Athlete Vaporists?

[His_Highness]

I've been slacking.....just started to get back into the routine a couple weeks back. Put on some pandemic pounds too.

I've been at this exercise thing since I was 13 and I'm in my early 60s....it's not uncommon for me to take breaks here and there but nothing like this last one. The holidays (Kwanzahanarismus, Thanksturkey) signal the annual gluttony vs. exercise competition. Gluttony usually wins out until it's time to train for the annual 15k in March. As usual I ran the 15k last year but my family got upset because of covid so this year I decided to take a pass. All bullshit excuses.... because the race could be run virtually and I also have a really good dread-mill too. Just couldn't get right mentally......was to the point where the only time I left the house was once or twice per month for necessities. Really love the dispensary deliveries though so it's not all bad

Also broke the rear suspension on the mountain bike and screwed up my shoulder some too but as I said....all bullshit excuses.....

Once I got 'older' I kept in mind that exercising isn't just enjoyable it's a physicality savings account and I need to keep making deposits to maintain a happy, healthy account balance. Still true and I'm noticing the comeback isn't as easy now. Even more reason to start making those deposits.

 

[ataxian]

I've been slacking.....just started to get back into the routine a couple weeks back. Put on some pandemic pounds too.

I've been at this exercise thing since I was 13 and I'm in my early 60s....it's not uncommon for me to take breaks here and there but nothing like this last one. The holidays (Kwanzahanarismus, Thanksturkey) signal the annual gluttony vs. exercise competition. Gluttony usually wins out until it's time to train for the annual 15k in March. As usual I ran the 15k last year but my family got upset because of covid so this year I decided to take a pass. All bullshit excuses.... because the race could be run virtually and I also have a really good dread-mill too. Just couldn't get right mentally......was to the point where the only time I left the house was once or twice per month for necessities. Really love the dispensary deliveries though so it's not all bad

Also broke the rear suspension on the mountain bike and screwed up my shoulder some too but as I said....all bullshit excuses.....

Once I got 'older' I kept in mind that exercising isn't just enjoyable it's a physicality savings account and I need to keep making deposits to maintain a happy, healthy account balance. Still true and I'm noticing the comeback isn't as easy now. Even more reason to start making those deposits.

I’m a baby boomer that is a cyclist among other sport activities as you.
My 72 year old brother-in-law rides 100km per/week even on vacation ?
Stationary bike is mean’s I use to keep in shape 4 my next trip to FRANCE.
TOO bad CANNABIS is demonized there?
The plant keep’s one in the zone!

 

[CANtalk]

It's great to hear the stories here; all are inspiring and motivating . I don't do really any outdoor exercise in cold Canada winters and miss it a lot, but spring through fall, bring it on, and I'm all about mountain biking (as posted before). It's nice to see others mention bikes and biking ... it's much easier on my body for exercise (minus crashing) .

I'm not as young as I used to be either, and I super indulged over the holidays with food, drink and sweets (@His_Highness shoutout) and packed on noticeable weight in a month and a half. Thankfully some basic consistent daily exercise helped it from being much worse (and especially keeping a routine of daily exercise). I have since moderated my food intake, kept up daily exercising, gotten into cardio conditioning last month (for spring prep) and have lost a bunch of that weight again. I've also seen excellent cardio gains quickly already and it's early. I'm very much looking forward to getting outdoors exercising, on the mountain bike (MTB) and appear to be ready to jump in next month.

Keep the posts coming... I'm still grinding through indoor exercise.

Have a great weekend.

 

[His_Highness]

It's great to hear the stories here; all are inspiring and motivating . I don't do really any outdoor exercise in cold Canada winters and miss it a lot, but spring through fall, bring it on, and I'm all about mountain biking (as posted before). It's nice to see others mention bikes and biking ... it's much easier on my body for exercise (minus crashing) .

I'm not as young as I used to be either, and I super indulged over the holidays with food, drink and sweets (@His_Highness shoutout) and packed on noticeable weight in a month and a half. Thankfully some basic consistent daily exercise helped it from being much worse (and especially keeping a routine of daily exercise). I have since moderated my food intake, kept up daily exercising, gotten into cardio conditioning last month (for spring prep) and have lost a bunch of that weight again. I've also seen excellent cardio gains quickly already and it's early. I'm very much looking forward to getting outdoors exercising, on the mountain bike (MTB) and appear to be ready to jump in next month.

Keep the posts coming... I'm still grinding through indoor exercise.

Have a great weekend.

I live in Florida so weather wasn't as big an obstruction for me. What did get in my way early on was an article on how the covid-19 spray from runners passing walkers was depicted. Basically the depiction implied the people being passed would be walking right into my spray. I wasn't going to wear a mask and run so mentally it wore on me and was just the excuse I needed to extend my "super sizing"

More information came in on how much safer contagion is outside and removed that mental hurdle from passing folks and that's when I looked down and realized I couldn't see all my happy parts like I did before my hiatus

Yeah...I have a dreadmill but nothing is more boring for me unless I'm training for a race and its too ugly out.

BUT NOW....Back to running and using the bike for cross training! I'm loving the nightly runs again. Some folks don't like running at night but if you're one of those who get a cannabis high before searching for the runner's high .... turning up the tunes and the lack of visual stimuli can really up the zoning out and focus. There are times when I don't wake up or come out of the zone till I'm almost done. Mentally I didn't even feel like I was running!

It's that runner's high that motivates me....so addicting!

 

[ataxian]

I live in Florida so weather wasn't as big an obstruction for me. What did get in my way early on was an article on how the covid-19 spray from runners passing walkers was depicted. Basically the depiction implied the people being passed would be walking right into my spray. I wasn't going to wear a mask and run so mentally it wore on me and was just the excuse I needed to extend my "super sizing"

More information came in on how much safer contagion is outside and removed that mental hurdle from passing folks and that's when I looked down and realized I couldn't see all my happy parts like I did before my hiatus

Yeah...I have a dreadmill but nothing is more boring for me unless I'm training for a race and its too ugly out.

BUT NOW....Back to running and using the bike for cross training! I'm loving the nightly runs again. Some folks don't like running at night but if you're one of those who get a cannabis high before searching for the runner's high .... turning up the tunes and the lack of visual stimuli can really up the zoning out and focus. There are times when I don't wake up or come out of the zone till I'm almost done. Mentally I didn't even feel like I was running!

It's that runner's high that motivates me....so addicting!

I played golf in FLORIDA about 12 year’s ago?
The insect’s ate my leg’s!
The western part of the USA had less bug’s?
Sport’s in a dry climate R under rated!

 

[Polarbearboy]

First beautiful warm day here on the north side of the White Mtns in New Hampshire. Looks like spring's coming extra early this year. One of my buddies is the Director of Operations at Wildcat ski area, which is usually is the last ski area in the East to close, usually in early to mid May. He told me yesterday that they may not make it into April this year. But that's good for me.

I turn 73 next week and have foot issues that forced me to give up skiing two years ago and hiking last year. But biking has always been my #2 favorite after hiking/winter mountaineering, so I'm still getting out there. Last fallI I got a mid-high-end eMtn bike (https://www.rossignol.com/us/rmi5024-000.html) which I rode 'til there was snow and ice in the fall even as I modified it to my riding needs, which are mostly on trail and road, the roads here being very hilly and sometimes really steep. When I looked at the weather coming, I took it in to my LBS for a few more tweaks and today was my first day on it this spring. Rode up Pinkham Notch to Wildcat. A gorgeous day and a favorite ride.

Getting high before I start pedaling is an intrinsic part of my usual biking routine, and has been for like forty or more years. But my ebike is quite powerful, quite fast, and a bit scary. I had a beautiful ride, but didn't get high until I got home. As I type now, I can see Mts. Madison and Adams, second and fifth highest mountains in the northeast, including Canada, and Wildcat ski area. I love outdoor exercise in stunning wild places; that's why I moved here when I retired. And I love my weed. I'm smiling.

Also can't wait for the border to re-open to Canada. I own a cabin on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, where the northerliness, cold Labrador Current, and constant wind creates mountain-like conditions by the rocky hilly seashore. Biking can be a challenge, as their is it blows 20-45mph steady on the sunny days. Can't wait to bring my new etoy up there to The Rock, to ride over the hills and into the breeze to my buddy's. I'm so glad that I can get great stuff to vape down in Mass, over in Maine, and across the border. Now if I could just trim a few years off and lube up the creaky joints. Dope helps.

 

[Jozin88]

When I was a kid I was really into Muay Thai (I was a huge Street Fighter fan and I always used Sagat or Adon), and at age 19 broke my forearm during my first amateur fight by attempting to block a fully cocked shin kick (yeah, what was I thinking).

At age 20, my arm healed but I had enough of combat sports and caught the lifting bug. I was a really skinny 6'1 kid so I got into the big 4 (deadlift, squats, OHP, bench) because if anyone remembers (I was born in 1988, for reference) this was the time a lot of 5x5 workouts were all over the internet and getting very popular. That eventually led to StrongLifts5x5, Starting Strength, 531 and so on.

I always stayed kind of skinny but I went from 160lbs to 195lbs. Had a decent squat, a bragable deadlift (I have long orangutan arms, I was born to deadlift), an okay overhead press and an absolutely garbage poverty-rated bench press (these long goofy arms are a curse too). I participated at countless events at the amateur level, never seriously pursued competing because at this time my biggest stress in life was University.

I continued lifting for years until lockdown, I then learned about Kettlebells and loved how I was getting such a great workout from them without feeling absolutely destroyed the next day (as what was common when I was following my usual barbell intensive routines).

Things were going good until...I gave myself an inguinal hernia.

Fell in love with Kettlebells, cancelled my gym membership and bought more Kettlebells. Wanted to show off to the wife how I could do one arm rows with while holding both a 32kg and 18kg Kettlebell in the same hand. Did a few reps with garbage form and gave myself a freaking hernia. Got it fixed (mesh free; Shouldice) 3 months ago.

I'm pretty much starting again with beginner Kettlebell routines. I hope to regain my strength and participate in an actual amateur Kettlebell competition (they're boring as hell for the people watching, but endurance is a new goal of mine since it was always raw strength that I was pursuing when I was younger).

TLDR: Kicked things, snapped forearm, started picking things up for fun(???), then I started swinging things around till something popped in my groin. Got that fixed now I want to start again, LETS GOOOOOO.

 

[Green Kiwi]

It's great to hear the stories here; all are inspiring and motivating . I don't do really any outdoor exercise in cold Canada winters and miss it a lot, but spring through fall, bring it on, and I'm all about mountain biking (as posted before). It's nice to see others mention bikes and biking ... it's much easier on my body for exercise (minus crashing) .

I'm not as young as I used to be either, and I super indulged over the holidays with food, drink and sweets (@His_Highness shoutout) and packed on noticeable weight in a month and a half. Thankfully some basic consistent daily exercise helped it from being much worse (and especially keeping a routine of daily exercise). I have since moderated my food intake, kept up daily exercising, gotten into cardio conditioning last month (for spring prep) and have lost a bunch of that weight again. I've also seen excellent cardio gains quickly already and it's early. I'm very much looking forward to getting outdoors exercising, on the mountain bike (MTB) and appear to be ready to jump in next month.

Keep the posts coming... I'm still grinding through indoor exercise.

Have a great weekend.

I live in Florida so weather wasn't as big an obstruction for me. What did get in my way early on was an article on how the covid-19 spray from runners passing walkers was depicted. Basically the depiction implied the people being passed would be walking right into my spray. I wasn't going to wear a mask and run so mentally it wore on me and was just the excuse I needed to extend my "super sizing"

More information came in on how much safer contagion is outside and removed that mental hurdle from passing folks and that's when I looked down and realized I couldn't see all my happy parts like I did before my hiatus

Yeah...I have a dreadmill but nothing is more boring for me unless I'm training for a race and its too ugly out.

BUT NOW....Back to running and using the bike for cross training! I'm loving the nightly runs again. Some folks don't like running at night but if you're one of those who get a cannabis high before searching for the runner's high .... turning up the tunes and the lack of visual stimuli can really up the zoning out and focus. There are times when I don't wake up or come out of the zone till I'm almost done. Mentally I didn't even feel like I was running!

It's that runner's high that motivates me....so addicting!

 

[vapirtoo]

It's amazing how hernias have no pain until after the fact!
I'm 68, small 5'6" 126lbs dripping wet and gave myself a
hernia doing sit-ups right after eating a huge meal, after a year of sparse
exercise. I thought I had pulled a muscle. Surgery fixed it somewhat as
I still have a small lump that goes flat when I press it in, but no pain.
WTF! As an ancient track coach, I should have known better, but I've never
been this old before! I am much more cognizant about lifting and training
with intelligence. Biking, hiking, walking and canoeing.....Fuck jogging or
running. I know, I know old track coach and no running!? I was the sprints coach;
no long distances for me unless I'm on my bike or in my canoe. My metabolism
would make my skinny ass disappear if I ran too much.

 

[Jozin88]

It's amazing how hernias have no pain until after the fact!
I'm 68, small 5'6" 126lbs dripping wet and gave myself a
hernia doing sit-ups right after eating a huge meal, after a year of sparse
exercise. I thought I had pulled a muscle. Surgery fixed it somewhat as
I still have a small lump that goes flat when I press it in, but no pain.
WTF! As an ancient track coach, I should have known better, but I've never
been this old before! I am much more cognizant about lifting and training
with intelligence. Biking, hiking, walking and canoeing.....Fuck jogging or
running. I know, I know old track coach and no running!? I was the sprints coach;
no long distances for me unless I'm on my bike or in my canoe. My metabolism
would make my skinny ass disappear if I ran too much.

Truth,

Hernias suck.

I always thought with the amount of ab/core work I did that I'd be hernia proof; turns out anyone can get one for a variety of reasons.

 

[ataxian]

It's amazing how hernias have no pain until after the fact!
I'm 68, small 5'6" 126lbs dripping wet and gave myself a
hernia doing sit-ups right after eating a huge meal, after a year of sparse
exercise. I thought I had pulled a muscle. Surgery fixed it somewhat as
I still have a small lump that goes flat when I press it in, but no pain.
WTF! As an ancient track coach, I should have known better, but I've never
been this old before! I am much more cognizant about lifting and training
with intelligence. Biking, hiking, walking and canoeing.....Fuck jogging or
running. I know, I know old track coach and no running!? I was the sprints coach;
no long distances for me unless I'm on my bike or in my canoe. My metabolism
would make my skinny ass disappear if I ran too much.

Born with a hernia ?
As a grown-up?
It must hurt?

 

[His_Highness]

First beautiful warm day here on the north side of the White Mtns in New Hampshire. Looks like spring's coming extra early this year. One of my buddies is the Director of Operations at Wildcat ski area, which is usually is the last ski area in the East to close, usually in early to mid May. He told me yesterday that they may not make it into April this year. But that's good for me.

I turn 73 next week and have foot issues that forced me to give up skiing two years ago and hiking last year. But biking has always been my #2 favorite after hiking/winter mountaineering, so I'm still getting out there. Last fallI I got a mid-high-end eMtn bike (https://www.rossignol.com/us/rmi5024-000.html) which I rode 'til there was snow and ice in the fall even as I modified it to my riding needs, which are mostly on trail and road, the roads here being very hilly and sometimes really steep. When I looked at the weather coming, I took it in to my LBS for a few more tweaks and today was my first day on it this spring. Rode up Pinkham Notch to Wildcat. A gorgeous day and a favorite ride.

Getting high before I start pedaling is an intrinsic part of my usual biking routine, and has been for like forty or more years. But my ebike is quite powerful, quite fast, and a bit scary. I had a beautiful ride, but didn't get high until I got home. As I type now, I can see Mts. Madison and Adams, second and fifth highest mountains in the northeast, including Canada, and Wildcat ski area. I love outdoor exercise in stunning wild places; that's why I moved here when I retired. And I love my weed. I'm smiling.

Also can't wait for the border to re-open to Canada. I own a cabin on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, where the northerliness, cold Labrador Current, and constant wind creates mountain-like conditions by the rocky hilly seashore. Biking can be a challenge, as their is it blows 20-45mph steady on the sunny days. Can't wait to bring my new etoy up there to The Rock, to ride over the hills and into the breeze to my buddy's. I'm so glad that I can get great stuff to vape down in Mass, over in Maine, and across the border. Now if I could just trim a few years off and lube up the creaky joints. Dope helps.

I didn't know that those eMtn bikes existed. That bike is crazy cool! Looks to be around 45 pounds. Around 10 pounds heavier than my bike. Can it take some air? Seems like it could handle it. Do you always use the battery or save it for different points in the ride? Not that there isn't enough battery time/distance on that beast. It says 62 miles on the site! All I can say is WOW!

High or not I don't even think about riding the advanced trails. I hate it when the youngsters are "impatiently" stuck behind me.

 

[QF1994]

When I was a kid I was really into Muay Thai (I was a huge Street Fighter fan and I always used Sagat or Adon), and at age 19 broke my forearm during my first amateur fight by attempting to block a fully cocked shin kick (yeah, what was I thinking).

At age 20, my arm healed but I had enough of combat sports and caught the lifting bug. I was a really skinny 6'1 kid so I got into the big 4 (deadlift, squats, OHP, bench) because if anyone remembers (I was born in 1988, for reference) this was the time a lot of 5x5 workouts were all over the internet and getting very popular. That eventually led to StrongLifts5x5, Starting Strength, 531 and so on.

I always stayed kind of skinny but I went from 160lbs to 195lbs. Had a decent squat, a bragable deadlift (I have long orangutan arms, I was born to deadlift), an okay overhead press and an absolutely garbage poverty-rated bench press (these long goofy arms are a curse too). I participated at countless events at the amateur level, never seriously pursued competing because at this time my biggest stress in life was University.

I continued lifting for years until lockdown, I then learned about Kettlebells and loved how I was getting such a great workout from them without feeling absolutely destroyed the next day (as what was common when I was following my usual barbell intensive routines).

Things were going good until...I gave myself an inguinal hernia.

Fell in love with Kettlebells, cancelled my gym membership and bought more Kettlebells. Wanted to show off to the wife how I could do one arm rows with while holding both a 32kg and 18kg Kettlebell in the same hand. Did a few reps with garbage form and gave myself a freaking hernia. Got it fixed (mesh free; Shouldice) 3 months ago.

I'm pretty much starting again with beginner Kettlebell routines. I hope to regain my strength and participate in an actual amateur Kettlebell competition (they're boring as hell for the people watching, but endurance is a new goal of mine since it was always raw strength that I was pursuing when I was younger).

TLDR: Kicked things, snapped forearm, started picking things up for fun(???), then I started swinging things around till something popped in my groin. Got that fixed now I want to start again, LETS GOOOOOO.

OUCH. Glad you're healing up from the hernia!

What kettlebell comp are you considering? I've done the Strongfirst one once (deadlift, pull-ups, snatches) and I've thought about doing it again in the future. It's a lot of fun.

 

[gordontreeman]

My kind of thread! I was not historically much of an athlete, but my big covid project was loosing some weight. When I was younger and broke I didn’t own a car and got around primarily by bicycle. When I finished school I moved to California for a while, where biking was more difficult. I was also hitting the pubs too often, and out on a lot of weight—at my heaviest I remember the scale saying 236.

Before covid I got back into commuting to work by bicycle (I was in a relatively bicycle friendly city on the east coast)—it was about a 6 mile ride, so 25 - 30 mins each way made for a good amount of cardio even if I did nothing else. Christmas of 2019 I was down to around 205.

After covid hit I took advantage of wfh to get back into running and kept bicycling. These days I usually run 4 - 5 miles 3 days a week. I’ll grant that relative to a lot I’m not very fast yet, doing about 8’30” to 8’45” miles depending on the day and distance. As the weather gets nicer I’ll mix in some 20+ mile rides. On the other three days I do some functional strength training. I don’t think it’s enough resistance to get me shredded, but I’ll be happy with increased muscle mass and less body fat.

I’m down to 157lbs. I’d like to lose about 10 more or reconfigure my body fat percentage by picking up muscle, but I’m pretty thrilled with my progress. It’s also just satisfying to be able to do these kinds of workouts. I don’t typically vape before working out, though—the first mile of running is never my favorite and seems to clear my head, but I will say that doing strength training it really mentally keys me into proper form and feeling it in the right muscles!

 

[vapirtoo]

Great come back, good mix of exercises; muscle confusion will stop your body from plateaus in
your muscle and cardio development.
Anyone one running sub 9 min. miles is not jogging!
Oh shit! I misread down to 175lbs and was still impressed! 157 is amazing!
That is almost a third of your old weight! You lose anymore, and we will
be calling you a crack head!! LOL

 

[His_Highness]

My kind of thread! I was not historically much of an athlete, but my big covid project was loosing some weight. When I was younger and broke I didn’t own a car and got around primarily by bicycle. When I finished school I moved to California for a while, where biking was more difficult. I was also hitting the pubs too often, and out on a lot of weight—at my heaviest I remember the scale saying 236.

Before covid I got back into commuting to work by bicycle (I was in a relatively bicycle friendly city on the east coast)—it was about a 6 mile ride, so 25 - 30 mins each way made for a good amount of cardio even if I did nothing else. Christmas of 2019 I was down to around 205.

After covid hit I took advantage of wfh to get back into running and kept bicycling. These days I usually run 4 - 5 miles 3 days a week. I’ll grant that relative to a lot I’m not very fast yet, doing about 8’30” to 8’45” miles depending on the day and distance. As the weather gets nicer I’ll mix in some 20+ mile rides. On the other three days I do some functional strength training. I don’t think it’s enough resistance to get me shredded, but I’ll be happy with increased muscle mass and less body fat.

I’m down to 157lbs. I’d like to lose about 10 more or reconfigure my body fat percentage by picking up muscle, but I’m pretty thrilled with my progress. It’s also just satisfying to be able to do these kinds of workouts. I don’t typically vape before working out, though—the first mile of running is never my favorite and seems to clear my head, but I will say that doing strength training it really mentally keys me into proper form and feeling it in the right muscles!

236 to 157!!! Congratulations!!!! That's quite an accomplishment. Way to prove that the lazy stoner culture stereotype is bullshit.

For me the first half mile of running is typically my favorite because of the fresh legs. I wish that feeling of strength and bounce could last forever. My second favorite point in a run comes in around the 15 minute mark when the initial soreness disappears and the runners high kicks in.

 

[ataxian]

Great come back, good mix of exercises; muscle confusion will stop your body from plateaus in
your muscle and cardio development.
Anyone one running sub 9 min. miles is not jogging!
Oh shit! I misread down to 175lbs and was still impressed! 157 is amazing!
That is almost a third of your old weight! You lose anymore, and we will
be calling you a crack head!! LOL‘

236 to 157!!! Congratulations!!!! That's quite an accomplishment. Way to prove that the lazy stoner culture stereotype is bullshit.

For me the first half mile of running is typically my favorite because of the fresh legs. I wish that feeling of strength and bounce could last forever. My second favorite point in a run comes in around the 15 minute mark when the initial soreness disappears and the runners high kicks in.

Thank U 4-reality!

 

[gordontreeman]

236 to 157!!! Congratulations!!!! That's quite an accomplishment. Way to prove that the lazy stoner culture stereotype is bullshit.

For me the first half mile of running is typically my favorite because of the fresh legs. I wish that feeling of strength and bounce could last forever. My second favorite point in a run comes in around the 15 minute mark when the initial soreness disappears and the runners high kicks in.

Thanks! I wholeheartedly agree agree about the lazy stoner culture stereotype. I went to an engineering school and know plenty of successful and practicing pot heads.

For me the first half mile is nice due to feeling fresh as you said. Mile two isn't so bad, but 3 is usually a bummer as I'm feeling tired and haven't hit the point of a runners high yet. Mile 4 is usually pretty rough going until the end as I'm tired and hit some hills in the third mile, but around 4.5 it seems like the runners high kicks in. Barring sideaches or something its usually easy to push to 5 - 5.5 at that point. One of these days I'll bump up to six. I have been pretty consistent at 5 miles x 3 days lately, but I find if I up the mileage too fast it kills my legs.

 

[Jozin88]

OUCH. Glad you're healing up from the hernia!

What kettlebell comp are you considering? I've done the Strongfirst one once (deadlift, pull-ups, snatches) and I've thought about doing it again in the future. It's a lot of fun.

Honestly, the Clean and Jerk Long Cycle (each rep starts with the clean, short cycle each rep starts at the rack position), with double 24s (28s, ideally but the 24s are kicking my ass at the moment).

Also I love snatching, snatches with the 24 or 28, depending how strong I am when the time comes.

That's awesome that you participated in one already!

 

[Siebter]

runners high

By the way, that's actually a very rare phenomena and even after ~12 (?) years of running I don't think I ever experienced it. I've experienced „the man with the hammer“ a few times though. :-)

Anyway, the key especially for beginner runners is consistency, not pace, time or distance. Keep it slow, even walking breaks are totally okay, the goal is to turn the doorknob and get out for 30 or 50 or whatever minutes. I agree that you should increase your mileage slowly, try to finish your 5 miles without those „bummer phases“ before you go up to 6 or 10.

 

[gordontreeman]

By the way, that's actually a very rare phenomena and even after ~12 (?) years of running I don't think I ever experienced it. I've experienced „the man with the hammer“ a few times though. :-)

Haha. I just use it informally to mean, "the point at which I'm no longer bothered and feel like I can just cruise for a while." I don't know if I'd ever describe it as the euphoria I see people use to describe it as much as, "I feel great and this is immensely satisfying so lets keep going." Can't say I've ever heard of, "the man with the hammer."

 

[Siebter]

@gordontreeman – The man with the hammer is also described as →„hitting the wall“.

"I feel great and this is immensely satisfying so lets keep going."

That's →„the flow“.

 

[gordontreeman]

@Siebter

Oh, yeah--I've not been there running, but a few years ago I rode out of the city I was living in to do a quick overnight camping trip and try to see the northern lights (solar flare so they were potentialy going to be visible at much lower latitudes). First day was fine, but on day 2 I skipped breakfast and about 20 miles in had to stop and make some rice and beans along the side of the bike path!

Hadn't heard about flow in reference to sport, but I read Csikszentmihalyi for a course a while back, so I'm familiar with his concept of flow--totally makes sense for sport!

 

[His_Highness]

I experience the runner's high just about every run. The bliss level is what varies.

I would describe it similarly to what some of you have described....the soreness is gone, my breathing isn't labored (conversational pace) but is above normal and I feel like I could go on forever. At its best .... My feet/legs feel like I'm running on clouds instead of the ground. The common feeling is being able to run forever if wanted.

The times I don't experience a runner's high is when I'm training for a race/PR and break out of the comfort zone. If I run past my lungs I will come out the zone and can't get back to it even though I can continue to run. So in essence...I can only catch a runners high if I run for joy and not to improve physically. Some more serious runners would say that I'm running garbage miles because I'm chasing that high and not chasing improvement.

I've always gotten high before running and that might be why I can consistently find the runner's high......Research has revealed that endorphins may not have much to do with it as previously thought. New research points to another type of molecule the body produces during the run: endocannabinoids. In previous posts I've described the feeling of "Melding the intial buzz I get before running with the runner's high". Maybe this is why.

When I gave up cigarettes after 2 decades I took up running to get in front of the weight gain. I got addicted to the runner's high once I got comfortable running and would feel depressed and antsy if I didn't run. The positive reinforcement was the runner's high and the negative reinforcement was the feeling that my lungs were on fire if I smoked because I "had to run to that high".

 

[ataxian]

@Siebter

Oh, yeah--I've not been there running, but a few years ago I rode out of the city I was living in to do a quick overnight camping trip and try to see the northern lights (solar flare so they were potentialy going to be visible at much lower latitudes). First day was fine, but on day 2 I skipped breakfast and about 20 miles in had to stop and make some rice and beans along the side of the bike path!

Hadn't heard about flow in reference to sport, but I read Csikszentmihalyi for a course a while back, so I'm familiar with his concept of flow--totally makes sense for sport!

As dazed & very confused spoiled shithead I was impressed that the professor’s were stoned as well!
The moral of the above sentence is CANNABIS is 4 educated homo Sapien’s also.

In FRANCE riding throughout the forest with mud hitting my back & the cold of winter put chiil’s down my spine.
NEPOLEAN’s troop’s brought back hash from the Middle East ?
So why is CANNABIS against the law in FRANCE?
Maybe confused?
TOUR de FRANCE is legal?
I thought CIVILIZATION was present there?