WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Runner's High

0:00:04.200 --> 0:00:06.440
<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:08.600
<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck, and Chuck is out of his mind on

0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.840
<v Speaker 1>endorphins right now. And this short stuff, like I said,

0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:14.560
<v Speaker 1>oh man, I've been running for hours and I just

0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.120
<v Speaker 1>like can't even feel my feet. I'm like, I'm floating, man,

0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.239
<v Speaker 1>It's amazing. I'm not even breaking a sweat, and I'm like,

0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.840
<v Speaker 1>I'm having such a runners high. Bro, you sound like

0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:28.440
<v Speaker 1>the average marathon are like so much. I got on

0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:32.000
<v Speaker 1>my barefoot running shoes. Oh man, I don't ever want

0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.920
<v Speaker 1>to talk about that again. We talked about this runners

0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.120
<v Speaker 1>high in some episode to such a degree. I was like,

0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:41.760
<v Speaker 1>have we done it as a short stuff? Really? I

0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:44.280
<v Speaker 1>think so? We must have talked about it in marathons

0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:46.519
<v Speaker 1>or something like that. Yeah, I bet that was it.

0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.239
<v Speaker 1>I believe a standalone short stuff is a great way

0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.640
<v Speaker 1>to go with it. Yeah, But you know what I

0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.280
<v Speaker 1>was describing is what runners will tell you they feel

0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:58.320
<v Speaker 1>oftentimes when they are on what's known as a runners high,

0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:03.040
<v Speaker 1>which is you light as a feather, you're floating, your

0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:07.640
<v Speaker 1>pace is strong, and sometimes they might even burst out

0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:12.959
<v Speaker 1>into uncontrollable tears of joy that they can't even explain. Yes,

0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:18.760
<v Speaker 1>So I have you ever had a runners high? No,

0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.399
<v Speaker 1>because I think you gotta run a long way to

0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.160
<v Speaker 1>even if it even exists, it occurs, you know, not

0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:29.080
<v Speaker 1>at mile one. So I have never had a runners high. Um.

0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.440
<v Speaker 1>But this these emotional sobs that they mentioned I can

0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.319
<v Speaker 1>identify with because like I hit the tread that every

0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:38.560
<v Speaker 1>morning when I hit the treadmill. When I run, I

0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.520
<v Speaker 1>very rarely run outside and I usually run about eleven am.

0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:44.640
<v Speaker 1>So I end up watching the Prices right while I

0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:49.120
<v Speaker 1>run a lot. And by the end of the show,

0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.440
<v Speaker 1>when like people are winning or losing or whatever, are

0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.960
<v Speaker 1>you crying? I crying is not the right word, but

0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.400
<v Speaker 1>like my chest is tight, and like I'm overcome with

0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:02.960
<v Speaker 1>the most of these got hitch, you know, And I'm like, well,

0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.160
<v Speaker 1>this is clearly this has to do with running or

0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.200
<v Speaker 1>exercising or something. But it's pretty funny that, yeah, I

0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:09.920
<v Speaker 1>get it gets to me by the end of the

0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:11.840
<v Speaker 1>Price is right? All right? Let me see if I

0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:23.560
<v Speaker 1>can trigger you. Ready, Dent, Dent, it's too early for

0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.520
<v Speaker 1>a break. You get a press on, brother, Okay, let's

0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:30.280
<v Speaker 1>just do you take it from here. By the way,

0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.400
<v Speaker 1>is one of the greatest theme Songs of All Time.

0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:36.520
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, iconic. I haven't seen it in I mean,

0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:38.440
<v Speaker 1>I haven't really seen much of any of the Drew

0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.400
<v Speaker 1>Carey stuff, and I can still just rattle that thing.

0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.080
<v Speaker 1>It's fine. He's he's good, he's finally settled in. He

0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:44.960
<v Speaker 1>I mean, he's not Bob Barker, but he knows he's

0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:46.959
<v Speaker 1>not Bob Barker. He's not trying to be Bob Barker.

0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.000
<v Speaker 1>He's Drew Carey and he's doing his own thing, and

0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:52.040
<v Speaker 1>it's good. All right. So let's talk about flow state.

0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:57.360
<v Speaker 1>This is um a concept that Hungarian American uh psychologist

0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:05.560
<v Speaker 1>to insert name, go please, there's sixteen No, man, there

0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:08.440
<v Speaker 1>are sixteen letters in this person's last name, and all

0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:12.880
<v Speaker 1>continents five of them are vowels. So's hear his name

0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.480
<v Speaker 1>is me hi chick, sent me hi ah, look at you,

0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:20.320
<v Speaker 1>thank you, thank you. I'm sure that I my dialect

0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:24.959
<v Speaker 1>was like nowhere near Russia. Um, but uh, that's pretty

0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.440
<v Speaker 1>close from what I can tell. Yeah, just picture in

0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:31.160
<v Speaker 1>your mind something spelled like this. Everyone C S, I, K,

0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:35.240
<v Speaker 1>S Z E N T M I H A L

0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.440
<v Speaker 1>Y I. That was his last name. Yeah, that's the

0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:40.960
<v Speaker 1>last name. So I want to say it again. Okay, yeah, yeah,

0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:42.880
<v Speaker 1>I want to hear it again. Me Hi Chick sent

0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:48.000
<v Speaker 1>me Hi. That sounds like it sounds like a sentence.

0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.200
<v Speaker 1>It sounds like you're saying something in a different language.

0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.080
<v Speaker 1>I am, I'm saying this guy's name, like, I appreciate

0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.080
<v Speaker 1>the advice. Can you point me in the direction of

0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:00.240
<v Speaker 1>the nearest car rental? Me Hi Chick set me I. Okay,

0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.960
<v Speaker 1>it's right over there. Then. UM. I'm glad we're patting

0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:05.600
<v Speaker 1>this out with comedy because there's not a lot to

0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.120
<v Speaker 1>the runners high as we will learn. But flow state

0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.960
<v Speaker 1>is what uh say it? Me Hi Chick sent me

0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:17.320
<v Speaker 1>Hi came up with after interviewing athletes and musicians and

0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:22.040
<v Speaker 1>artists basically about what brings them joy and basically kind

0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.599
<v Speaker 1>of came to the conclusion that when these people are

0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:30.520
<v Speaker 1>performing at peak levels, whether they're songwriting or poetry, slamming,

0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:34.120
<v Speaker 1>or running marathons, that they all say that they fall into,

0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.040
<v Speaker 1>or I guess the majority of people say they fall

0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.279
<v Speaker 1>into this really focused to mental state that they call

0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.320
<v Speaker 1>the flow state, where it's just like I've channeled, I'm

0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:46.440
<v Speaker 1>channeling something. I'm not even working to do what I'm

0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:48.920
<v Speaker 1>doing it's just coming out of me. Have you ever

0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.760
<v Speaker 1>been in that state? I know you haven't had a

0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:53.599
<v Speaker 1>Runners high, neither have I, but I've been in a

0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.080
<v Speaker 1>flow state before of you. I feel like I've been

0:04:56.120 --> 0:05:01.599
<v Speaker 1>in a flow state with writing before. I don't remember

0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.520
<v Speaker 1>what I was doing while I was doing it, but

0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:06.360
<v Speaker 1>I remember being like, oh wow, this is this is

0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:11.000
<v Speaker 1>something special. And it was probably something mundane like um,

0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.440
<v Speaker 1>digging a hole or something like that, which you know

0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.279
<v Speaker 1>I'm known to do, but I it is a pretty

0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.920
<v Speaker 1>neat thing, like there's it's just effortless. There's a certain

0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.640
<v Speaker 1>amount of joy and pleasure to it. You feel a

0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:26.520
<v Speaker 1>little bit high, and it's because it's my My theory

0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:30.320
<v Speaker 1>is that, um, your body has stopped, your body and

0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.360
<v Speaker 1>your mind have stopped trying to find the most efficient, um,

0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.760
<v Speaker 1>least wasteful energy energy wise way of doing what you're doing,

0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:42.040
<v Speaker 1>and now it's just doing it. So there's no there's

0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.640
<v Speaker 1>no ever, there's no trying to figure something out, there's

0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:47.279
<v Speaker 1>no wasted energy, and it's just it can be pleasurable

0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.200
<v Speaker 1>in that sense. Right, So flow state they think might

0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:55.240
<v Speaker 1>have a link to being uh, to encountering a Runners high.

0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:59.279
<v Speaker 1>But here's the thing is, most athletes haven't experienced a

0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.440
<v Speaker 1>runners high. It's not like all you gotta do is

0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.760
<v Speaker 1>run eight or more miles and you're gonna get one.

0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.240
<v Speaker 1>And then there's and I guess this would be a

0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.600
<v Speaker 1>good time to break. There's a lot of debate about

0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.640
<v Speaker 1>if a runners is even real to begin with, scientifically speaking,

0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.280
<v Speaker 1>is it real? We'll find out right after these messages

0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:55.839
<v Speaker 1>from our sponsor, Chuck. Is it real? Well, first, we

0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:57.680
<v Speaker 1>should just say that the whole idea of this came

0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.560
<v Speaker 1>around in the seventies when the big running boom really

0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:06.800
<v Speaker 1>kicked off off. Yeah, exactly, and the doctor started looking

0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.039
<v Speaker 1>into it a little bit, and researchers they're like, is

0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:13.080
<v Speaker 1>this even a thing? Can we explain this physiologically? And

0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:17.600
<v Speaker 1>they they kind of landed on initially endorphins, which are

0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:23.000
<v Speaker 1>neurotransmitters that are sending chemical messages activating opiate receptors, and

0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:27.320
<v Speaker 1>basically they can create a sort of an analgesic effect

0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:31.440
<v Speaker 1>that could numb the body to pain and trigger a

0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.760
<v Speaker 1>kind of morphine like euphoria, let's say. And they're like,

0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.360
<v Speaker 1>all right, if you're running enough, maybe you're just The

0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.760
<v Speaker 1>surge of endorphins is what's explaining this? I mean, and

0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.880
<v Speaker 1>that's what it stayed for decades. Basically, Like when I

0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.320
<v Speaker 1>first started getting into running ten years ago, I used

0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:51.800
<v Speaker 1>getting into running and making air quotes. Um. I remember

0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.400
<v Speaker 1>hearing like, oh, it's endorphins. Uh. And endorphins do like

0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.600
<v Speaker 1>keep your muscles from making They do, UM have like

0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.080
<v Speaker 1>the analgesic effects like you're talking about. But the big

0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:05.720
<v Speaker 1>problem is is they apparently don't cross the blood brain barrier. Yeah,

0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:10.840
<v Speaker 1>so I guess somehow they do release opioids or they

0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.400
<v Speaker 1>activate your opioid receptors, but I'm not sure how they

0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.560
<v Speaker 1>do that if they can't get to your brain, or

0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:18.440
<v Speaker 1>maybe there's something that gets to your brain but it's

0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.360
<v Speaker 1>not the ones that get released by your muscles. Whatever

0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:26.840
<v Speaker 1>the case, these early UM researchers physiologists who said it's

0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:29.880
<v Speaker 1>endorphins just they were just making it up. No one

0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.920
<v Speaker 1>went back and checked their work, and when they finally did,

0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:34.760
<v Speaker 1>they saw that this was just bunk. Basically, it's bunk

0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:39.079
<v Speaker 1>is speed reading. Yeah exactly. UM, that's a good T shirt.

0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.160
<v Speaker 1>Um In there was a study out of Germany that

0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:48.680
<v Speaker 1>basically said that running can stimulate your indo cannabinoid system,

0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:53.520
<v Speaker 1>which is pretty interesting. Um, your body produces endocannabinoids. It's

0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:59.160
<v Speaker 1>like you're sort of built in, um, cannabis, cannabis system.

0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:04.080
<v Speaker 1>It's your body pot. Yeah, it's it's yeah. Good band name.

0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.960
<v Speaker 1>Oh man, it's a great band name. And I don't

0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:09.440
<v Speaker 1>even like my band name stuff usually, but body pot

0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:11.920
<v Speaker 1>sounds great. Yeah, that's pretty good. When what kind of

0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:18.160
<v Speaker 1>music is it? Though you're always not it's because it's

0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:25.320
<v Speaker 1>classical but done on alright. Very interesting. That's another thing.

0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.280
<v Speaker 1>You just created a genre. I think I might have

0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.480
<v Speaker 1>not a good one, but I did sure. So, Um,

0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.320
<v Speaker 1>have you ever seen that that blue grass band do

0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.120
<v Speaker 1>a C d C thunderstruck? No, I bet it's pretty good.

0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.679
<v Speaker 1>It's pretty awesome. I am not a big a C

0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.000
<v Speaker 1>d C guy, but I can imagine hearing somebody do

0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.040
<v Speaker 1>that on anything. It's pretty stirring. Like watching the end

0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.240
<v Speaker 1>of Prices right after you've been running a few miles.

0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.440
<v Speaker 1>Yeah that that guitar like sounds pretty cool in the banjo.

0:09:54.440 --> 0:10:00.880
<v Speaker 1>So the Yeah, endocannabinoids, cannabinoids, um, they you can you know.

0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:02.960
<v Speaker 1>It's it's like what pot does for you. Basically, it

0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:06.680
<v Speaker 1>improves your anxiety and improves your mood. Uh, this is

0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.599
<v Speaker 1>why some people turned to marijuana to reduce their anxiety,

0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.520
<v Speaker 1>and this does actually pass the blood brain barrier. I

0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:19.280
<v Speaker 1>don't understand that about how marijuana reduces anxiety. I know

0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.600
<v Speaker 1>for a fact that it does, but I feel like

0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.440
<v Speaker 1>it's a certain kind of person that marijuana has that

0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.720
<v Speaker 1>effect on, and that does not have that effect on everybody. Sure,

0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.200
<v Speaker 1>I mean I think there are plenty of people where

0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.319
<v Speaker 1>marijuana very much increases their anxiety. Yes, and that is

0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:38.800
<v Speaker 1>the saddest thing of all. Yeah, it's just said. It's

0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.520
<v Speaker 1>it's called getting robbed by God himself or herself for

0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:45.400
<v Speaker 1>their self. Yeah, because if it only did the one

0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:48.840
<v Speaker 1>thing and reduced anxiety, it would be the wonder drug

0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:53.760
<v Speaker 1>of the world. It's true. Yeah, we didn't have this

0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.240
<v Speaker 1>conversation in the Girl Scouts episode. Yeah, that'd be bad.

0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.400
<v Speaker 1>But like I said, unlike the endorsed and these endocannabinoids

0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.400
<v Speaker 1>can move through that that blood brain barrier and give

0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.600
<v Speaker 1>you that feeling of calm. So they think that might

0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.120
<v Speaker 1>have something to do with the runner's eye. Yes, so,

0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.640
<v Speaker 1>which makes a lot more sense. I mean endocannabin When

0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.679
<v Speaker 1>we seemed like it's probably the case that that is

0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.600
<v Speaker 1>what gives you some sort of euphoric feeling while you're

0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.360
<v Speaker 1>in that flow state. But again, it's possible that the

0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:24.560
<v Speaker 1>runner's high doesn't even exist, and that it's one of

0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.840
<v Speaker 1>those things where it's like a self self fulfilling prophecy

0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:33.880
<v Speaker 1>or I guess a bit of um uh placebo effect

0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.160
<v Speaker 1>where you think it exists and you're running sometime and

0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.040
<v Speaker 1>you think I feel kind of good and you're like,

0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.160
<v Speaker 1>oh my god, I'm in a flow state. Check me out,

0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:44.560
<v Speaker 1>I'm so high. Could be like that. It also could exist,

0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.839
<v Speaker 1>and we just haven't really identified it fully yet. Yeah,

0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.280
<v Speaker 1>but what I'm pretty sure is going to happen is

0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.640
<v Speaker 1>we're gonna get get zillion emails from runners that are like,

0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:58.200
<v Speaker 1>don't mock this. It is totally real. I've experienced it first,

0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:01.800
<v Speaker 1>and Hey, I don't care if it is the greatest

0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.160
<v Speaker 1>placebo effect of all time. It's still real. If it's

0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.720
<v Speaker 1>a placebo, your body is still experiencing the effects of

0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:14.079
<v Speaker 1>whatever it is, from a fake drug to running high. Um,

0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.920
<v Speaker 1>you're still experiencing it. So it doesn't matter if it's

0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:22.800
<v Speaker 1>externally objectively real or not. Doesn't matter. Uh. Well, if

0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.600
<v Speaker 1>you want to know more about sylopsism or anything like that.

0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.000
<v Speaker 1>Join us next time on short stuff. We don't have

0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.520
<v Speaker 1>anything else about runners high right, chuck. We don't well,

0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:38.000
<v Speaker 1>and that means everybody that short stuff is GIDIA. Stuff

0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.040
<v Speaker 1>you should know is a production of I Heart Radio.

0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.040
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart

0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.040
<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:46.800
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows.