Chasing the High

Long steamy run today, 16miler through the hills of West Plaza, 80 degrees at 5:30 AM, 76% Humidity, stagnant and moist. It would be pretty comparable if you just ran on a treadmill in a sauna . No ipod again today, stupid new "Sony performance earphones" wouldn't stay in my ears and drove me crazy for the first mile. I've gotten to where I almost prefer not having music anyway. I believe you run more efficiently listening to the symphony of your body, the tempo of your pace, the rhythm of your breathing, the sloshing of your feet hitting the ground. It can be very lonely at times, left to meander through your thoughts during a tough long stretch, but also therapeutic. There are a lot of natural sounds that you miss when you have music blasting in your ears.

Much of my recent daily diet has consisted of hill training in preparation for Psycho Wyco, July 11. The course has roughly 9,000 feet of incline over 15 miles. Today I decided that there is definitely a chemical release of endorphins that happens in the brain immediately upon cresting a large climb, or I should say, series of long climbs, since the West Plaza loop contains no fewer than 8 steep ascents. You're keeping steady tempo, pressing forward, straining to keep form, gasping for every last bit of breath available, your legs throbbing with lactate acid as you push for the summit, every muscle tightening and straining to propel yourself upward. Right as you begin to crest the hill, there is an elation that washes straight from your eyeballs down through your core, your body wants to collapse but you hold form and jog out the pain as you slowly recover to pace. A sensation of complete exhaustion hits and then a release of dopamine directly into your central cortex. The high only last for a few seconds, but it's an addictive sensation that can only be experienced by pushing the bodies limits. Much like a junkie chases the high of a drug, a runner chases the high of a great run. "The trials of miles, miles of trials"