ATTN: Runners...How to achieve "Runner's High"?

I've recently started running a few weeks ago...pretty consistently 3x a week...mixing it up between HIIT intervals and a smooth 5.0-6.0 pace...and I'm wondering what it takes to hit that so called Runner's High.

I've run fast, I've jogged slowly, for distances between a mile and 5k...do I need to go faster? Or do I just need to log more miles? What does it take for you to feel that elusive [for me, anyway!] Runner's High?

Will be cool to hear from others, I don't get to runners high until 4-5 miles.  The first mile typically feels pretty crappy, miles 2-4 are ok, and runners high kicks in after 4. 

haha, so 5k + another mile and then some.  i'll have to try it.

Here's a link explaining runner's high http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/sarah.html

People claim to feel a runner's high but its highly unlikely under at least an hour of running.  The endorphine level will increase the longer you run, which is probably what creates the obsessed long distance runner. 

Hope this helps.

Mile 6 for me.  Everyone is different, of course.

Around 40 minutes is when I get there - I'm not a fast runner, but it seems like that's right around 3.5 or 4 miles, give or take.

tandosnip, thanks for that link.  how interesting.  i don't run, but i do engage in much cardio.  i feel "pumped," but never really reach anything resembling a runner's high.  i wonder if it's specific to just running (as opposed to gym equipment:  ellipticals, bikes).

I'm with alevin on this one. First mile is always crap. From there it varies all the time sometimes at mile 5-6, sometimes all the sudden at mile 16-18. Rarely at mile 22 . You marathoners out there know what I'm talking about. I'm happy if I can still feel my legs at 22+

From the article,  I feel that this report can be summed up from a statement I received over e-mail and what was the most common response to my question "What is runner's high?" , "I've been running for 25 years or so, and don't know for sure what runner's high is. On almost every run, and certainly the long ones, there are periods of contentment or reflection when one is on automatic pilot and the terrain goes past unnoticed. Runner's High? I don't know."

If that is a runner's high then cyclist get it too, I feel that way on almost every ride.   But the comments about "out of body experiences" or "orgasmics feelings"?  I never get that high on the bike. lol.  Cyclists don't call it a runner's high though.  They will say things like, "The endorphins are kicking in"  or "I'm in the zone".

I have to agree with 9chrissie on this one. For me it tends to happen after the first hour has elapsed (so after mile 7 or so), but sometimes I don't get the "high" until after the half-marathon point. It's true that no matter how good I feel at mile 18 or 19, I start to feel like crap at after hitting mile 21 or so.

But like the high that comes from using a drug, it seems like once you have "built a tolerance", it takes running longer and longer distances to get that high.

I guess it would be nice to be able to experience that runner's high at the point in marathons/ultras/really long runs where I start to hit the wall.

I have never ever gotten runner's high on a treadmill.  But sometimes, on a not too hot and not too sunny day, everything just clicks and it feels like the only thing I was ever meant to do in this world... is run. 

I have gotten to runners high on a treadmill, but typically can't stand being on a treadmill for that long out of boredom. 

I've never gone marathon distance  - most has been 12-15 miles, and I've hit the endorphin zone long before 20 miles.

Also, the "orgasmic" comment is pretty different from my experience. It's not a big, overwhelming rush, instead, it's reaching a space where you're "feeling no pain".

 

  

interesting...i can comfortably zone out for a couple miles at 5.0mph and a 0.5-1.0 incline...but it's never been an "ahhhhh, here we gooooo..." haha, i'm surprised i can comfortably do a 5k.

i'll just keep trying! thanks guys!

I always feel great after a race -- always, 5K - 13.1 miles. Even if it kicked my ass physically; I still walk away feeling like F*%@ YEAH. I did that!

However, the point at which I usually feel like, this is what I should be doing all the time is around mile 5 or 6. When I ran a half-mary, it lasted until around mile 11. Then, I thought, please just don't let me die. I've never run longer than that, not yet anyway.

good post!

This does make for interesting reading. Not that I'd know a runner's high if it bit me. I do sometimes get a feeling like I'm effortlessly on cruise control and running is easy. I like that but for the most part, I don't even like to run; I like the effects of running. I run about 5k on a pretty hilly trail every day but not yet further than that. When I'm lacing up my shoes, my dominant thought is that there's a cold beer waiting for me as a reward when it's over. The best part of running for me is the satisfaction of having done it. I couldn't run from here to the corner until about six months ago.

southcarolinaguy:  sounds like we have the same motivation! Sometimes I run only because I WANT THAT BEER and I have to earn it!

It's funny, I was thinking about this post this morning (while running) and I remembered that it's happened to me once or twice.  The last time was on a really cold day in November (-12C) when all of a sudden I felt as though I was really far away from my feet.  I know, it sounds wierd, but it was like I was suddenly really tall (like, giantesque) and the ground was a long way away...and I couldn't feel my legs or feet and they just kept going and going without me.  I couldn't tell you what speed I was going, but it could have been fast or slow -- there was no way for me to judge.

Honestly, it kinda freaked me out.  Now that I know what it was I'll be more welcoming to it next time and try to up my speed!

Runner's high is variable, I find. Sometimes it sets in after 10 km, sometimes even later. And then sometimes I don't even notice until the run is over, for example this morning, I ran 16 km, and enjoyed the entire run through the woods. But the high didn't set in until the moment I stopped and walked the last little way home, as a cool down. I felt extremely happy and light, not exactly like I was tipsy, but just profoundly happy.

I think it is an urban myth. I run a fair bit, though not to the extent of some of the runners here, and I have yet to achieve the "cruise control" feeling. Mind you, it could have something to do with the fact that it is very hot and humid here and that I always have to be alert to traffic, the local drivers must be amongst the worst in the world.

Original Post by hanno:

I think it is an urban myth. I run a fair bit, though not to the extent of some of the runners here, and I have yet to achieve the "cruise control" feeling.

I take no offense but it's interesting that I, who used the "cruise control" analogy, claims never to have experienced the "runner's high".

I tend to think of the runner's high as something akin to oxygen deprivation that might explain near-death experiences.

I'm not interested in experiencing runners high. I'm just trying to get in and stay in shape.

Hiya southcarolinaguy, no offense intended, seems I mixed up a couple of posts

I am with you on that one, oxygen deprivation or not, the goal is to hang in there. I usually have my high after the run, the sort of 'Thank God its over' high. I ran at 04:00 this morning when I would much rather have been in bed!