Runner's High
Channel: Engaged Brain Podcast
Date: 09/04/2016

How to achieve a Runner's High
K. Aleisha Fetters
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/how-to-achieve-a-runners-high
http://www.runnersworld.com/person/k-aleisha-fetters

"Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don't. But we always want it - and more of it. It's the runner's high, and when we are lucky enough to tap into it, our runs feel easy, exhilarating, even euphoric. But we aren't always that lucky, are we?
Recently, researchers studied how the brain responds to running and found that the ability to get "high" while logging miles might be hard-wired within us. Years ago, our ancestors' survival likely depended on chasing down food. The desire to live was possibly their motivation to run and run fast, and the feel-good brain chemicals released when they did so may have helped them achieve the speed and distances required, says David A. Raichlen, Ph.D., an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. The runner's high may have served (and serves today) as a natural painkiller, masking tired legs and blistered feet, he says.
Even though you no longer have to chase down dinner, learning how happy brain reactions are sparked may help you achieve the runner's high more often."

Today I sit down with Katie Rose Sullivan to discuss the neural mechanisms underlying the Runner's High.

The Runner's High
http://imgur.com/vbB8Dh8

Music is provided by http://freemusicarchive.org/ - Andy Cohen - "Trophy Endorphin" and offered by the Creative Commons License

Sponsor Information
Natural High
Are you stressed? Feeling blue? Or just looking for a pick-me-up? Try nature's homebrewed heroin or morphine - endorphins! But aren't those illegal you ask? NO, you're body makes them, that's why they are endogenous opioids. Don't worry about the DEA or or local police knocking down your door while you're getting this high? But wait what is the product, if your body naturally creates them. Well the product is running! Seriously, go out and run, push yourself - hard, but not too hard. Endorphins are painkillers produced in response to physical discomfort. But we're not talking about getting high on just one drug, we're talking about getting high, through running, on two drugs. Endocannabinoid - the body's natural THC analog is produced in response to stress as opposed to pain (the stronger endorphin activator). On a run though, you can't differentiate physical stress from discomfort which means the same mechanism that triggers endorphins can also trigger endocannabinoids. So go out and get high, a Natural High from running.

Disclaimer: This is a work of satire. In the tradition of A Prairie Home Companion, this ad, among others, will form the backbone of the underwriting and sponsorship of my podcast.
http://kurczek.blogspot.com/
http://prairiehome.org/