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There's a certain thrill to a race that, as far as I know, only those who have raced before will understand.
It starts when you know you're up, soon. "On the deck," if you will. The race before yours has just begun; in my case, the 4x100 relays are kicking off and I have to get ready. There's a slight tinge in your heart, an extra skip in the beating as you warm up, stretch, and do whatever pre-flight checkup you happen to have. You hear the gun, you see the race begin, and you know it's almost time for you. The track beckons your name, and you simply can't help but stare at the race. You know you have to focus, however. Back to warm up.
The feeling develops. The first races are almost done, and you almost don't care if it was your team or theirs that won. You'll know how it develops exactly. Hands start to numb, arms start to shiver, and your chest, oh, your chest. It's almost painful, isn't it? You look at the track, back over to your legs. Maybe you can't feel them, maybe you can. You're putting on spikes now. No more sweats, no more sweater. Just the thin singlet, shorts that are perhaps uncomfortably short, and, if you're smart enough, compression shorts meant to preserve what dignity you have. However instead of giving you comfort, it's like they're not really even there. You grip yourself, your tights, your shorts, and every part of your body that you can - it's cold, after all.
Suddenly you're up. You know it's time, no matter how hard you wish for more time to prepare. A pounding in your chest now. Is that fear? Anxiety? Definitely fear. For the first time, you stop thinking about how your body feels and start thinking. The mind is at work now. You're still shaking, still trembling, but you're readying yourself. You'll meet the other racers, shake hands, offer luck - but you don't need it. You're a big shot.
"Racers to your marks." It's the most dreaded thing one can hear. Your mind is set to think simple thoughts. Breathe. Get down. Get ready.
But you're too slow.
"Set."
You thought you were afraid before. Now the pressure of what feels like the whole world is on you. You're glued into place, weight on your fingertips. If you're not experienced, you might even be unfortunate enough to think, "don't false start." Remember practice? Pushups. This is worse. Don't. Fuck. It. Up.
Ironically, there's a pause here. Almost as if you were dying while waiting for that gunshot, the only option left is to think about everything. Like, "keep your trail leg up. boy."
Bang.
You're off. You feel nothing, see nothing, hear nothing. No pressure; it's mind clearing and all that's inside you is, "breathe, left, right, breathe" in almost a perfect rhythm. No sky; just the finish line taunting you to reach it. No teammates, cheering on the sideline as you'll find out afterward, egging you on as best as they think they can. Just blank infinity, where body and mind are amalgamated and adhere to serve one another.
But when you cross that line, you'll find that it's only been 15, 16, 17 seconds, and your infinity was just a passing thought. It's time for pride, hard breathing, and, almost hidden, regret. I want more.
+ Show Spoiler +I quit track my Junior year for school, and my first meet as a Varsity runner is tomorrow. While it's only a mock meet for the team to practice, I haven't been on the blocks and waiting for the gun in almost 2 years. Forgive the perhaps bad video quality, and the inadequate description of that pre-race feeling. My event is the 110 High Hurdles.
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United States8017 Posts
I'm not a sprinter, but I know some of these feelings from distance races that's for sure.
Best of luck in your race!
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Ahhh, your post brings back nostalgia of my many swimming competitions. I agree it's a feeling quite unlike any other. But it also brings back the emotions of me finding out I have to swim the 400 IM x.x It's such a brutal event that when you hear you're swimming it you feel like you just got sentenced to death.
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Sprinters don't know anything about the runners high ^_^
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Haha I did distance for XC but chose not to continue, wasn't for me. But I know what you mean!
And thanks, L_Master.
@Polska I've seen my school's swim team do 400s, it's crazy man  .
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Also ran cross country, amazing.
good vibes all around 
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I don't know why, i have been running since i was like 8 years old but i have never gotten the runners high, i didn't do track till i was 17 (junior year in HS). But i had plenty of experience running, i was basically playing a sport every season i was well conditioned compared to most kids my age. But running has always been just something i knew i had to do to keep up my cardio. I have always been jealous of the runners who get these "highs" 
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On February 24 2012 11:07 L_Master wrote:
I'm not a sprinter, but I know some of these feelings from distance races that's for sure.
Best of luck in your race!
I'm not a runner, but I know some of these feelings from cycling
+ Show Spoiler +I knew you were going to post in this thread lol
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Movers don't know about my sitter's high.
Sit down for 12+ hours and stand up, feels sooooo good.
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I do cross country and I kind of do track. Running is one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life. n_n
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United States13896 Posts
I've only experienced a Runner's High once, but it was really surreal, made me rethink what I could physically achieve.
I ran Cross Country all 4 years of high school, for the first few years not really trying to seriously compete, but rather aiming to just stay fit and enjoy the social aspect of being on a team. Senior year I decided I wanted to train seriously in the off-season and was an off-and-on part of the varsity squad throughout the season.
Towards the end of my Senior year I wasn't one of the top 5 runners (or 7 I can't remember how many ran) so I continued to run in the non-varsity races. One race the weather was pretty shitty, it wasn't raining but it had rained earlier in the day and much of the course would dip into wood-covered valleys and then we would have to struggle to make it up the incline through the mud. They negated this by laying down mats or something I can't remember but there was one part of the course that had a hairpin turn.
I was in like 4th or 5th place at this point, and I could feel myself beginning to fade, I think I was 1st or 2nd for a little while but people were passing me. So I come up to the turn and instead of coming to a virtual stand-still, pivoting, and then running, I leaned into the turn like an idiot and slipped, falling flat on my face and getting mud all over myself.
After I got up though the endorphins had already kicked in. The second wind that high provided was pretty incredible. I wouldn't even say I dug down deep to find what I needed to win, I just was able to run faster, close the gap, and then kick at the right time to win the race. Its like going into cruise control while you're in high gear and not coming down, while everyone else has to constantly remind themselves to go at maximum intensity. The ease of it was just weird, but amazing.
Really cool feeling. Now I want to get back to running as soon as the weather doesn't suck :D
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Thats not runner's high keke, it's on long distance runs when endorphins are released in the brain to allow you to surpass your pain limit (this is a continuous process)
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Oh god, I just shivered when reading this. This brings back a lot of memories of track. I ran the 1600 and everyone crammed at the line and just waiting for the signal. Great read. I'm still shivering.
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This was great, ran track and cross myself and also did wrestling. Really miss all three sports but mostly wrestling because of that feeling before and after the match (specially if you won) was so great.
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On February 24 2012 15:44 rift wrote:
Thats not runner's high keke, it's on long distance runs when endorphins are released in the brain to allow you to surpass your pain limit (this is a continuous process)
Felt like a better name than "oh god oh god Oh god" haha!
Thanks all, i don't think i can give an experience of the distance version, i don't have the milage .
Should have titled "sprinter's high" haha
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I know exactly how that feels,
As a long distance runner, the "high" before the race was more of a scaredness of the pain that is to come. For example, during a 8k or 10k race, you KNOW it's gonna hurt, and you just gotta deal with it.
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Just adrenaline, not 'sprinters high' and definitely not runners high which is coined for long distance running when you're almost drunk on running, in a figurative way 
Damn I miss T&F, that was my life for like 7 years in middle school and high school. I still follow it each year during the WC's and Olympics.
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This is an Esports website, not a place to tlak aboot real Sports.
User was warned for this post
Not meant as a derailment or troll... just a bad joke.
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I think i can imagine what you mean, i did a few years of athletics, i was really good in long jumping. The technique is that you start slowly during your approach, and then increase your speed untill you are at your peak right before you jump. And once you make the jump..i dont know, it is a very unique feeling, you just feel like your flying.
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On February 28 2012 00:12 Xenocide_EU wrote:
I think i can imagine what you mean, i did a few years of athletics, i was really good in long jumping. The technique is that you start slowly during your approach, and then increase your speed untill you are at your peak right before you jump. And once you make the jump..i dont know, it is a very unique feeling, you just feel like your flying.
I know the flying feeling! I jump (triple) too, and the first hop feels really good until you start stressing over your form lol. But then you hit the last jump before the pit and mmmmmm does it feel good.
^^
as an update, i actually got to race/jump (calves kinda messed up because i went straight from out of shape to hard workout), though with tape. feels good, really good.
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EPT
