Forums >General Running>Have you experienced?
I haven't experienced either of those things. I have had lots of times where I had what I call "relentless legs" where they are moving on autopilot - turning over without a whole lot of input from me. It's not euphoric or spiritual or anything - I'm just moving along. This mostly happens on what are longer runs for me (over 10 miles) or when I'm really tired and doing a <10 mile run. I hope this continues at marathon and longer distances that I'd like to start ramping up to starting this year.
Runner's high is a myth unless its the absence of Runner's guilt...which is what I get when I roll over after the alarm goes off the second time. The best and maybe only case of "Flow" for me was actually in a race that I was not racing. I had BQ'd about a month before and decided to run my fallback race "for fun". Best shape of my life, perfect weather, and no pressure. Intended to go out a minute slower than MP but with little thought that turned into MP plus :30. It was all I could do to hold back that much. By the end I was feeling so good that I said screw it and took off. Those final two miles were the fastest two miles I logged the entire year. That was awesome. Has never happened again.
No runner's high
Not sure about runner's flow -- I have a vague memory of particularly gratifying runs, but so long ago, and so few and far between that I can't summon back the experience and compare it with the description.
What I do have is frequently a sense of well-being after running, which can carry me through the rest of the day, and a perverse pleasure at being able to be outdoors in the worst weather without coat or boots (even if all of the layers amount to 7% of my body weight.) I also feel good that I am able to run, but in order to achieve these things I have to keep on running, so I do.
Are we there, yet?
To say runner's high is BS because one has never experienced it or did not recognize it if it happened is BS. The phenomenon is well documented but also much less common than one would believe from reading comments from beginners. On the rare occasions when I have experienced it, the common factor seems to be a moderately hard effort over about an hour, e.g. in the middle or latter part of races of 15k to 30K distance. In 50+ plus years of running I don't think this has happened more than a handful of times.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
That was awesome.
roach.russel. Nice one. With a name like that you must have experienced a few "highs" in your day....
Now that weed is legal in MA we get more opportunities for a contact high while running. There's about a 100% chance someone will be smoking it every time I run across the Boston Common.
Yeah, same here. Every run is infused with that sweet smell. It's like running through a cloud of cotton candy. Or weed.
Next question ... Does runners high give you the munchies?
I may or may not have tried this once. It wasn't as awesome as I was hoping.. that is, if I had tried it. I mean, maybe I should try it. Like, maybe the runner's high goes to 11 with some assistance? Or maybe not. Not a good idea. Anywho, you sure that smell that you're smelling isn't because you're sitting in the back of a VW van during the middle of your long run?
I'm always game for potato chips with or without runner's high.
Interval Junkie --Nobby
Had a weird experience on a 22mi run. Was probably a bit dehydrated coming up the lake shore. Had visions of grabbing someone's starbucks right from their hand for a sip. Then I ran into a cloud of smoke. Never had weed in my life -- never really cared for what it was advertising -- but right at that moment I had the strong urge to muscle the blunt from a bodybuilder Rastafarian's hands just for a drag.
As for the thread-topic. I've had the flow experience a bunch of times. Usually on a tempo run. You just feel like hammering.
I've also had the "infinite legs" experience, where I just felt like I could keep running forever without any fatigue at all. I think the max I ever pushed that feeling was to 17miles. Notably, while I'm not a habitual swimmer, I did a post-marathon shake-out in the pool one time, and ended up swimming a mile. Would have kept going but someone wanted to join my lane, which ruined the experience. Ended up with a pleasant fatigue, but while swimming I was just in that "infinite legs" state. My rotator cuff was yelling at me the next day.
But perhaps the weirdest experience was one I had in my early 20s. I was former-athlete fit. This was before I ran regularly. One rather warm night in the summer, when the air was completely dead, I decided to go out for a run. Put on a pair of 5 year old running shoes that I used for mowing lawns, and just hit the road. There was a funk to the time and the air: it lead me to this zen experience where I wasn't there. It wasn't flow. I wasn't in harmony with the work. I was negated. I wasn't there. It was more a meditation. I probably ran 7 miles that night, which now doesn't seem like a lot but 4miles is probably more than I'd ever run at once. I wasn't tired at all. And I was probably running just below tempo pace, because I was a former soccer player and didn't know any better. I stopped because I thought, gee it must be late, I should probably stop. I was serenely calm.
Never happened again.
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do
This thread reminds me of a time the Grateful Dead got back together in Chicago.
Here's a deal. It doesn't even need to run in order to go on a trip.
running metalhead
Everytime I read this thread title...
Same here, LOL.
- Egmond ( 14 januari ) : 1:41:40 (21K)- Vondelparkloop ( 20 januari ) : 0:58.1 (10K but did 13.44!!!)- Twiskemolenloop ( 4 maart ) : 1:35:19 (3th M45!)
- Ekiden Zwolle (10K) ( 25 maart )- Rotterdam Marathon ( 8 april )- Leiden Marathon Halve ( 27 mei )- Marathon Amersfoort ( 10 juni)
I reach the flow state quite often, when it's raining cats and dogs and the water flows into my shoes. And now for the runner's high with a god cold craft beer, I ran this morning but hey, I am a runner and this ale will definitely get my high