It seems many sports have a defining moment for a beginner that gets them hooked. For beginner golfers, it is usually an easy swing that connects directly on the sweet spot of the club sending the ball on a laser like path towards the intended target. It is a feeling so good, it draws you back time and again. For the runner, it is often a "runner's high".
My first one occured when I took on a bet to run the Canadian International Marathon in Toronto. As I had never run before, my initial training distances were under a couple of miles often rotating betweening running and walking, I found the training to be difficult. I always seemed to be exhausted while running, it was painful, and I wondered "why am I doing this?".
Then one morning, I was running along the waterfront on a Saturday, the sun was shining, and I was in mile 3 of a 7 mile run. For the first time, I was running and felt wonderful! No sense of impending doom from tiredness but a sense of relaxed movement, enjoying the sunshine, looking at the water, and said (and felt)...this is GREAT! I suspect this was my first "runner's high" and got me hooked on the sport. I had a feeling that I could run forever...effortlessly. The experience gave me a new confidence in my training...and in large part enabled me to complete a full marathon after only 6 weeks of training (with no prior running experience and not being in very good shape when I started training).
I am grateful to my buddies for that initial dare as it provided the impetus for me to start running (and for not quitting when it was not much fun building my stamina and increasingly difficult to keep training). Now, running is a part of my life and given me experiences I would not otherwise have had (which I will write about in future posts).
The runner's high
Posted by robr2001
It seems many sports have a defining moment for a beginner that gets them hooked. For beginner golfers, it is usually an easy swing that connects directly on the sweet spot of the club sending the ball on a laser like path towards the intended target. It is a feeling so good, it draws you back time and again. For the runner, it is often a "runner's high". My first one occured when I took on a bet to run the Canadian International Marathon in Toronto. As I had never run before, my initial training distances were under a couple of miles often rotating betweening running and walking, I found the training to be difficult. I always seemed to be exhausted while running, it was painful, and I wondered "why am I doing this?". Then one morning, I was running along the waterfront on a Saturday, the sun was shining, and I was in mile 3 of a 7 mile run. For the first time, I was running and felt wonderful! No sense of impending doom from tiredness but a sense of relaxed movement, enjoying the sunshine, looking at the water, and said (and felt)...this is GREAT! I suspect this was my first "runner's high" and got me hooked on the sport. I had a feeling that I could run forever...effortlessly. The experience gave me a new confidence in my training...and in large part enabled me to complete a full marathon after only 6 weeks of training (with no prior running experience and not being in very good shape when I started training). I am grateful to my buddies for that initial dare as it provided the impetus for me to start running (and for not quitting when it was not much fun building my stamina and increasingly difficult to keep training). Now, running is a part of my life and given me experiences I would not otherwise have had (which I will write about in future posts).