Thursday, March 27, 2008

Yes, Running Can Make You High

That was a NY Times headline today.

It was just the other day I said to J. one thing I'm really looking forward to when we get back is running again. Between dogs and the heat and my schedule, I've only run once. I'm having a good time, sleep like a log every night, etc. But I do miss running.
Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out, the greater the effect.
I don't run more than 35-50 minutes usually (they studied runners after a two hour run), and I certainly don't get euphoric, but I generally feel much better overall when I run regularly. Now, I do get about 20 minutes of biking - a few minutes up hill on the way home - each day, and we walk in the evening to dinner and around, but it just isn't the same.

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