The Runner’s High

In my last post, I forgot to mention another point the author of the book spends a lot of time on – namely, “a runner’s high“.  This is vaguely described as a feeling of euphoria during or immediately after (and a result of) physical exertion.  The author says there is a vast range of experiences and intensities to this “high”.  I have felt it numerous times, but would point out a more addictive form which I would label (borrowing from StarTrek) the “temporal shift”.  In this state, the person is “in the zone”, that is, time appears to slow, experience (colors, sounds, tastes and textures) is intensified and you genuinely feel “alive” and in the moment.  It is a sensation of perfection.

One example of this occurred while I was taking an Aikido lesson several years ago.  The person was throwing me and as I entered (attacked), I had the sense of being caught in the wind.  I could not feel the opponent, but I was so caught up in his energy and movement I followed a natural path into my fall and roll.  When I got up I asked him if he felt it too, and strangely enough, he did not.  He did not feel I was particularly easy or difficult to throw, but he did not “experience” the throw in the same energy flow I did.  This seemed strange to me because I assumed if you felt the shift with another they would also feel it.  On reflection, though, it made perfect sense as I’ve had numerous other similar experiences where time appeared to slow – or stand still – and others seemed completely unaware of the experience.

A similar experience (for me) used to happen every once in a while when I was a programmer.  I would be concentrating so hard for so long, I seemed to have 15 or 20 variables in my head and the cloud of the application running simultaneously in my brain (with the cpu).  In a strange way, although time seemed to slow, it was actually racing along, as I would look up and hours would have passed and it would be time to go home.  Obviously, there is a different mechanism which produces the state of euphoria, but makes the experience of time variable.

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