I've only had one real High,
I've only had one real High, but it was a heck of a high. I get the smooth, effortless feeling a lot, pretty much any time I run without a shirt on actually, and I guess it comes with a bit of a high, but its not a full on one. The really, really strong one I got was between mile 60 and 65 the time I ran 70 miles in four days. (That also happended to be the time I messed up my calf so that I could only run barefoot.) I was definitely, without a doubt, HIGH. I think it pretty much only happens when you beat the crap out of your body, and your brain is just trying to keep you from dying. I was still tired, sore, and stiff, but I also felt like I had the strength to push through it all and just run forever. You know how Ultra-runners talk about "The Beast"? Well that was pretty much my first time facing him, other than in 400's when I'm too tired to put up a fight, and I was just kinda like "Yeah, I'm tired and beat up, but I can take you. I can take anything." The most amazing feeling ever. Its a dangerous game to chase it though, 'cause I injured my calf by running another 5 miles after the high, and my calf is still bugging me a bit 2 months later. I was trying to find my body's limits this summer, and I think that was my body's way of saying "Thats it. You've hit the wall."
You have to really hit your body's limit though, which is hard to do, and a terrible idea for anyone who's any kind of new to barefooting. It'll probably be years before I hit another high like that.
I've only had one real High, but it was a heck of a high. I get the smooth, effortless feeling a lot, pretty much any time I run without a shirt on actually, and I guess it comes with a bit of a high, but its not a full on one. The really, really strong one I got was between mile 60 and 65 the time I ran 70 miles in four days. (That also happended to be the time I messed up my calf so that I could only run barefoot.) I was definitely, without a doubt, HIGH. I think it pretty much only happens when you beat the crap out of your body, and your brain is just trying to keep you from dying. I was still tired, sore, and stiff, but I also felt like I had the strength to push through it all and just run forever. You know how Ultra-runners talk about "The Beast"? Well that was pretty much my first time facing him, other than in 400's when I'm too tired to put up a fight, and I was just kinda like "Yeah, I'm tired and beat up, but I can take you. I can take anything." The most amazing feeling ever. Its a dangerous game to chase it though, 'cause I injured my calf by running another 5 miles after the high, and my calf is still bugging me a bit 2 months later. I was trying to find my body's limits this summer, and I think that was my body's way of saying "Thats it. You've hit the wall."
You have to really hit your body's limit though, which is hard to do, and a terrible idea for anyone who's any kind of new to barefooting. It'll probably be years before I hit another high like that.