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Endocannabinoids Contribute To Runner's High
MTorrice writes: After a nice long bout of aerobic exercise, some people experience what's known as a "runner's high" — a feeling of euphoria coupled with reduced anxiety and a lessened ability to feel pain. For decades, scientists have associated this phenomenon with an increased level in the blood of beta-endorphins, which are opioid peptides thought to elevate mood. Now, German researchers have shown the brain's endocannabinoid system—the same one affected by marijuana's 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—may also play a role in producing runner's high, at least in mice.
I always have the munchies after a long run!
In a bid to short cut the supply lines of those "runners" getting high, the DEA has announced a maximum speed limit for unpowered human locomotion: 2mph. Those caught in pedestrian speed traps going over the 2mph speed limit will be jailed a minimum of 7 months.
Kingpins of cartels like the Running Room and gyms will face stiffer penalties due to their "intent to traffic" and could face up to 8 or more years in federal prison.
So how many teenagers in Texas will be locked up for life after going for a run?
So if our brains are hardwired with receptors for this stuff, maybe it's time to actually look at it and evaluate it for what is is instead of this bullshit moralistic prohibition which is there to keep a bunch of religious assholes happy?
Maybe start by stopping treating marijuana as a narcotic, when in fact it's nothing of the sort?
The scientific facts have never matched the bullshit claims by the "just say no" crowd, so let's start making some actual evidence-based policy.
Avid Runner: "You're such an addict. All you wanna do is get high."
Avid Pothead: "Touché there, jogging junkie. Touché."
Mice get runner's high? No wonder they love those little wheels...
No sir, officer, just finished the morning run.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
So, if you go for (say) an hour's hard run, you're burning many hundreds of extra calories. That translates into "burning" (converting to carbon dioxide and water) a hundred or more grams of carbohydrate and protein, and/or tens of grams of fats. Worse, you need to replenish that energy with food-grade material, which most often has been farmed, trucked, and packaged, all of which consumes more energy. That one-hour run ends up cranking out hundreds of grams of carbon dioxide.
If, on the other hand, you simply burn through one medium-sized joint, you're only combusting a few grams of plant material. I'll bet the total CO2 output is less than ten grams.
Admittedly, there are health benefits to running. But at what cost to the health of the planet?
Ski day ? Fun.
Ski Day with a doob on the lift. Better.
Explains a lot.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Marijuana makes you feel as though you had just completed a marathon. So they say, "whatever. pass the toke. I'm vegging out". And they get the munchies too.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Don't say that.
I finished the C25K and wanted to start B210K, but then I took an arrow in the knee.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
And I have the bumper sticker to prove it.
Have gnu, will travel.
With mint frosting.
I ran track in high school and have done C25k a few times (week 7 is where I stop). Your point still stands, though. If I was going to get a runner's high, i'd have gotten one by now. As it is, my "high" is kinda like the Lament Configuration: I'm just so happy when I stop running because I've stopped running.
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
then I took an arrow in the knee.
Wow. I think there's some confusion here about the meaning of "high."
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
We can't subject our kids to something that is akin to smoking pot! On school premises to boot!
And they want to make it mandatory! Obama wants to make our kids addicts!
Thinkofthechildren! Ban sports!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Just park a food truck with pizza, Twinkies, and Fritos at the end of any marathon you can find.
Experiments on mammals are gruesome and sick. More important than where you arrive is how you get there. If, in the process of getting there, you violate the sanctity of other beings which deserve freedom just as we do, you will find that everything you thought you have gained you will ultimately lose 100 times over.
Nah, I meant that I had to quit running after an unrelated injury. I miss running a lot, though.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
13 marathons in 5 years, 2 of which were 50 milers, 3 sub 3:00 hours, 5 bostons, 7 bqs, so some running experience...
but thru it all, still a slashdot reader and a nerd....
Does anyone else remember that shtick from Robin Williams during one of his standup routines some 20+ years ago where he jest about how running gets you high? Good stuff.
13 marathons in 5 years, 2 of which were 50 milers, 3 sub 3:00 hours, 5 bostons, 7 bqs, so some running experience...
but thru it all, still a slashdot reader and a nerd....
Here: 13 marathons in 14 years, most just under 4:00 hours.
anjrober, it seems our running cred and our Slashdot IDs are aligned.
I used to jog a lot. I NEVER got a runners high. There was no second wind either. Every minute was difficult, and it got more difficult with every passing minute, and the only way to keep going was either to become numb (ie, like those who stumble over the finish line in a daze) or just keep repeating "one more step" over and over. The only high was when it was over you were elated that you could stop.
But I do think some people get this high. But being humans, they are prone to assuming that everyone else in the world should be exactly like them. Thus if they hear when someone doesn't have a runners high the first instinct is to think the other person must be doing it wrong. Keep at it a few more months they'll say, then you'll be hooked for life. Or they'll apologize and say the first two years are the hardest but it gets better.
I used to jog a lot. I NEVER got a runners high.
Once you get the hang of it "jogging" can take little more effort than walking, so you're not going to have the same reaction. I can slowly jog or walk for a couple of hours and just feel pleasantly tired afterwards. I'm not knocking it, it's still good for you, and possibly better in the long term as there's less stress on joints (pun intended).
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it