Since we have cleaned up the environment around us by picking up trash and repairing trail runs, what do we do with the environment now? I mean, we can run in the middle of it, but what else is an environment good for? Well, it has been hypothesized that you can get high off of nature. No. Not what you are thinking. In the extensive studying of the Runner’s High, many have found that the environment plays an important role in attaining this euphoric state. A Runner’s High can be described as an elevation of the senses while running, typically while running long distances. It is difficult for runners to describe the exact feeling (much like drug users) they get from a Runner’s High, but many equate it to the feeling of an orgasm. Humph. Well there you go. The physical explanation of a Runner’s High is that it is the release of endorphins to the brain.
Runner’s have described attaining a feeling of invincibility and superior performance by their environmental surroundings while running, leading to a Runner’s High. Consider this, while out on a long run, alone and the only other thing around you is Ms Nature, you connect with her more deeply. You are more aware. This deep connection allows your senses to be greatly enhanced, making you more in tune with your body and what it is feeling. As you become more aware of yourself, you begin for feel the euphoric state of a Runner’s High. It is almost as if you can feel each extra endorphin, above the normal levels, being released to your brain and then the feeling of your brain receiving them. Well, almost is the key word here. Although I am pretty in tune with my body, I’m not sure if I have made it to the level of feeling individual endorphins yet, hopefully, someday. I bet David Blane feels individual endorphins. I assume Chuck Norris can feel them too.
The role the environment plays in attaining a Runner’s High does make sense when you think about it. For instance, when it is more sunny out you are more likely to be happy and enjoy yourself, moving your mood closer to attaining the Runner’s High. Compare that to a day that is dark, cloudy, and cold and you are running an unknown routes. You are not as open to the environment. You are not open to anything other than getting to your final destination and out of the weather. You are not appreciating what your environment has to offer. Go trail running!
That actually brings up another great point for the runner’s life. Enjoy where you are (and love the one you’ve got for that matter). If it is cold and raining outside when you go for your run, appreciate it. How often is it that you get to just be outside in the rain? Usually you are cramped in an office or curled up on the couch dreading leaving it when it is cold and rainy outside. You never get time to enjoy the moisture in the air. Remember when you were a child and it rained, you loved it, you played in it. Love it again. Stop blaming it on the rain, no matter what you do, go ahead and put that blame back on you. You are the only one that can decide how you feel about your environment. Appreciate where you are.
Cold weather, I still don’t appreciate it. I’m working on it. The problem is that the colder it gets the more clothes I put on, so I really never get to feel the cold for it’s most important attribute, being cold. Maybe I should start dressing down.
I’ve never been an environmentalist. I am somewhere in between feeling very passionate about not littering and having never fathomed donating money to “save the whales” or some other cause. However, I do have very strong feelings about nature and keeping her beautiful. My brother seems to feel the same way; just last week we were walking on the sidewalk near his home and he picked up a plastic bag with dog poop in it. From my amazement I said, “Man, that’s pretty hardcore picking that up! You must love Mother Nature.” He said, “Yeah, someone just left a bag of old chocolate.” After realizing what he was actually carrying, he found out he wasn’t as big of an environmentalist as he had thought. He didn’t even make it to a proper trash receptacle before dropping the litter back on the ground where he found it. I guess we all have our limits. I surely didn’t pick it up behind him.