Runner's high, depression, drugs and addiction

This Sunday, after we finished a particularly long gruelling trail run in the heat and humidity, on the beautiful curves of Aruna Asaf Ali forest ridge, a couple of us drove to the Delhi border to get some breakfast beers. 

As expected after a little while when the slight fuzziness of the alcohol hit our brains and tongues started lolling, we started a conversation about the future races that we would be running and the culmination of this racing season.

Our discussion was focussed on ADHM and SCMM. Then suddenly cycling was discussed and Ashish suggested cycling from Manali to Leh. Now my memory is fuzzy since Kingfishers (plural) were nesting in my brain but someone mentioned (most likely Ashish) that we should stop running after SCMM and rest our bodies. As soon as he said that, everyone looked at him and smirked and then the smirks turned into laughter. Why were we laughing? We were laughing because this alleged promise to rest and time off running has been discussed or thought about individually but never implemented. None of us was willing to stop running even after the season was ending!

Before writing this blog, I had been researching on which drug best stimulates a runner's high (that so called endorphin rush) because, well, curiosity, My Dear Watson! The culmination of that blog would have been something like "the runner's high resembles XYZ drug so just ruminate immediately after a hard run and savour that feeling since it won't come again till you push your body."

I had been searching and hanging around on drug use forums and reading up research papers and random articles, to pin point the drug or chemical which would best mimic a runner's high.

I won't try to explain a runner's high in detail, but you know what it is. The processing of emotions and bodily chemicals involved after a run may be different for different people but ultimately I believe that the final feeling is that of serenity, calmness, completeness, heightened senses (yet in control) and euphoria. 

But after the time off running conversation which was supplemented by that early morning golden nectar of cereals, I started thinking why we were unanimously not willing to hang up our shoes and stop the weekly torture of unpleasant training sessions at unearthly hours in the Delhi weather.

That is when I realised the addiction part of running. Running, drugs and addiction. Yup, you heard it, you naughty serial runner you, and that is when I decided to delve into the addiction part of it.

Most of the individual user feedback was taken by me from www.bluelight.org where "experts" tried their best to nail the drug whose effects best mimic a runner's high. Rest of the information was from research papers, medical articles and random articles.

Now coming to the long and short of it, in the order of decreasing closeness to the feelings of a runner's high; the drugs or chemicals which produce the same feeling are the following:

1. Opioids (morphine, oxycodone, heroin etc.)
2. Cannabinoids (Marijuana/weed/grass)
3. 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan, also known as oxitriptan, is a naturally occurring amino acid and chemical precursor as well as a metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin from tryptophan). 5 HTP induces serotonin production and serotonin is the calming chemical.
4. Nitrous Oxide (the giggle gas).
5. Amphetamines.
6. Others (rare mentions, therefore I'm treating these as inconsequential).

Running has been recommended to many, to fight depression. In fact the amount of endorphins released from running have led to the medical conclusion that running can be a substitute for anti-depressants. As another runner friend Akshay Khanna (no, not the actor, but an entrepreneur in Gurgaon), likes to say "Many of the best and fastest ultra marathoners around the world who have just exploded into the running scene come with a story and usually they are are ex-addicts". Have the the ex-addicts picked up a new addiction? Yes, if you believe in statistics.

What are endorphins? Endorphins are any of a group of peptide hormones that bind to opioid receptors and act as neurotransmitters. Endorphins reduce the sensation of pain and affect emotions. They are peptides which activate the body's opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect. Analgesics as you know, are painkillers. So, endorphins are natural pain killers which are produced by our bodies. Running produces these in massive quantities and the harder you go the more the production. In fact the word endorphin is a combination of endo + morphine. Let us call it natural morphine.

Morphine and codeine (both opioids), most resemble the Endorphins in our body and bind to the same receptors in the brain.

A psychologist, Virginia Grant, performed a research on rats wherein the rats were allowed to feed for 1 hour every day and for the rest of the 23 hours they were left in two cages. One cage was empty and the other cage had running wheels in it. The rats in the first cage would eat enough to stay healthy whereas the rats in the second cage (which had a running wheel) would not eat enough but would run excessively and eventually ran themselves to their own death by starvation. It was postulated that the rats who ran themselves to death, did so because they were trying to endlessly produce (through running) the feel good chemicals like that of any addictive drug. An addictive drug causes a surge of dopamine in the brain, resulting in the building of the small proteins enkaphilin, dynorphin and substance. The rats were trying to create as much as possible.

At Tufts University, researchers found that when rats were given Naloxone (a drug used to counter an opiate overdose and induce immediate withdrawal symptoms), the rats who ran on an exercise wheel had a substantially higher withdrawal than the inactive rats. This again reinforces the endogenous opiate production from running and the consequent addiction to it.

The findings on the chemical production during exercise, has medical science also focussing on phenylethylamine (PEA). PEA is produced during running and it is known to reduce depression in a majority of subjects and even acts at the same speed as amphetamines. PEA is found in chocolates too (yes, now you have research patting your back and telling you I love you no matter what, while you devour that slab of chocolate....hehehe). 

It has been found that after exercise at 70% maximum heart rate, the level of PEA was around 77% higher than normal, with differences in percentages in different individuals.

Donna Kritz-Silverstein from UCSD, found that exercise on a regular basis can maintain the positive effects of general mood elevation from exercise. People who exercised had a lower Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A lower BDI means better mood in general and regular exercise can maintain a lower BDI.

There are studies to show that we are chemically programmed to run and not just from an evolutionary point of view to chase and catch prey. That chemical programming may be a reason why we feel like running regularly and every missed workout feels like a guilt trip. The bad moods and crankiness on missing a workout can be attributed to the absence of chemicals which are produced during a run and which we are programmed to seek. Basically a drug addiction, but fortunately a positive addiction (mostly).

David Raichlen did an experiment where he made dogs (somewhat distance runners) run and ferrets (not even remotely decent distance runners) run. It was found that the dogs produced the chemicals but the ferrets did not. Says Raichlen: "It suggests some level of aerobic exercise was encouraged by natural selection, and it may be fairly deep in our evolutionary roots." The idea of this research was to focus on the concept of "Wired To Run" i.e. we actively seek the chemical produce of running.

Robin Kanarek, psychology professor at Tufts University, says "Exercise, like drugs of abuse, leads to the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins and dopamine, which are involved with a sense of reward," Kanarek said "As with food intake and other parts of life, moderation seems to be the key. Exercise, as long as it doesn't interfere with other aspects of one's life, is a good thing with respect to both physical and mental health."

So, as long as the addiction is healthy, keep running and remaining high for a short while everyday and then plan and seek your fix the next day. Chemistry 101 just gave you a thumbs up to never stop training, except when you're injured. Injuries are just shit. Shit nuggets in caviar.

The Runner's Bible

The runner's bible- Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.

There are several fiction and non-fiction books in the market on running. Domestic and International authors are writing educational and motivational books on running and some of them are pretty darned good.

However, Once a Runner is in its own league. For many runners, this is the bible (maybe even a replacement for the real one). This is the book from which lines are recited before, during and after runs. Certain parts of the book can give you goosebumps. Copies of the book are passed on as a right of passage!

There was a time when it couldn't be bought easily in the market but now it's readily available. Online purchase is a sure shot way of getting your hands on a copy since I was unable to find it at many book stores in Delhi.

If there is one book on running which can get me out of my slump; this is it. I can re-read it after every few months. Nevertheless, paras and lines are anyway read frequently. It is an over the top account of a runner's struggles and triumphs.

Read a few pages and then try putting it down. Towards the end you will feel that you're bidding farewell to a loved one because of the bond that you'll end up developing with the protagonist- Quenton Cassidy.

There are long discussions on it on Letsrun.com and the fanaticism (enthusiasm?) is mind boggling. It is just one of those books which takes running out of the realm of just exercise into something mystical and soul searching.

One read, can give you exactly what you are looking for, be it motivation, philosophy of running, empathy or a running hero.

It has inspired t-shirts with prints proclaiming, "Gaunt is Beautiful" and "The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trial".

"Until its re-release in 2009, the out-of-print 1978 novel was shared among track teams and passed between training partners. Used paperback copies sold for over $75 online. In 2008, Parker wrote a sequel, Again to Carthage, following an aging Cassidy’s quest to come back as a marathoner. The cult classic is a must read for all serious runners." (Source: runningcompetitor)

Without ranting too much, allow me to take you through a few passages.

“Cassidy's heart tried to leap out through his taught skin and hop into his wet hands. But outwardly it was all very calm, very serene, just as always, and it seemed to last a tiny forever, just like that, a snapshot of them all on the curved parabola of a starting line, eight giant hearts attached to eight pairs of bellows-like lungs mounted on eight pairs of supercharged stilts. They were poised on the edge of some howling vortex they had run 10,000 miles to get to. Now they had to run one more” 

“You don't become a runner by winning a morning workout. The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many day, weeks, months, and (if you could finally come to accept it) years. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.”

“Running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free.” 

“It's a simple choice! We can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters around and get our little degrees and find some nice girl to settle, you know, down with... Take up what a friend of ours calls the hearty challenges of lawn care... Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the hearts of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race satan himslef till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straight away... They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a guy, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet! We can, by god, let out demons loose and just wail on!” 

Don't even get me started on the sequel, Again to Carthage, where Cassidy who is a practising lawyer, reassesses his life's priorities and quits his comfortable job in a law firm, to train his 30 something aging body to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Team since his days of being a fast miler are over.

And in 2015 after seven years, a prequel has been written and published by John L. Parker, Jr. and I just ordered it today. It will take a while to reach me since it is not yet available in India. Shipping from USA to my rescue. I need to increase my weekly mileage to handle the book when it arrives.....haha!

Gaunt is beautiful :-)

Is it necessary to run bigger races like ADHM and SCMM?

Yes and No. Yes, if you are serious about competing or knowing where you stand in the food chain (of running) and no, if you are innocent enough or content with being utterly oblivious to how intense and energising the battle to be above average is.

Imagine taking a test. Now you have a choice between two tests. The first test is between 10 of your friends who obviously are not Mensa International members (well unless you are Stephen Hawking) and the second test is nation wide which attracts the best talent and knowledge.

In the first test, your chances of scoring high marks and winning are exceptionally good because only 10 people are taking the test and since you decided to befriend them, then their mental capabilities must invariably match yours, give or take a bit. If you work a little bit then you could be a top ranker in this test. In the second test, your chances of scoring high marks or winning are directly related to the nationwide effort and talent, and it will take a lot of preparation from you and skills to even get a modest rank.

Think of it like this, the first test is a GK quiz at a local bar where the reward is getting drunk at the end of the quiz and heading home whereas the second test is the dreaded CAT and the winner goes on to study at one of the IIMs. Well it's a different story altogether that the winner of the second test will also be drinking with you at that bar after spending a few years at an MNC and will be sharing his /her woes over a manly beer or a girl sangria. The second test will test the limits of your mind and body whereas the first test will be an open book exam. There is always a rainbow at the end of the first test. The first test could leave you happy for a while but that happiness isn't real.

Coming back to ADHM. Have you ever taken a walk or driven in the vicinity of the course on the eve of ADHM? I have and what I have seen are lanky boys with legs of destruction (sorry, supercharged stilts as John L. Parker wrote in Once A Runner!) and a cold thousand yard stare which comes after days and days of intense soul leeching training. They come from all over the country in trains and buses and sleep on the footpaths near Nehru Park and adjoining areas on the eve of the race since they can't afford a hotel in Delhi, which is near the venue or maybe none at all. They will run in torn and tattered shoes and attire which has zero technology embedded. What they do possess is the drive to win or place well overall. Win or at least place well overall, for many reasons. In the order of decreasing priority, these boys will be running for Government job, prize money, bragging rights, general keeda (like many of us amateurs). These boys aren't elites but they sure will make you realise that they could be, if given a chance.

You have seen more of such glorious runners on race day. The regular runner who you see at the park. Your maid's or driver's daughter who has a penchant for running. The crazy guy from the gym who trains like his life depends on that Wednesday workout. The fast runners who you follow on Strava. The runners who have added you on Facebook or you have added them but you have never met them. The mom who trains despite the odds. The runner who you've been planning to beat since last year's race. The general mass of runners walking to the holding area, none of whom you know but from a single look at them you can sense the competition and your adrenaline spikes a bit and the same chemical reaction happened in them. The feeling of being amongst your peers in your respective holding areas and knowing that these guys will hunt you down in the next 21.1 kms, if you slack off.

The elites will also be there and they will be thrown into the mix like golden star spangled M&Ms amongst us regular green, brown, blue, red folk. Now don't you think that is a mix worthy of being a part of?

The, ADHM, is the real test to know where you stand in the running food chain in India. A 60th place finish here will and should mean more to you than a podium at a local race. Run local races or that ultra and have fun socialising within the close bonds of friends and family and getting that ego boost since you came 4th out of 10 runners in your age category and by all means do paste it on Facebook, but do take the litmus test since the test happens only once a year in Delhi. Go be a hero....for one day.

ADHM 2015 is coming, go buy a cycle!

Yes, you read it right. No, I'm not drunk or high (at least during the time it took me to write this article). I know ADHM is a running event and yet I am asking you to buy a cycle (or start cycling).

ADHM 2015 is approximately two and a half months away. Your training must be reaching its upper limits now or will reach soon. Soon you will reach the fastest training runs and the longest training distances as per your formal/informal training program or lack thereof.

Unfortunately, this is when Murphy and his Law wake up from their slumber and knock on some of our doors. He is the Santa Claus of doom and he is real!

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong (Murphy's Law). How, you ask? Well this is the time when injuries occur but there isn't enough time to recover from them and achieve that PB you've been working hard at for the last couple of months.

Well, it's not just Murphy but also our own doings that lead to such injuries. Maybe you did those intervals faster than your body could handle. No strength training. Too many hill repeats? Only running on tarmac. Wrong shoes? Not resting enough! It could be one of the myriad reasons that cause the dreaded injuries but the fact is what Stinger said in Top Gun. 

"Son, your ego is writing cheques your body can't cash" (Stinger, Top Gun)

To be honest, I've been writing so many of such cheques that I have ordered new cheque books many times over. I'm learning not be an idiot when it comes to running but it's a slow process for me since being an idiot comes so naturally to me and that makes it all the more harder to change.

Now where does a cycle fit into this injury business. Well, a cycle will allow you to maintain fitness during your downtime. Cycling is not an impact sport like running. Therefore, most of the common running injuries will allow you to cycle (even shin splints are not a problem while cycling).

If you keep cycling when a running injury has sidelined you, then you can still (i) continue to train your cardiovascular system; (ii) prevent weight gain; and (iii) maintain training discipline. 

Cycling may not be a total replacement for running since both sports are quite different but it can be a good temporary solution. It is my go to sport when Bad Santa comes knocking (often).

To give you a glimpse of how the loss in fitness takes place when you stop running, it has been shown that in highly-trained athletes, VO2max (which is your maximum aerobic capacity) decreases by 7 percent in the 12 to 21 days after stopping training and another 9 percent during days 21 to 84.

The reduction in VO2max when training is stopped varies a bit with different studies, with losses ranging from 4-14% when training is stopped for less than 4 weeks.

One study found that endurance athletes lost 7% of their VO2max in the first 21 days of inactivity and eventually stabilized at a 16% loss after 56 days.

The majority of the detraining effects can be traced back to decreased blood volume. Total blood volume and plasma volume has been shown to decline by 5-12% within a few weeks.

A different study found that over a 2400 meter run, women averaged 21 seconds slower following 15 days of inactivity.

Also, the losses in VO2max are directly proportional to how well trained you were when you stopped. The losses are more if your VO2max was high. So if you are in incredible shape then you will have incredible losses in VO2max when you stop training.

So if you play your cards right (by cycling) then there is a high likelihood that this percentage of loss in VO2 max (due to stoppage of running) can be significantly reduced or who knows if a week's rest from running with only intense cycling could recharge your battered legs when you resume running!

Just remember a few things:

• Every km of running is equal to approximately 4kms of cycling. So the rough conversion ratio is approximately 1:4. Cycle 16 kms to get a training session equal to 4kms of running. If you push the effort on the cycle then you can manage a 1:3 conversion ratio.

• Don't go for a leisurely ride. Please don't ride to Khan Market and have tea and bread pakoras. This is your guilt trip. You trained badly and made scrambled legs instead of nice and firm chicken drumsticks. This is the time for remorse. Be remorseful. You will have to tax your body and feel the effort similar to your running effort. This will be achievable by cycling on inclines or by doing intervals on the cycle.

• If you use a heart rate monitor, then do not try to reach the same heart rate as running. Cycling is not a full body exercise and therefore your heart rate will be about 15 bpm lower than running but you will still be putting in the effort. So, if you try to equalise running and cycling heart rate then you will be surprised at how difficult and painful cycling will become since it requires so much more effort to produce the same heart rate as running.

• Think of cycling as a leg press exercise (the machine in the gym on which you lay on your back and press the weight upwards). In the case of cycling the leg press is set for endurance rather than short and heavy repetitions and you are pushing the weight downwards. Even if you don't get injured, you'll still get a good workout and cross training if you cycle.

If you are prone to injuries like me or if you are suddenly upping the ante in training (without following the gradual mileage and intensity progression rules) and you feel that an injury is probable, then start incorporating cycling sessions of 10kms twice or thrice a week right away into your regular running routine. This will keep you primed and ready when the injury occurs since you will have some basic cycling stamina at that point of time. This basic stamina will allow you to directly enter hard training on the cycle instead of wasting days in building a cycling base and then bouncing back in time for ADHM with minimal fitness losses.

Now, there is no need to go and buy an expensive cycle (buy you can if you want to). A simple Btwin (Decathon) MyBike can sort you out for approximately Rs. 5,000/-.

Limitation of "Will" and choosing a race

You already know that running is a mental sport as much as physical. To push through discomfort and literally run out of your comfort zone is the basic principle on which running operates.

The mental part of the sport is dependent on your "Willpower" and what I will now refer to as simply "Will". Before proceeding, let us go through a few explanations of "Will".

Willpower (noun)- the trait of resolutely controlling your own behaviour.

Willpower (noun)- the ability to control yourself: strong determination that allows you to do something difficult (such as to lose weight or quit smoking)

Willpower (noun)- Unwavering firmness of character, action, or will.

Willpower (noun) - the ​ability to ​control ​your own ​thoughts and the way in which you ​behave.

This Will determines how much you will persevere and endure in training and racing, but primarily in training since race is just a training session which is a little more difficult than your peak training run.

Will is not an infinite resource. It is constantly being used up in our daily life for different purposes and therefore it keeps getting depleted on a constant basis. You may use it for not shopping for that particular item when your cash/credit is low. You may use it for finishing that assignment at work or in not punching your colleague on the nose while giggling because he is an asshole. You will most certainly use it to not walk out of your car and leave it stranded when stuck in a traffic jam for one hour. It will be used to listen and wake up to your alarm clock. It will be used by you to basically regulate all bad decisions in your life and achieve the fruit of the good decisions. Sometimes you will be able to win and sometimes you will be unable to will yourself to whatever seems right at that moment.

I'm not saying that Will does not regenerate but the rate of usage and regeneration have to match and be balanced. If the balance sways then there are burnouts, lethargy and weakness.

Training for a race, directly taps into this Will. You will use it to wake up, lace up and train, day after day. To do justice to your upcoming race, you will use the limited Will to forgo socialising, purchasing gear, doing those dreaded intervals and tempo runs. It will be used, in trickles, to endure a long run and in massive doses when you push the pace.

Now imagine this finite resource being depleted day after day due to your running regimen without enough regeneration. What this gradual depletion will lead to mostly, is lesser availability of the finite amount of Will for other aspects of your life provided that your training remains constant. 

I become cranky after intervals because I feel like I tried committing suicide by running but somehow survived and now have to come back to other chores, which chores suddenly seem humongous since my brain has already contributed a significant part of my Will to the intervals. 

A constant contribution of Will to running may lead to less enthusiasm at work, general apathy to routine activities, lowered impulse control, anxiety and other behavioural issues. Who hasn't stressed during the months/weeks/days before a major race?

Therefore, a race has to be chosen wisely, by keeping in mind that the training will determine your Will which is available for other aspects in life and which will allow you to maintain a balance (sanity?) and not get kicked out of your house by the Missus. 

Choose a 5k race instead of a 10k race, if you can do more justice to the former and allow yourself to balance your life better. Maybe go for a Half marathon instead of a Full Marathon. Go for that Ultra if you can manage the high mileage.

In fact I'll go ahead and say that even target race finishing times should be chosen by considering your "Will".

By the way, you'll still look good by training for a Half Marathon instead of a Full Marathon :-)

Also, Will Smith has infinite Will. 

Should we and can we judge numbers?

People like to compete and compare. Running is a super competitive sport even at the amateur level and rightly so because it is an easy way to prove that you are better than the ones slower than you and that ego boost is something that we look for in every race. 

We may tell ourselves that we are doing it for ourselves and that competition is not why we run but that argument will hold true only if you never participate in a timed race. 

If you show up at a timed race, it means that you have decided to test your potential and see how you fare against the general population, which thought is not a bad thing in itself because the ego needs pampering for various reasons and well running is an easy way since you're sure that you'll be faster than some participant.

We are quick to dismiss slower runners and elevate the faster ones and this habit gets reinforced when we see others acting in the same way. Our behaviour and interactions with runners, during training, racing and otherwise, is influenced by the knowledge of whether we are faster or slower than them. This is not a bad thing per se but it is flawed in my opinion. 

It is flawed because the person judging the other runner may not be aware of the reasons leading up to the faster or slower performances. The other runner may be facing a number of circumstances in his life which may not be conducive to training, effort and performance or it may be the opposite and his life may be such that it would be a dream come true for you and he has all the time and resources to give it all in training, effort and performance. 

Is the other guy working odd hours, does he have family woes, is his life complete and perfect; so many factors which can affect racing. So a simplistic assumption that you are faster than the other guy because you train more, have more discipline, have the will to push through pain may be flawed.

Does this mean that to compare with other runners we have to be in a lab where you have to be given the exact same life as the other runner and then see the performances to come to a concrete conclusion or maybe assume that only the elites are really competing with each other since their lives are almost similar and like a simple motto "eat, sleep, train, repeat"? No, that would be impossible but what is possible at an amateur level is to train and race in the most intense way that your circumstances allow and then know and bask in the warmth of the feeling in your heart of hearts that you gave it your all and it doesn't matter what the time was. 

As some old timer (probably Socrates) said, “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”