"Runner's High"

[lunabee34]

*waves*

Thanks to rydra_wong for creating this community.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Lorraine (or lunabee34), and I've been moderately to intensely active for most of my lifetime.

I took a hiatus from exercise this spring because being diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases, Hashimoto's (thyroid) and celiac (gluten intolerance), made me really depressed. I am starting back my exercise regime this week, and I'm curious about "runner's high."

I have never experienced a "runner's high." I've experienced satisfaction with getting stronger or glee at biking faster than the person on the bike next to me or a kind of meditative state when exercising but never anything that seems close to what others describe as "runner's high."

So, I'm wondering whether you've experienced "runner's high," what it felt like, and the conditions that induced it. I think what I'm really wondering is if I can find a way to cultivate that experience for myself; it sounds awesome.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

(Which is to say: sometimes how one frames it really doesn't make any difference.)

Yes, absolutely. That wasn't intended as a "reframe it this way and it fixes everything!", just a "huh, interesting that this is a frame we don't usually use."

And which, for me, does describe some of the response I get to some kinds of exercise sometimes.

And then at this point in the comment there would totally have been an articulate account of the different responses I seem to get to various things and ensuing thinkiness about that, but ironically/appropriately I have failed to make words partly because I climbed myself into one of the days where I am comatose with exhaustion and achiness.

[recessional]

Well hopefully it was at least good climbing!

And yeah it was more GRUMBLING on my part than a real objection. Just. GRUMBLE. >.>

[rydra_wong]

No, it's a good thing to clarify.

And I don't want this to be a "pro-exercise" comm, if that makes any sense? Not "exercise is awesome for everyone all the time, everyone should exercise more, rah rah rah! *waves pom-poms*"

I mean, we get enough of that from society anyway. And it's not remotely true to the diversity of people's experiences.

Personally, my stance is "people should have more opportunities to find forms of movement that are enjoyable for them, because many people seem to benefit from that", but that's as far as I will go.

Well hopefully it was at least good climbing!

It was WONDERFUL climbing, thank you.

But: gritstone trad climbing, which is a) one of my favourite things in the entire world, involving intense interaction with rocks that I am fairly close to animist about b) in this case involved interacting with a human I don't know well and a totally new place, c) ALL THE SENSORY/KINAESTHETIC INFORMATION, and d) is notorious for leaving you feeling as if you've been beaten up the following day, even for people with fairly standard brains and bodies.

So, inevitably interspersed with days spent shuffling round in my pyjamas and avoiding any kind of Outdoors.

[rydra_wong]

Belated note, not related to this specific topic, but here seems as good a place as any to put it:

I wanted to say thank you for the pointe shoes discussion, since (as well as being fascinating in itself) it was one of the things that made me think about starting a comm for More Discussions Like That.