My husband and I are in a competition for April: whomever does the most running/walking mileage wins. I don't know what we're shooting for, but I think he wants a Kinect and I want to get bikes so we can cross-train. Either way, we're still working out. But I realize now that I, at least, have to be working out differently so that I can continue to run throughout and beyond this time of injury.
What keeps athletes going through an injury? Is it desire to win, or an addiction to the "runner's high"? That's not even a fiction. According to Gina Kolata, in her article in The New York Times, she suggests that
The runner’s-high hypothesis proposed that there were real biochemical effects of exercise on the brain. Chemicals were released that could change an athlete’s mood, and those chemicals were endorphins, the brain’s naturally occurring opiates. Running was not the only way to get the feeling; it could also occur with most intense or endurance exercise.
The problem, though, was that to test runners on this, researchers would do spinal taps (think epidural but testing fluid from the spine, not injecting numbing medication), which for some reason cannot be performed immediately prior to a workout. But Kolata notes that German researchers
using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.
The more some people run, the better they feel. Kolata reports in her article that the researchers, who studied long-distance runners, could "even see it in [the runners'] faces"--that the runner's high was not only psychological but manifested physically as well. But not all researchers interpret the "high" in the same way. According to Lenny Bernstein in his article "Endorphin-Fueled ‘Runner’s High’ Is Taken as Fact in the Gym World. But Is It?" in The Washington Post, he notes that
Researchers then blocked endorphin receptors in some subjects but found no difference in the effects of exercise on mood changes. Others tested the blood of subjects after strenuous exercise and discovered lots of endorphins, which are also produced by the adrenal glands, Raglin said. The problem is that these hormones don’t effectively cross the barrier that keeps most of the blood supply out of the brain. And there are other hormones, as well as temperature and blood pressure changes, that may be part of unusual feelings after a hard workout.
So it could be endorphins, or it could be "an increase in body temperature" (Bernstein), or any of a variety of factors. The truth of the matter is that "runner's high" is a combination of our present mood, succeeding a difficult workout, body temperature, endorphins, and the natural mixture of our very individualized chemical make-up.
So no matter what the combination, if you feel better after a workout, you can call it whatever you like. I prefer to keep mine "runner's high," and I'll probably never know the exact reason it happens, just that it does often enough to keep me working out for 6-8 hours a week in my laundry room. I think "runner's high" brings injured runners back to the sport, including myself. There is something to be said about getting up, going into my laundry room, and running for two hours a pop that doesn't generally make a lot of sense unless there was a reward of some sort. The lighting is dingy and fluorescent; I stare at shelves; the laundry is often loud and knocking around. And it's pretty hot in there, too. But I run, now, 20+ miles a week (last distance: 9 miles). If it's not runner's high, then, what could it be?
Works Cited
Bernstein, Lenny. "Endorphin-Fueled ‘Runner’s High’ Is Taken as Fact in the Gym World. But Is It?" Washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. 14 June 2011. Web. April 7, 2012.
Kolata, Gina. "Yes, Running Can Make You High." Newyorktimes.com. New York Times, 27 Mar. 2008. Web. 7 April 2012.
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