Moreover, both the runner’s high and the pump correlate very obviously with the progress of the training, both in session and in the long term. Most forms of training usually start as grindingly unpleasant, then morph into a physical pump that directly causes emotional pump, and finally go back to mild grind once the body is exhausted.
With a repeatable training regimen this is easy to notice. For example, my runs are almost always 5km distance, and the “emotional high” lasts pretty much exactly between 2km and 4km, in near perfect accordance with my bpm and breath stabilizing.
The “high” is even an useful metric of progress: if the high/pump lasts longer than the middle 1⁄3 of the training, you’re probably making it too easy and not progressing anymore, if it lasts much shorter, you are overdoing it beyond your body’s ability to effectively adjust.
Moreover, both the runner’s high and the pump correlate very obviously with the progress of the training, both in session and in the long term. Most forms of training usually start as grindingly unpleasant, then morph into a physical pump that directly causes emotional pump, and finally go back to mild grind once the body is exhausted.
With a repeatable training regimen this is easy to notice. For example, my runs are almost always 5km distance, and the “emotional high” lasts pretty much exactly between 2km and 4km, in near perfect accordance with my bpm and breath stabilizing.
The “high” is even an useful metric of progress: if the high/pump lasts longer than the middle 1⁄3 of the training, you’re probably making it too easy and not progressing anymore, if it lasts much shorter, you are overdoing it beyond your body’s ability to effectively adjust.