How RUNNING makes you HIGH

Running Makes you high....

.....the chemical processes that goes on in your brain when you run (past your comfort zone, and run for at least 30 minutes) can get you high...

Step 1: Once you are past your comfort level (for an average person, this takes at least 30 minutes or so at about 80% max heart rate), specialized cells secrete two mood enhancers: the notorious Endorphins that is normally released during exercise (which, by the way, is an opioid), and another less known enhancer called "anandamide". Anandamide is actually a compound that is pharmacologically similar to the effects THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Our brain makes its own morphine as a coping mechanism to pain, and recent studies have discovered that it also creates its very own version of marijuana.

then....

Step 2: Your blood quickly carries these two compounds to your brain, where Anandamide crosses the blood brain barrier easily (the blood brain barrier is like a gate that only selectively allows certain things to pass, and not others). Endorphins doesn't cross as easily, but your brain produces it within. These chemicals boost your mood--and probably also your running distance

then....

Step 3: You become numb: your pain receptors are numbed by these two new compounds and the opiod effects of endorphins, this could put your brain in a state of "high"...now you won't feel your legs burning (yet), the euphoria is beginning to kick in but the pain is yet to set in

then....

Step 4: At around the same time you are euphoric, these endorphins also downshift your brain's emotion and motivation centers in the frontal lobe, giving you a sense of calm and comfortability. 

then....

Step 5: YOU GET HIGH: dopamine begins to be released. This neurotransmitter is involved in pleasurable things such as lust, pleasure, and addiction...it ALSO binds to the cannabinoid receptors in your brain's pleasure circuit where it sends vibes throughout your brain for minutes, or even hours.

LET'S ALL GO RUNNING!!!! the same effects can theoretically be achieved through any other form of exercise with the same duration and intensity, such as High-Intensity-Interval-Training (HIIT)