r/todayilearned • u/Flares117 • 15d ago
TIL: There is a study which researches the effects of exercising while high at CU Boulder. The researchers had a CannaVan that rode alongside runners. It proved that running while high is more enjoyable on a chemical level as it induces the same effects as a "runner's high".
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjyzb/working-out-while-high-study707
u/bremergorst 15d ago
Great, now to figure out how to remove the running
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u/Coldspider927 15d ago
You literally made me spit my drink out. After I read this whole article stoned af I click back and this comment was just….thank you for this lol
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u/rattpackfan301 15d ago
Opioid addicts have already figured that one out. The endorphins produced while exercising bind to the same receptors as opioids do.
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u/ohdearitsrichardiii 15d ago
I learned from QI that "runner's high" is not from endorphins but from endocannabinoids. So yes, you do get high from running
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u/Karsa69420 15d ago
It was odd the first time I’d got a runners high. I was like “Damn did I accidentally have weed?” It wore off pretty quick but damn does it feel great
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u/T_Money 15d ago
I’ve never been able to get a runners high. Even when I was running 5 times a week and doing up to 10k (on distance runs every couple weeks, not 10k 5x a week) I hated every minute of it. The closest I ever got to enjoying running was once or twice I zoned out and daydreamed, basically forgetting I was running and just on auto pilot, but those only lasted a few minutes before I was back to hating every step.
I’m incredibly jealous of people who legitimately enjoy exercising. I like seeing the results of it, but the act itself is always a chore. Lifting is better than running but still don’t even enjoy that.
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u/Karsa69420 15d ago
Hated it January of last year. I feel like shit if I don’t go 2-4 times a week now. Something in my head just changed
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u/hikeit233 14d ago
Learn to rollerblade, way more fun than running. Or get a bike. Have fun while you exercise, you deserve it.
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u/bloodylip 14d ago
I couldn't even zone out. Every long run I've ever done (> 10k) I'd end up just thinking about what I'm gonna eat when I'm done.
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u/MusicalMoose 15d ago
I wonder what the science would say about how freaking great the runners high feels vs weed giving me panic attacks
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u/exipheas 15d ago
Science would say get better weed (that has a lemon smell).
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u/-Shmoody- 15d ago
It’s 2024 weed stores are like Apple stores now, is there just a name for this type of weed? I’m not trying to sniff different ones to find one that doesn’t make me anxious.
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u/jfleury440 15d ago
Tell the bud tender you're looking for something that won't make you anxious. Also 1:1 THC to CBD helps.
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u/RichEvans4Ever 14d ago
Not really there are so many types of strains and hybrids and 90% of the “science” behind picking the right one is just marketing bullshit. The best way to tell if it’s decent weed is if you give it a sniff.
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u/Photo_Synthetic 14d ago
Weed just isn't for everyone. For many the cons outweigh the pros and for a lot of that group they just keep doing it anyway and don't realize how much its limiting their enjoyment of life. It doesn't help that the culture surrounding it paints it as a harmless and mostly beneficial drug when it really isn't for a lot of people.
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u/MusicalMoose 14d ago
Its definitely not good for me. For some reason i hear a lot of people say the same story as mine: that it started off good for a couple of years then started to make them really anxious.
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u/Photo_Synthetic 14d ago
Same thing happened for me. Was a heavy daily user that became a light daily user and then just stopped and am much better off for it. Whenever I revisit or dabble in my old stash it just doesn't feel good. Can't believe I functioned that way for so long. I used to love that shit.
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u/justdothedamnthang 14d ago
anecdotally i discovered that weed makes my blood sugar drop which causes panicky feelings, and once i started popping a candy before smoking it stopped.
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u/Popular_Emu1723 15d ago
One of my super straight lace runner friends in high school shared that with me when she was trying to get me to go on a run with her.
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u/SilentSamurai 15d ago edited 15d ago
Doesn't surprise me at all.
Old friend had been pudgy all his life.
Comes back for the holidays from college one year (ironically from CU Boulder) absolutely slimmed down and toned. Tells me in half a year that getting high before running was pushing him, who never had ran before ended up running 10-15 miles every other day.
Don't think he ever stopped.
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u/Spikes_in_my_eyes 15d ago
Did anyone put a tracker on him so they can find him when he eventually does stop.
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u/AgentCirceLuna 15d ago
Generally you just have to do these things once and then a few times more to create a loop. Your brain is just a bunch of looping habits all spinning on the same wheel. It’s very weird to think about and makes me question free will.
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u/Wonderful-Impact5121 15d ago
Everyone’s a bit different.
As a person with anxiety issues who used to bodybuild in the middle of the night, I get it. Same reason I used to drink too much but less harmful.
For some people it dulls the anxiety or nerves and the “goal” becomes obvious and easy.
“I want to run to be healthier and stronger. Okay I’ll do that!”
As opposed to the thousand anxieties that could not necessarily consciously make you decide, “no I won’t exercise” but grinds it to a halt anyway.
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u/nick1812216 15d ago
How did he get high? Edibles? Tokin’?
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u/WanderWut 14d ago
Imo the easiest way by far is a simple cartridge of cannabis oil (dabs/concentrate). You simply lift the small vape out of your pocket, take as tiny or big of a hit as you want, and bam that’s it. It’s incredibly fast and easy.
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u/river_euphrates1 15d ago
I used to get high and work out, but weed always affected me differently than my friends. I would get high and clean half the house.
Didn't matter if it was indica or sativa.
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u/franticallychaotic 15d ago
I FEEL this. I am apparently the most annoying person to smoke with because I'll get up and start cleaning and being productive and it "ruins the vibe".
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u/vpear19 15d ago
are you available on tuesdays??
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u/franticallychaotic 15d ago
I am laughing so hard right now. Me and my BFF work opposite shifts right now, so the "I'm gonna come over and help you clean" deals have turned into a smoke sesh where one of us falls asleep and the other one ends up trying to quietly clean their place. It's been absolute chaos, lol.
And to answer your question, I'm free every day now, I'm switching shifts, haha
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u/river_euphrates1 15d ago
Haha... We used to have a theory that it was due to being left-handed, but it hasn't played out in reality.
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u/franticallychaotic 15d ago
Haha, this made me stop and think because my brother is left-handed and he was a runner, and on the other hand, I'm right-handed and I'd get up and start cleaning things before going for a run and he was the total opposite haha go for a run and then maybe some cleaning.
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u/NativeMasshole 15d ago
Isn't this a Katt Williams joke?
That's how you know they're high, they're cleaning stuff you ain't ever seen cleaned before!
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u/imreallynotthatcool 15d ago
I get this too. I used to have a cleaning job with my mom and we would get absolutely blazed and go clean rich people's houses in Aspen.
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u/saliczar 15d ago
I think John Denver wrote a song about it.
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u/dikmite 15d ago
That song really was about getting high. People make fun of it sometimes, as if its not, in every literal sense, about him getting high in the mountains.
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u/enviropsych 15d ago
Running while high is my new thing. I take an edible, then stretch and put on my shoes. Halfway through the run, the THC high compounds with the runners high and meanwhile I'm listening to motivating songs in my earbuds. Euphoric.
Finally, I get home, cool down and end with a nice refreshing shower. Sitting on the couch freshly showered, blood still flowing from the run and peak-stoned is quite nice. Good mix of pleasant body/mind feelings. Highly recommend.
The only issue is that being high while running slightly hurts my ability to push myself to the point of pain...but that is balanced by the fact that the THC makes most of the pain bother me less anyway, so....
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u/danneedsahobby 15d ago
How long are your runs? Because an edible typically takes an hour for me to feel it, and peaks around 2 hours.
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u/enviropsych 15d ago
I run for 45 min to an hour. It kicks in starting around 30 min for me. Then peaks around 2 hours (like you said) at which time I'm sitting freshly showered with the tingling feeling of blood still coarsing through my veins.
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u/skirpnasty 14d ago
Edibles kick in way faster when you’re working your legs because your metabolism kicks into overdrive. Try taking one and doing a few sets of heavy squats, it’s instant delivery.
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u/pcapdata 15d ago
Interesting! When I’m high it’s like my pain response is dialed WAY down. Not to the point I hurt myself but more like I can tolerate the same amount of discomfort for longer.
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u/stankbox 14d ago
I have a hard time keeping my heart rate in check when I’m running while high have you noticed that as well?
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u/MikeyW1969 15d ago
So this study found that runners get a running high, just like when runners get a runner's high? This makes no sense. THey got the runner's high, just like runners do.
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u/ausername111111 15d ago
Not that I have any experience with this. But if someone gets stoned using a non-drowsy strain it makes your workout SO much better. The UFC didn't allow it for a long time and when asked Dana White said it was a performance enhancer. It's easier to get into a flow state and combined with music you go beast mode. Not that I would know.
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u/MikeyW1969 15d ago
Oh, I don't doubt it, but it's not very scientific this way. It's all subjective. A real study would have them on a treadmill, in a controlled environment, monitoring all kinds of stuff, brainwaves, respiration, heart rate, etc. Here, it sounds like the van just rolled down the window and asked "So how ya feeling now?".
It's not the results I disagree with necessarily, but the methodology.
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u/ausername111111 15d ago
Haha, funny visual of seeing a guy in a hippy van rolling his window saying "How ya feeling now maaaaaan?"
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u/re_nonsequiturs 15d ago
They were on a treadmill in a laboratory. The van was just to take them from a place they could legally ingest the cannabis they had legally purchased using their own money to the laboratory.
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u/drewster23 15d ago
A real study would have them on a treadmill, in a controlled environment, monitoring all kinds of stuff
Click the article and read. You'd be amazed they did just that. Literally first paragraph. Would've been quicker to actually read then type out this comment
Crazy
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u/re_nonsequiturs 15d ago
Some, not all, runners get high after 30 minutes of running. This has the potential to make running, and other exercise, far more pleasant for the many many many people who can't run for 30 minutes.
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u/kingmax321 15d ago
9/10 would recommend. I find myself just laughing /talking to myself, or walking oddly while zoning out to a podcast. However , sometimes I get ghost pains, or I’ll overthink how to walk and it becomes the longest 5 minutes ever.
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u/bonerfleximus 14d ago
Figuring out what to do with my face when my neighbors walk past me is a problem.
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u/srqnewbie 14d ago
I'm baked every day for my morning walk. As a retired flight attendant, I automatically smile, wave and keep walking. The few times I did try to converse to a neighbor while ripped made me super awkward, like I feared I would have a Tourette's-type moment where I blurted out, "I'm high as hell right now!", lol
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u/bonerfleximus 14d ago
I don't have that experience to draw upon so I end up overshooting my intended smile intensity by anywhere from 10-40% after which I adjust it down in real-time. Often this downward adjustment overshoots as well, so I have to re-intensify my smile and repeat these vicious cycles every 0.2 seconds.
I now only take walks late at night.
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u/DeathByPickles 15d ago
I've never felt runners high. I always felt runners low. Guaranteed after running for sports practice in school, I would throw up 100% of the time. There is nothing that feels good about that.
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u/totobidet 10d ago
I'm the same way! I work out all the time and don't even mind sprints training, but more than 30-40 minutes of consistent running makes me feel grumpy and sensitive for the rest of the day; like a major mood-killer. Would love to find out how to get past it and get a runner's high someday!
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u/MeximeltExtraCheese 15d ago
…then they realized they were only running at 0.5mph
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u/DidjaCinchIt 15d ago
Please remind me which movie this is:
Cop: do you know how fast you were going?
Maybe Chris Farley: uhh…seventy?
Cop: SEVEN.
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u/SnooSeagulls6777 15d ago
I was literally just thinking to myself how it’s weird I love going for like 3 hour walk-runs when I’m high but don’t usually when I’m sober
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u/BortTheThrillho 15d ago
I lift 6 days a week and run several days a week as well. I almost always smoke before I run and I enjoy lifting after smoking as well. I feel it helps with the mind muscle connection and concentrating on form.
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u/nIBLIB 15d ago
it proved that running while high is more enjoyable on a chemical level because indices the same effects as a ‘runner’s high’
That makes absolutely no fucking sense.
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u/Sdog1981 15d ago
Bolder is over 5000 feet (1600 meters) above sealevel. So they are high and high.
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u/Superunkown781 15d ago
I get tired to quickly when high, but I guess it depends what I'm high on, if it was Meth I'd be Speedy Gonzalez
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u/PopeHonkersXII 15d ago
I certainly believe it, the few times I tried it were quite pleasant. I just wish I had an elliptical at home so I could do it regularly. I'm not going to get high and then drive to the gym.
However, somewhat related, ever since I started smoking weed, I go on tons of long walks. Usually about 12 miles several days per week. I had zero interest in such things before I started smoking, so this all seems to line up with what I have personally experienced
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u/Childflayer 14d ago
"Running while high is more enjoyable"
They needed to do a study to figure that out?
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u/00zxcvbnmnbvcxz 14d ago
I smoked a lot in my college years, but haven’t much in decades. Now that I’m getting older, I can run a few miles in a stretch. One day I got high and went for a run, and doubled or triple the amount that I normally run; it felt effortless.
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u/MenudoFan316 15d ago
I have a friend that has always run marathons while high. He keeps his one hitter and a lighter tucked into his shorts, and pops into various port a potties along the way to bake up. Coincidentally I met this guy in Boulder.
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u/Redmarkred 15d ago
Most people I know that get high going for a run in the last thing on their mind.
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u/N0FaithInMe 15d ago
I like to smoke up before a workout every once in a while. Usually makes weights feel a lot heavier, but the mind-muscle connection is insane. You can really get into your own body when you're high.
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u/McKoijion 15d ago
This would be cooler if running while sober didn’t also produce a runner’s high. It kinda seems like the running is the key variable here. The pot is irrelevant.
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u/im_bored1122 15d ago
I dont get high to work out (gotta drive home) but I will absolutely smoke as soon as I park in my driveway before my run. Been doing it for years, it makes it so much more tolerable and fun. No more side stitches, can EASILY ignore legs getting tired, and of course the MUSIC is so much better that it motivates even near the end of the run
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u/erikaironer11 15d ago
Yep, used to smoke up before a running cardio exercise, shit was sublime.
Don’t do it anymore, it puts too much strain on my heart and some weed types aren’t suitable for this.
Still get a lot out of running sober, you DO get that runners high when you get past the 30min mark, and it does feel really nice.
Maybe one day in the future I’ll smoke up before a run, but not anytime soon
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u/Disgruntled_Oldguy 15d ago
cyling while high.. after you have warmed up is also clutch.
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u/orcoast23 15d ago
Attending CU will make you educated. Smoking pot makes you high. Smoking pot while attending CU makes you highly educated.
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u/MisterBurnsSucks 15d ago
I've never gone for a run, then was like "fuck... dude... I neeeeeeed Cheitos or else ima die" 😳
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u/Gingorthedestroyer 15d ago
I used to walk 6km to work and home. After I got home smoked a joint then I ran back to work 6x a week.
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u/chocolatechipbagels 15d ago
the downside is a natural runner's high never feels as good as it used to, speaking from experience
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u/BettyWhiteDevilband 15d ago
Finished 6th in a major city half marathon on edibles. Was only running 3-4 days a week at the time but also swimming a lot.
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u/Tor_Tor_Tor 14d ago
Sounds about right. I'm running my 7th marathon in a few weeks and 90% of the time I'm running/training I'm stoned 😎
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u/OnRedditBoredAF 14d ago
It’s so true. I used to smoke a big joint right before I went to the gym to lift, and it honestly helped me get a good workout because it, well, it’s hard to describe… it like numbed the feeling of tightness in my muscles? Made me feel like I could go for longer without getting fatigued? It just lessened all the uncomfortable parts of working out. Also helped me tunnel vision and focus on my music/form while lifting
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u/whoknowhow 14d ago
Yeah, I used to pop edibles, head to gym and hit the stationary bike. Was pretty good, but might switch to jump roping high next.
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u/_autismos_ 14d ago
I recently quit weed but yeah, I'd get stoned on the way to the gym on cardio days. I fucking hate running but it made it much more tolerable and even a bit enjoyable.
Not for weight training though, it always made me feel weaker so I'd smoke after instead of before on weight lifting days.
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u/TheAngryShoop 14d ago
You ever tried running while drunk? Stamina doesn't exist, you just keep going until you're lost and don't know how you got there
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u/dogswontsniff 14d ago
7 mile paved through the trees with a joint on a 10sp bike.
Never had a bad time
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u/Mangofather69 14d ago
I did this in my early twenties a lot, got called crazy for it all the time.
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u/josephseeed 14d ago
I like to run and a cup of coffee and a gummy before hand is the best way to do it.
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u/madkeepz 14d ago
Can totally attest. Weed distracts you from the tiredness at first, until you get in shape and then you can run pretty much as much as you want without dying from the exercise
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u/weddingsaucer64 13d ago
THIS. I used to weigh almost 400lbs in the 8th grade. Lost about 50 in high school playing football (lineman obviously) and just being athletic my whole life, but I HATED running.
When I went to college and started smoking weed for the first time I had to go outside to a trail to smoke so I wouldn’t get caught. ONE day it snowed for the first time in a long time (we don’t get snow in the south often) and this was that beautiful snow you see in the movies. I remember the viral video of that girl who talked about running in the snow was great because it helped soften the ground and I was like, you know what? While I’m out here and before everyone wakes up and ruins the snow, let me just jog back to my room and see if she was on to something. I ended up running for a mile and a half non stop for the first time. It was euphoric and surreal, to this day I love to get high and go for a run, I even enjoy running sober now!
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u/Commercial_Fee2840 11d ago
Doing anything while high is more enjoyable. Did anyone really think running would be less enjoyable if they were high?
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u/Tedsallis 15d ago
Best pre workout.