The Rundown

House of Pain. A study examined how elite track and field, swimming and canoe kayak athletes experience and manage exercise induced pain (EIP) when training at a high intensity and competing. The results offer a useful model for those workout or training moments when all of us experience EIP.

Because self-regulation is central to elite sports and in the management of internal states, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 female and three male athletes. Here are the steps they use to manage the inevitable pain induced by exercise:

1. Preparation: Start by accepting and committing to the idea that EIP will happen. Believe in your ability to succeed. Develop a performance plan and be accountable to training partners or a coach. Expose yourself to EIP when training or warming-up. Implement your typical pre-performance routine.

2. Execution: Direct your attention away from EIP by using instructional or motivational self-talk and focusing on performance related cues like cadence, technique or your race plan. Stay in the present moment (one repetition, one interval etc. at a time). Regulate your breathing and relax. Self-monitor how you are feeling.

3. Evaluation: Use a training journal to reflect. Identify possible explanations for how you felt. Talk with a trainer or coach.

Runners’ High. In a novel study out of the University of Colorado Boulder, researchers found that when runners who were experienced cannabis users smoked or vaped marijuana before exercising on a treadmill, they enjoyed their running experience more and had a greater sense of the euphoric “runner’s high” compared to when they ran sober.

The team started studying the issue because they wanted to understand how the legalization of cannabis would affect public health. They had a theory that legalization might worsen the obesity epidemic in the United States.

However, initial research suggested that cannabis users might be more active than they expected. In surveys, many marijuana users believed cannabis motivated them to be more physically active, increased their enjoyment while working out and enhanced their recovery.

So the team decided to examine runners who had already used cannabis while running multiple times in the past with no negative effects. Forty-two participants made the final report. To begin, each person ran on a treadmill in a lab to establish their baseline pace.

After completing a 30 minute sober run, they came back another day to run for 30 minutes after using cannabis, which they smoked or vaped in their homes and used only as much as they normally would before a run. (The research team collected a blood sample and then drove them to the lab). Some participates used cannabis with higher levels of THC and some used a type with more CBD.

While running, the participants had to periodically answer the following questions: How are you feeling right now? How difficult does the exercise feel? How much enjoyment are you feeling? And how much pain are you feeling?

The team found that cannabis did not enhance the runners’ performances and those who used THC-dominant cannabis actually reported a higher level of perceived exertion while running at a controlled pace, which is likely due to THC increasing their heart rate.

Because all the participants had some experience using cannabis with exercise in the past, the researches can’t say if the findings generalize to less active populations or people who have never used marijuana before exercise.

Of course, it’s not safe to get high and jump on a treadmill! But for the curious, the rule is to start low and go slow. Josiah Hesse, who wrote a book on cannabis use in distance running and other sports, encourages first-timers to start with an edible at home and get used to the experience before deciding to hit the treadmill or the trail.

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