Runner's High?

[Flick James]

I just ran my first running event yesterday, the Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5K run in downtown Phoenix. My wife and I had used the event as an excuse to start getting in shape about three months ago, so we slowly worked our way up to being able to run 3 miles (which is about what 5K is) without stopping to walk.

As it turns out on race day, it was surprisingly easy, although it was not the fastest pace. However, it felt really good to accomplish it, and now we're going to start preparing for a half marathon (about 13 miles) happening here in January.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say I'm getting addicted to running, but it's interesting how now I'm motivated to run and to accomplish a half marathon, and someday a full marathon. I'm pretty sure it's not the runners high, although I do find that spot, at about 2 miles, where I hit a certain stride and everything seems fine. Once we hit the finish line yesterday I honestly felt I could have kept going another mile no problem, even though 3 miles is the most I've ever run at a stretch.

Any other runners here? Do you feel like you're addicted to it to some degree?

[lester1/2jr]

I run 5 miles about every other day. The most I've ever run is 10.  I don't have much going for me but I do have good knees and good endurence so it makes sense for me.  Some times the runs ar ebetter than others and I don't know why.

strange habit: I don't eat lunch when I run. I can run just fine on an empty stomach.

[Sleepyskull]

Anybody interested in long-distance running and/or looking for a good memoir/autobiography should read Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes.

[Flick James]

I run 5 miles about every other day. The most I've ever run is 10.  I don't have much going for me but I do have good knees and good endurence so it makes sense for me.  Some times the runs ar ebetter than others and I don't know why.

strange habit: I don't eat lunch when I run. I can run just fine on an empty stomach.

I wish I could run every other day like that. With two kids, my wife and I are only able to run together on ground once a week, with grandma coming over to watch the kids. We have a pre-measured route we take where every lap is about a mile. Other than that, we are restricted to the treadmill, so it's one run on pavement a week, and two on the treadmill. Treadmill is so much easier, so I use a 2.0 incline and a faster pace that I run on ground to make up for it. But that routine did work because we had no problem with the event at all.

[Dr. Frank N. Furter]

Quiet, you fools! If the conservatives find out you can get high from running, they'll want to ban it! If the fundamentalists find out running can be fun they'll declare it a sin!

;)

[Rev. Powell]

I experienced the actual runners high once, in high school (so long ago!)  It seems to be a very pleasant combo of endorphins and adrenaline. Can't remember now how long I had to run to get there, but I recall it was quite an investment in pain to get to that pleasure point.

[jimmybob]

Try running while high... nope, can't do it.  

-Jimmybob

[Flick James]

Try running while high... nope, can't do it.  

-Jimmybob

 
Seriously, though, I haven't gotten high in many, many moons, but when I did, I would sometimes do some difficult hikes with no problems.

[Andrew]

It sounds like you experienced what many call a second wind.  It's pretty cool to realize that you suddenly feel refreshed, like you haven't already been running for X miles.

Running can be addictive.  I've done a lot of running in my life:  cross country and track in high school, and regularly run ever since, including marathons ever so often.  Something it does for me is that it gives me time to think and turn over problems in my head.  There's also a satisfaction in feeling your feet carrying you along, your blood pumping, and your breathing strong and steady.  I run 5 or 6 days a week now, usually 4-6 miles at a time.

[El Misfit]

well, I'm a 275 LBS. bastard and can run a 100 meter dash in 17 seconds.

[Flick James]

It sounds like you experienced what many call a second wind.  It's pretty cool to realize that you suddenly feel refreshed, like you haven't already been running for X miles.

Running can be addictive.  I've done a lot of running in my life:  cross country and track in high school, and regularly run ever since, including marathons ever so often.  Something it does for me is that it gives me time to think and turn over problems in my head.  There's also a satisfaction in feeling your feet carrying you along, your blood pumping, and your breathing strong and steady.  I run 5 or 6 days a week now, usually 4-6 miles at a time.

You probably ran twice as much in the Marines as I did in the Navy, and I ran more than the average. I got lazy after the military, and my wife and I made a decision to start running, and getting ready for 5K's and half-marathons, and eventually a full marathon someday I hope, it keeps us focused on a goal rather than on just running, which is far more motivating for us. I got started on family and children late in life, my oldest boy's got all the signs of being athletic, so I've got to be able to keep up with my boys.

[Andrew]

You probably ran twice as much in the Marines as I did in the Navy, and I ran more than the average. I got lazy after the military, and my wife and I made a decision to start running, and getting ready for 5K's and half-marathons, and eventually a full marathon someday I hope, it keeps us focused on a goal rather than on just running, which is far more motivating for us. I got started on family and children late in life, my oldest boy's got all the signs of being athletic, so I've got to be able to keep up with my boys.

That's true, but then I've always believed that the Navy should be doing more swimming than running for PT. 

Our children are 7 (Jenna), 5 (Andy), and 3 (Garrett), and I'm 37.  I wonder what it is going to be like having an 18 year-old son when I am 50 (or, in Garrett's case, when I'm 52).  Guess that I'll have to keep in shape just so they don't leave me behind.

Jenna does ballet, jazz, and tap with Katie (who danced ballet for years, and teaches now).  Andy plays soccer, giving me the opportunity to coach, which is a lot of fun.  Garrett is still a little young to tell what his physical interests will be, but he likes to run and play, including soccer.  Poor Garrett does keep getting hit in the head with the soccer ball.  Might have to get that boy a helmet until he gets older.

On Thanksgiving day Katie and Jenna will in Philadelphia to participate in FanTAPulous as part of the parade.  Imagine several hundred tap dancers on the steps of the art museum.

[Flick James]

You probably ran twice as much in the Marines as I did in the Navy, and I ran more than the average. I got lazy after the military, and my wife and I made a decision to start running, and getting ready for 5K's and half-marathons, and eventually a full marathon someday I hope, it keeps us focused on a goal rather than on just running, which is far more motivating for us. I got started on family and children late in life, my oldest boy's got all the signs of being athletic, so I've got to be able to keep up with my boys.

That's true, but then I've always believed that the Navy should be doing more swimming than running for PT. 

Our children are 7 (Jenna), 5 (Andy), and 3 (Garrett), and I'm 37.  I wonder what it is going to be like having an 18 year-old son when I am 50 (or, in Garrett's case, when I'm 52).  Guess that I'll have to keep in shape just so they don't leave me behind.

Jenna does ballet, jazz, and tap with Katie (who danced ballet for years, and teaches now).  Andy plays soccer, giving me the opportunity to coach, which is a lot of fun.  Garrett is still a little young to tell what his physical interests will be, but he likes to run and play, including soccer.  Poor Garrett does keep getting hit in the head with the soccer ball.  Might have to get that boy a helmet until he gets older.

On Thanksgiving day Katie and Jenna will in Philadelphia to participate in FanTAPulous as part of the parade.  Imagine several hundred tap dancers on the steps of the art museum.

Yeah, I've always believed that too. I never understood why the only swim qualification that was ever required fleet-wide was in basic training. After that, unless you were in a job that involved swimming, such as a rescue swimming, there was just the standard 1 1/2 mile run, pushups and situps test every six months. I understand the need for that, if you're responding to shipboard emergencies you need to be able to run up and down ladders from deck to deck, sometimes carrying a significant amount of gear. I get that. But, come on, it's the Navy, hello, shouldn't we be doing some kind of swimming qualification? But, alas, that kind of thing costs a lot more money than testing for running, pushups and situps.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I've always believed that too. I never understood why the only swim qualification that was ever required fleet-wide was in basic training. After that, unless you were in a job that involved swimming, such as a rescue swimming, there was just the standard 1 1/2 mile run, pushups and situps test every six months. I understand the need for that, if you're responding to shipboard emergencies you need to be able to run up and down ladders from deck to deck, sometimes carrying a significant amount of gear. I get that. But, come on, it's the Navy, hello, shouldn't we be doing some kind of swimming qualification? But, alas, that kind of thing costs a lot more money than testing for running, pushups and situps.

We have to qualify every so often, depending on what swim qualification we are.  For a basic WS4, they have to requal every year.  I tend to go to WS2, which means every 3 or 4 years.  It's odd that the Navy doesn't do something of the same.  I'd always assumed that they did.

We still have our standard fitness test, which is pull-ups, crunches, and a 3 mile run.  In the last few years we've gained a new combat fitness test, which involves a run in boots, 30 lbs ammo can lift, and a movement course that includes carrying another Marine and a pair of weighted ammo cans.

I've liked the fact that the Marine Corps has embraced a lot of the ideas from Crossfit for our organized PT.  I follow a lot of its ideas and exercises in my personal routines.