The Runner's Hi

Undoubtedly, you have heard about the runner's high.  That's when you have exercised enough to allow all those endorphins to be released which are supposed to make you feel good from head to toe.  Although it doesn't come predictably as part of every workout, it comes regularly enough to keep us searching for the next installment.  Quite possibly, that is what all the hullabaloo is about; this mythical sense of well being that doesn't really exist, but one that we are constantly trying to experience.  However, I really think that it goes far beyond the endorphins and the sweat; it goes to the core of the participant and spreads out from there.

I remember the first time I ever ran more than 4 or 5 miles continuously.  I joined my high school's cross country team during my senior year simply so I could start the basketball season in better condition.  On my first day of practice, I laced up my leather Converse All Star sneakers and headed out with the team.  Fortunately, my coach recognized that I hadn't done any off season training, so he directed me to a shorter loop that day, instead of the 8 miler that the rest of the team was taking.  About midway through the proposed run, I had this epiphany...'this running stuff isn't so bad, but I sure wished I had a better pair of running shoes'.  That evening, I purchased my first pair of Nike's, and I have been running, for the most part,  ever since.  There have been a few hiatuses, but they generally were short lived and associated with some life altering event.

Yes, the runner's high is different to different people, but for me, that first time I ever took to the streets for more than just a micro burst, I experienced something that forever changed my life.  I have run marathons, half marathons, sprint distance triathlons, all the way up to a full Ironman.  Along the way, I have presumably stayed healthier, traveled to a number of interesting destinations, but most of all, I have made an infinite number of friends, and quite assuredly, that  camaraderie is the "runner's hi" that has always made me feel it's all worth it.  That's what it's all about Charlie Brown!