Okay this week I am combining two topics because they are both somewhat short and don't have a lot of new information on them. I was somewhat disappointed to learn from searching that there wasn't a lot of research done on these topics, well mostly on the topic of how alcohol affects the body. I guess it's just based on more common sense, but I think it would be interesting if people would do a study of what happens to athletes if they were to casually drink or binge drink randomly through out their running career. Would it affect their final outcome in the big race at the end of a season?
What I learned from some runner's from runner's world was that having a glass of wine a day or just a beer or two doesn't really do much to the runner's body, but obvisouly if one chooses to binge crazily the night before they plan to go on a long run or race than of course they are going to struggle the next day and not have the motivation to run. Aside from feeling like crap do to the excess drinking, we also get that feeling of laziness from our inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in our brain being in contact with alcohol. There was even one somewhat humorous response from a runner saying how he was in college and had a race the next day and didn't drink, but clearly the guys next to him had been and they ended up continusouly puking on the road side,...yuck.
I also found it interesting that sometimes one or two beers, key word ONE or TWO, can be go for the body after a run because they are full of carbs which the body craves and needs after a long run, but doesn't mean that the only source of those carbs should come from beer, just that it wouldn't hurt the runner.
Now onto the ever so famous Runner's High. Not only runner's are able to experience this feeling of a long lasting adrenaline rush that keeps the athlete more encouraged to keep going through their activity of endurance, but other athletes from different sports as well are able to too. This uncludes those who ski, surf, or even play football, other participants may encounter this feeling to aside from the ones stated.
One article stated that some are still unsure if we can really pin point when a runner's high occurs. Runner's do get these "grand feelings" from reactions of endorphines, which are proteins in the body that alleviate pain, sometimes helping long distance runner's get over that stage of diffuculty after they have been running for awhile and than they feel a sense of positivity that encourages them to keep going and maybe even at a faster pace.
It says that athletes or just those who work out on a daily basis in general, have a higher dosage of endorphines, which is why they could be more likely to feel these optimal feelings during working out. Daily activites could also have an effect on the "Runner's High". If one has been stressed they may not be able to encounter the high due to thoughts of negativity preoccupying their mind or vice versa, if one is very relaxed and under no state of stress, than they could easily encounter a runner's high and maybe even for longer. The scenery/ weather play a part in the high as well, if things around are looking great out (for example it's a nice day) than this could only trigger a positive runner's high, but on the flip side, if things are gloomy outside than a runner could be down and experience a negative runner's high, or just negative feelings.
I found it interesting that when one reaches this point of a runner's high that they are somewhat putting their body at harm. When runner's experience this feeling it's usually at a point in there work out where they have exceeded their limits and depleted the body and are now just going off chemical reactions within they body. This usually occurs when the workout is strenuous and has been going for a long period of time.
I found all of this to be quite interesting and might even relate to those of you who like to run longer distances or competitively.
http://www.bloodalcohol.info/how-alcohol-affects-the-brain.php
http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/training/training-essentials-workouts/re-alcohol-running
http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/training/training-essentials-workouts/alcohol-vs-alcohol-during-training
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/sarah.html
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