In the lyrics of Cypress Hill,
"I want to get high - so high!.....Well that's the funk elastic, the blunt I twist it. The slamafied, (buddafied) funk on your discus. Oh, what you messed with, you got to bare witness.
Catch a ho and another ho Merry Christmas"
Come on, everyone! You KNOW you love Cypress Hill!! ....okay? well? maybe not so much. Honestly, what do those lyrics even mean? And so maybe you're not so much into "rollin' a fatty" (did I just write that?) as you are into getting that endorphine high, but let's face it, you're still a total junky! So, let's take a few minutes to talk about how great it is to get high!
One of my RUNNYC amigas recently sent me an article from the New York Times titled, Yes, Running Can Make You High . This might not come as a shock to many of you since you've probably experienced what a race or training run can do to your brain and consequently your emotions. I mean, as they say, the proof is in the puddin'! But the recent research mentioned in this article on the infamous "runner's high" is quite interesting. The research confirmed that "endorphins were produced during running and were attaching themselves to areas of the brain associated with emotions, in particular the limbic and prefrontal areas." It also explains that the limbic and prefrontal areas are those which are activated when people are involved in romantic love affairs or as researcher Dr. Henning Boecker of the University of Bonn states "when you hear music that gives you a chill of euphoria...'"
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Dr. Boecker even suggests that "runners" may have become addicted to the sport in the first place because of their physical ability to get a "runner's high". I mean, could it really be possible that some people do not enjoy running because they just can not produce the level of endorphines necessary to keep junkies like us pumped for hours post run? The very idea that one's actual ability to even experience a "runners high" might be a major factor separating us endurance "crazies" from the rest of the non-running population is just phenomenal. It's like we're our own drug dealers and the only price we have to pay for our high is the time an energy it takes to rock out a quick 5miler.
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Well, I don't know about you, but I'm off to go deal myself some endorphins. Seriously, can we all just take a minute and give it up for euphoria on-demand! It's flippin' awesome!
4 comments:
"rollin' a fatty"
That just made me laugh really hard.
made giggle too...
Wow, that is such a cool post!!! And could also explain why certain runs (like on the treadmill) aren't as good as others (outside where I can see cool things and usually have a great playlist). I have never gotten a runner's high on the treadmill, but get it often outside, particularly on longer runs. So maybe I've psychologically conditioned myself to hate the treadmill and love running outside?
Either way, that is really cool. Thanks so much for sharing!
Laura, you're right. I never feel as good after a treadmill run as I do after running outside. I mean, even if it's cold and nasty, running outside just gives me a better high! :)
And we have my friend "mbarry" to thank for the article. Great find! I really like the writer of that article, she has written a few great pieces for the NYtimes.
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