Wasted on the Way

Summer swim league is in full swing which means my Saturdays are spent at the pool cheering my girls on.  I sure miss the group long run.  This Saturday I managed to squeeze in 12 miles.  I got up at my usual 4:40 am and ran eight miles, incorporating a four mile tempo run at 6:21 / mile pace.  This week’s meet was a home meet at the Northridge Recreation Center in Highlands Ranch.  There was a gap between events which afforded me the luxury of running a bonus four miles on the treadmill where I added a 4 x 400 meter workout.  Ah, life’s simple pleasures.  

 

There is some scientific evidence that explains my happiness. The Denver Post published and article this week entitled Drug addiction helped by running, other exercise, study shows.  To sum it up for you, researchers found that dogs appear to gain a “high” from running, similar to the well known “runner's high” experienced by people who run frequently.  The researchers measured neurotransmitter levels in humans, dogs and ferrets as they moved on a treadmill to “determine neurobiological reward levels”.  That way they could quantify the “runner’s high”.

Scientists have found that the “runner’s high” is due to the release of neurotransmitters into the bloodstream - one of these neurotransmitter groups, known as endocannabinoids (eCBs) has the same chemical structure as THC, the chemical responsible for the high people get from marijuana.  What I’m hearing is cannabis in the middle of those eCBs.

Researchers put humans, dogs and ferrets on a treadmill set at a pace fast enough to simulate running.  Afterwards blood samples were taken.  In analyzing the results, the researchers found elevated levels of eCBs for both the humans and dogs, but not in the ferrets.  The researchers note that both humans and dogs are part of a group known as cursorial animals - animals that have long legs meant for running.  Ferrets on the other hand, are not cursorial, thus they don't gain any pleasure from running long distances.  Another reason it sucks to be a ferret. 

The researchers theorize that neurobiological rewards are a part of the evolutionary history of animals with long legs meant for running and strong lungs - they helped keep them fit.  Running, particularly when not necessary, they suggest, kept such animals in tip-top shape allowing them to escape predators and to hunt efficiently.  It is possible that humans might have evolved faster if they’d known about periodization. 

I can relate to the runner’s high.  There is the interval after a long run (20+ miles) when the dopamine and serotonin receptors are burned out.  The symptoms are the vacant, 1,000 yard stare, the slow response time to requests and the inability to follow a train of thought.  I call it Running Induced Brain Strain, or RIBS.  Which reminds me; Mary made some tasty ribs Wednesday for dinner.  I ate about two pounds of them.