About 4 weeks ago, I bought a treadmill. The goal was to get in shape again after a winter of stick-to-your-ribs soups, carb-ridden dishes of potatoes, pasta and rice, and all that Swiss chocolate I had brought back from my last trip to Europe.

At first, walking on the treadmill made me feel vaguely like a hamster. I fully expected to grow a shiny fur coat and large front teeth.

When that didn't happen, I discovered that if I hooked myself up to my iPod, the hypnotic beats of GOA Trance (mostly by the excellent Infected Mushroom and Juno Reactor), funneled straight into my brain, magically kept me going. I advanced to a routine of trading off running and walking.

Today however, I ascended to a completely new level. Because today, I ran an entire mile without taking a walking break. I wasn't even terribly out of breath. And I didn't want to stop. Ever.

All the pain in my legs went away, the world suddenly got brighter and more colorful, and I felt like a well-oiled machine who could go on running forever. I was flooded with an odd sense of happiness and overall well-being I hadn't experienced in quite some time.

Luckily, I was prepared. I knew what I was experiencing was commonly referred to as "Runner's High". Wikipedia enlightens us with this informative bit:

Endorphins are released during long, continuous workouts, when the level of intensity is between moderate and high, and breathing is difficult. This also corresponds with the time that muscles use up their stored glycogen and begin functioning with only oxygen.

So - all hail to endorphins! They make it all worth while...

*giggle*

What an entertaining blog. :)
Thanks for keeping my interest, among these multiple tabs I currently have open.

I was doing some googling on "what is the definition of a friend" which led me to a Roman named Cicero. Being myself and now finding myself on wikipedia, I found myself bumping from one wiki page to the next.

Alas! Somehow I found myself now looking up Endorphins, which of course led me to your blog entry. :)

Do I ever sleep? Maybe a little.

haha. Thanks though. I enjoyed your writing and felt u should know.

Keep it up!

Random online person,

~Mari