Is Runner's High Even Real?

If you asked Kile Putman how he was feeling at mile 7 during his first马拉松some 40 years ago, he would tell you he was steps away from giving up. He'd put six months of training under his belt and was about as fit as he'd ever been. But nothing prepared him for the heaviness that fell over him barely a fourth of the way into the race. That weight dragged on him for the next 10 miles (16 kilometers) as he sweated and panted, Nike-to-Nike, with a pack of other singlet-clad men.

And thensomething changed. The load that had staggered his pace and cramped his calves suddenly dissipated. He felt lighter somehow, almost as if he were floating. His pace picked up. He started to break away from the pack. It was turning into an incredible run. And then he began to cry. Deep emotional sobs he couldn't control. Not tears of sadness, but of such profound joy that, to this day, he struggles to describe. Was it runner's high?

Is Runner's High All in Your Head?

我和Putman一起跑步USA Track & Field-certified coach, through a well-coifed Alabama suburban neighborhood, dodging fresh-cut grass made airborne by a trio of noisy blowers. We're discussing whether there is such a thing as "runner's high" — that feeling of euphoria mixed with a sense of peace some runners describe. And that's when he tells me about the rush of emotions he experienced during his first marathon.

"I don't know if that was a runner's high or some other euphoric feeling," he says. "Maybe it was all in my head." Putman's an ever-skeptic, so I posed the question to someone who better understands the mental health aspects of the athlete's brain,Margaret Smith, Ph.D., a sports psychology provider and performance coach in Birmingham, Alabama.

她说：“哦，我完全认为这是真实的。”“作为一个跑步的人，我绝对经历了那些美好的时光，这是世界上最好的事情。”

询问大多数跑步者是否曾经经历过跑步者的高度，并且很可能会凝视着云层，并开始闲逛那些神秘的时刻，当他们沉迷于努力时，他们的身体开始运作推动他们前进。

史密斯称其为“流州”，这是匈牙利裔美国心理学家的概念Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi在采访了运动员，音乐家和艺术家关于给他们带来欢乐的原因之后，想到了。他发现，在最佳性能水平的瞬间，这些人报告陷入了高度重点的精神状态，在此期间，他们的工作或活动只是在毫不费力的情况下从他们身上流出。

For runners, could this mindful immersion be the source of runner's high? Perhaps, Smith says. Or maybe it's just believing that you're experiencing a runner's high that makes it real. "What we know from social psychology is perception greatly shapes reality," she says. "If I believe that something is real, it affects my actions and my interpretation of events."

Is There a Physical Explanation for Runner's High?

People have been buzzing about the so-called runner's high since the running boom began in the 1970s, says杰克·哈森，医学博士，是伯明翰阿拉巴马大学的狂热跑步者和肺科医生。在某个时候，研究人员（可能也是跑步者），使这种感觉达到了激增内啡肽that are released in response to the stress exercise puts on the body.

内啡肽是神经递质或化学信使，可激活人体的鸦片受体，并产生镇痛作用，哈森说，哈森说，身体会使身体麻木并触发吗啡样的欣快感感。

除吗啡高不同，这似乎很有意义。吗啡是阿片类药物家族中的一种药物，触发了释放dopamine, a neurotransmitter that does block pain and create pleasurable feelings that some may describe as euphoric. But it's also associated with drowsiness, Hasson says. And there's nothing about a runner's high that makes you sleepy.

If anything, a runner's high is more often associated with a feeling of "oneness" or "spirituality" or "peace," he says. Much more like the high one gets after smoking weed — at least that's what people who have tried marijuana have told him. (He's never smoked it himself.)

Research同意。根据德国研究人员及其小鼠模型的2015年一项研究，运行还刺激了人体的内源性大麻素系统，该系统产生了内源性大麻素，这是人体的自制大麻样化学物质。内源性大麻素因改善焦虑和情绪的症状而被认为是值得称赞的。实际上，人们说自己用大麻进行自我药品的原因是减轻焦虑，researchers say.

"Some proponents now feel that this is really what's happening in the brain. It's more of a spiritual feeling that cannabis has as opposed to the pain relief and relaxation that morphine or opioids give," Hasson says. As a runner, that makes more sense to him, too.

他说：“我从5K到超级马拉松比赛距离，我经历了这种灵性的感觉，和平的感觉，放松和放松的感觉。”“因此，我赞成这样的理论，即跑步者的高位可能更像是大麻效应，而不是阿片类药物效应。”

Addicted to Runner's High

There must be something to runner's high because why else would people continue to put themselves through the rigors of pounding the pavement several times a week, or even每天?

哈森说：“这可能就是为什么人们或多或少会沉迷于跑步的原因。”像阿片类药物或大麻高的跑步者的高位会触发大脑中的奖励途径。大脑自然会循环以重复动作，以再次获得这种感觉。但是通常，就像opioids，下一个高级永远不会像第一个那样好，这可以lead to addiction.

无论是类似大麻的内源性大麻素还是在奔跑期间或之后达到意识状态的类似阿片类药物的内啡肽，即使它很少经历，也是许多人的奖励。

对于我跑步的好友Putman，如果他在四十年前的第一个马拉松比赛中确实经历了跑步者的高位，那再也不会发生了。但是他从未停止追逐这种令人难以置信的感觉。他说：“这让我参加了马拉松比赛。”

但是正如我所说，普特曼（Putman）是一个持怀疑态度的人。我让他想起了马拉松训练期间那天光荣的一天Vulcan 10K course在伯明翰，连续三遍登录18英里（29公里以上） - 长期在阴暗的天空下，以漫长而下坡的延伸结束。“那你感觉不高吗？”我问。因为坦白说，我做到了。

我看到他在我的周边摇了摇头。他说：“不，那只是一个不错的成绩。”

哈森说，有一个环境现象可能会与跑步者的高位发挥作用。但是他怀疑这就是全部。

他说：“有时候您有一个完美的跑步。一切都很好。天气是完美的。而且您的奔跑良好，您对此感到欣喜。”“但是我不认为这是大多数情况下（在跑步者的高中]中发生的事情。因为有时候我跑步，这是一个痛苦的一天，但我跑得很好。然后我完成了，我完成了感觉真的很棒。”