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Runners High
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Well now I'm confused. I was chatting to a friend (also a runner) about this, and he sent me this article....
From a lecture "No Pain, No Gain" given by Professor Ian Kitchen at the University of Surrey:
quote:
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So where does the title of my lecture fit into all this. "No pain, no gain". Was it just a ploy to get you all here. Was it just a title that rhymed with "opiates in the brain"? Indeed not! In 1998, I ran the London Marathon for the first time, and incidentally the last time also! Here at 8 miles I am somewhere in this mass of runners and I can assure you looking pretty good.
But by the cobble stones and at 25 miles it is a rather different picture. Clearly there is something here that we might all recognise as some form of pain. I had gone from running six and a half minute miles for the first 20 miles to running nine and a half minute miles in the last six. My body said, time to stop, time to catch a bus, time for a beer!
And yet 10 minutes later the picture is somewhat more positive, and all that pain looks like it has disappeared. So just what is going here? Is it something to do with the release in the brain of those natural opiates that I have introduced to you? We do know that running does cause the release of enkephalins and endorphins in the brain. Just as they are released under stress conditions, during injury and during childbirth. But is this release during exercise why 100,000 people want to run the London Marathon and do the 30,000 who do it get the same buzz, the same high as you would from morphine? Are us runners actually addicted? This then raises the question - does the natural opiate system influence addiction to opiates? Moreover do these opiate peptides and receptors in the brain influence our chances of becoming an opiate addict or indeed addicted to any drug? A lot of these questions are still unanswered but I want in the second part of my lecture to focus on opiate addiction and give you some pointers. And to tell you how the latest genetic experiments may be of help in determining if our natural opiate system malfunctions in people who become drug addicts.
So how does our natural opiate system compare to the pharmacological effects of the opiate drug morphine? This is the comparison in the brain. We use morphine clinically for pain relief and for reduction of coughing. In addition the drowsiness and the feeling of well-being are beneficial components in treating chronic pain. Of course it is the euphoric effect which makes the drug desirable to the opiate addict. But by actions in the brain on our centre which controls respiration it also slows breathing and addicts overdosing usually die from respiratory failure.
Scaremongering or fact?? I'd welcome opinions of you more experienced runners out there.
From a lecture "No Pain, No Gain" given by Professor Ian Kitchen at the University of Surrey:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So where does the title of my lecture fit into all this. "No pain, no gain". Was it just a ploy to get you all here. Was it just a title that rhymed with "opiates in the brain"? Indeed not! In 1998, I ran the London Marathon for the first time, and incidentally the last time also! Here at 8 miles I am somewhere in this mass of runners and I can assure you looking pretty good.
But by the cobble stones and at 25 miles it is a rather different picture. Clearly there is something here that we might all recognise as some form of pain. I had gone from running six and a half minute miles for the first 20 miles to running nine and a half minute miles in the last six. My body said, time to stop, time to catch a bus, time for a beer!
And yet 10 minutes later the picture is somewhat more positive, and all that pain looks like it has disappeared. So just what is going here? Is it something to do with the release in the brain of those natural opiates that I have introduced to you? We do know that running does cause the release of enkephalins and endorphins in the brain. Just as they are released under stress conditions, during injury and during childbirth. But is this release during exercise why 100,000 people want to run the London Marathon and do the 30,000 who do it get the same buzz, the same high as you would from morphine? Are us runners actually addicted? This then raises the question - does the natural opiate system influence addiction to opiates? Moreover do these opiate peptides and receptors in the brain influence our chances of becoming an opiate addict or indeed addicted to any drug? A lot of these questions are still unanswered but I want in the second part of my lecture to focus on opiate addiction and give you some pointers. And to tell you how the latest genetic experiments may be of help in determining if our natural opiate system malfunctions in people who become drug addicts.
So how does our natural opiate system compare to the pharmacological effects of the opiate drug morphine? This is the comparison in the brain. We use morphine clinically for pain relief and for reduction of coughing. In addition the drowsiness and the feeling of well-being are beneficial components in treating chronic pain. Of course it is the euphoric effect which makes the drug desirable to the opiate addict. But by actions in the brain on our centre which controls respiration it also slows breathing and addicts overdosing usually die from respiratory failure.
Scaremongering or fact?? I'd welcome opinions of you more experienced runners out there.
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Comments
That bloke is talkingb---cks
(So why am i doing another?)
I have never been the type of person to test the odds on drugs so have steered clear but I have spent all night dancing in Spanish nightclubs because I had the stamina.
I must admit to never getting the buzz from long-distance races but I have from the shorter ones (10K and under). It last about 16 hours and every breath feels great.
On a serious note - I know what the guy's talking about about the high you get, but I think at the end of a marathon in particular (but also any distance you do for the first time), as well as the basic high you get from physical exercise of any kind, there's also the high from the satisfaction of having achieved your goal. I think many people (myself included) start off running with the aim of doing a marathon, so often it's more than just the next target, it's the final target of a series. That's how it was for me, and I'm sure I'm not alone. The fact that you're doing it with 32,000 other people, plus hundreds of thousands more lining the route, must add to that sense of euphoria. I wonder if it's as great in some remote marathon with just the odd sheep and marshall watching. It would be interesting to see studies on these factors as well as the basic high from physical exercise. Maybe they all work on the same physiological systems, compounding the addiction.
For a few hours, the FLM in 2000 was going to be it for me, then I got really @rsed off about the time I'd done, which was admittedly poor compared to my 10k etc times. So - I had my next target!
I have a theory that a lot of runners are your classic Type A personality - achievement orientated etc. I'd be interested to see any studies done on this too.
Iain
my first marathon was a heady mixture of pleasure and pain, but mainly pain - as is much of my running now - where is that endorphin effect cause I need some of it?
When do i start to enjoy it?