Molly Vickers
What makes me motivated to keep running is the "runner's high." After I run continuously for weeks and then stop for a couple of days, I feel like I have a build-up of stress and energy that I can only release through running. Is the "runner's high" scientifically proven? The feeling I get and what makes me keep going back to to running is strictly due to endorphins. The chemistry of your brain is literally changed, leading to more positive thoughts, less emphasis on pain, and a generally "happier" mood. Current research, also somewhat new and underdeveloped, is showing that runner's high is not just new-age reasoning for the "feel good" mood you're in when you leave the gym. I found one example in the New York Times under Fitness and Nutrition. Researchers of neuroscience in Germany have found that endorphins flooding to the brain during exercise are responsible for the mood elevations experienced during and post-run. A lead researcher on the topic at the University of Bonn decided to do a study the same way they do research on pain. They used PET scans to compare brain activity of subject's brains before and after a long run. The researchers looked at 10 distance runners, and found that after a run, additional endorphins were attached to areas of the brain that control emotion. This would explain not only why strenuous 7 mile runs are completely worth it afterwards when I feel motivated, inspired, and stress-free, but also that I get an "addiction" because my brain craves the stockpiling of emotions it gets when I run.
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