Runner’s high. Any runner knows that this is a real thing. You go out in a grump. You come back on a cloud. That’s just what running does, even the runs in rain and wind and the shittier parts of Armley. I prefer to call it runner’s crack though because I think it’s that powerful (I have never tried crack and am basing that opinion on The Wire). But there are sceptics. There are always sceptics who don’t believe in runner’s high. There are scientists who think they have proven that there is no causal relationship between lowered rates of depression and running, research linked to in this silly article by Alice Azania Jarvis in the Daily Mail. The science: that endorphins can’t break the blood-brain barrier. But this post in the Guardian today, on five reasons to carry on running, says otherwise. Running stimulates the neurotransmitter anandamide to activate the endocannabinoid system, which bypasses the blood-brain barrier.
Runner’s high. Proven.
And the other four reasons to keep running are great too. Running:
- makes you smarter
- is not bad for your knees
- enhances your memory
- enhances your Attention Restoration
There are criticisms in the comments about these claims. But I believe them.
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TODAY’S SPORTING ACTIVITY
- ACTIVITY: Very active Pilates
- TIME: 1 hour
- MILEAGE: to Cookridge and back (by car)