a half, I hit a nice dreamy state where I'm pretty high and somewhat separated from my body. I don't feel any aches and my breathing comes easy and deep, and I feel like I could go forever if I had enough food and water on me. It's a much better feeling than any drug high I have ever experienced. Lifting weights gives a good endorphin rush but only after the pain and need to puke dissipate. A weird phenomenon I have noticed during lifting is that when I am almost out of strength and squeezing out those last few reps of the last set my perception of time gets skewed. I don't mean that it just seems to take forever to finish the set - even the music I am listening to seems to slow down by about 1/3. The little lecrechaun who tells me to burn things like to show himself after I lift weights, but never after aerobic exercise. The shivers and coldness aren't something I have ever experienced.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

Run to the light, MuscleBoy!

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

When I was training for my first marathon, I had my first "real" runners high... but it wasn't until after I'd been going for about 2 hours... and it did kinda go along with Pamie's hallucinations and shivers... or maybe that was dehydration... anyway... I never have a runners high unless I'm working out for more than 2 hours.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

I used to get that in college pretty often. Funny thing is, it never happened during exercise. It actually happened usually at Sunday Brunch in the dining hall while waiting in line for omlettes, bacon, sausage, and waffles. I guess it had more to do with the fact that I smoked 10 packs a day and ate foods like omlettes, bacon, sausage, and waffles. So maybe it was actually a heart attack, and not runner's high. But that really did used to happen though and the symptoms are the same.

It's no fun though. So it happens when you exercise, and like me in college, when you don't exercise. Talk about Damned if you do, Damned if you don't!! For the record, it doesn't happen anymore. I eat healthy and exercise and smoke only 5 packs a day....

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

Incidentally, when I signed onto the page today I thought your journal entry was going to be something mentioning King of the Hill since there was a picture of Luann on the splash page. That's the first thing that sprang to mind when I saw it.

I don't think the shivers and weird feeling is dehydration, I think it's more complex than just a lack of water. I have experimented with a lot of different drinks when I skate and I get the same sensations whether I drink a gallon of water, a lot of Gatorade, or a Mickey's 40 oz.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

goddam, pamie. That was pretty funny. Hope your butt feels better.

Oh, and about runner's high. YEah, I don't know what that is.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

Really, truly - I want to experience that runner's high that everyone talks about. To feel like that next step will be your last or your chest will explode, then suddenly - to no longer feel the pain, just the exhilaration. To become one with the wind.

Sadly - I have a running partner that won't let that happen - an 85# greyhound with a bladder the size of Minneapolis AND St. Paul, and a fondness for marking both mailboxes and shrubberies. We sprint. Fifty yards at 100 MPH - then a pee break. Another 50 yards, another pee break. Sure, we cover 2.5 - 3 miles and I look like I just went swimming when we finish, but I never get a chance to feel "the high". Sure, I could leave him at home and go running by myself, but the image of sad brown eyes would preclude any enjoyment of the experience.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

Runner's high? Never heard of it!

Guess I could leash-train one of my cats and see if they'd run like a Greyhound...

Loved your entry today, pamie. I laughed, I cried, I vowed never to take my Billy Blanks(TM) Tae-Bo(TM) tapes out of the shrink-wrap...

-- Anonymous, June 24, 1999

Yes, I've experienced that runner's high, but rarely...

As you get older exercise of any kind hurts more (okay, everything hurts more)... I did six miles earlier today (treating myself to a day off from work since business travel will eat up most of my weekend) and a train of thought that worked its way through my brain was how you might compare yourself to somebody half your age or twice your age... e.g., "He's a pretty good shape for somebody twice my age" ... and I can remember thinking things like that... and then it struck me that I can no longer make a comment like that because somebody twice my age would be 112! No wonder my legs hurt...

But I did my six miles in the noontime heat... Only four weeks to go until the Narragansett Blessing of the Fleet 10-miler... I don't know about a runner's high while running it, but after we finish the race I know my brother and I will scarf down some clam chowder and clam cakes and cold beer and.... ahhhhhhh.....

-- Anonymous, June 25, 1999

I'm a rower and in the fall, it gets cold very quickly here. So we move from the water to the rowing machines. I have a special bandana that says "Destination: Happyland" on it for these occasions. Happyland, the (rower's?) high is what I'm trying to achieve. I row until I can hardly see and CJ, our coach's jokes actually seem funny. When we're done, I put my head between my knees and wait for my vision to clear before wandering around, enjoying the moving floor. I'm not sure if I'm a masochist or just insane.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 1999

Well, I don't run, per se, so I've never gotten it, though after some really heavy weight training I get all light-headed, but I doubt that's the same thing.

When I walk a marathon (I've done 4, plus 2 half-marathons), I get pretty discouraged at the 4-hour mark (time seems to be more relevant than the distance travelled), and then somewhere around 5 hours I cheer up again and stay that way 'til the end. Is that the wall at 4 hours? Is that a high at 5? Who knows.

Someday I will actually run a marathon all the way through. I have a theory that if I can be done in less than 4 hours I will not hit that wall. Is this likely or am I fooling myself?

-- Anonymous, June 28, 1999

I have always loved running. Ran since I was 10 years old. I am now training for my first marathon. You either like running, or you don't. I don't care for the word "high". That's just some Runner's World marketing scam word. You either like running, or you don't. If you don't like running, you shouldn't do it. Running up steep hills can kill ya', but when you finish, you feel like a super-human. Did 15 sprints up a hill yesterday in deep humidity - felt like I was going to pass out, cotton mouth, sweat bathing my eyes. But when I got home I couldn't stop smiling. I felt like a super-human. You either like running, or you don't. If you don't like running, you shouldn't do it.

-- Anonymous, June 29, 1999

You either have a giant tumor growing out of the side of your head, or you don't. If you don't like eating grass, don't do it.You either have a giant tumor growing out of the side of your head, or you don't. If you don't like eating grass, don't do it. My cat's breath smells like cat food!

-- Anonymous, June 30, 1999

sometimes after the first few shifts of a hockey game, my nose will go numb. just the tip of it. it gets tingly. i always feel good after hockey games, or after a long run. my lungs feel stretched out. and i grin a lot. and sleep well.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

I tried running once but when I ran people would look at me funny or guys would yell things out of cars so I sort of stopped. Plus I got injured at the time. Thats the thing with running it is bad for the knees so I'm thinking of buying rollerblades because it is less impact on your joints and it will support my ankle more (which I have sprained twice this year).

I really like step Aerobics and I'm always really enthusiastic and jumping aroundf then I get tired and then towards the end I get all enthusiastic again. I don't know id this is what your talking about.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 2001