A new reason to run

Wanna get high? No, not through smoking a joint, but naturally.
Here's a blog that tells you how...

To summarise the article:
While researching on how Marijuana gives stoners a high, researchers in UC Irvine discovered the CB(Cannabinoids)-1 receptor in the brain.

A receptor essentially is an entity in the body that gets triggered by a stimuli or trigger. The stimuli can be from within the body or could be an external substance.
The CB-1 receptor in the brain discovered by the researchers, gets triggered by a compound in Marijuana called THC(TetraHydroCannabinol) which gives stoners that feeling of high.
But THC is an external trigger(coming from Marijuana), could there possibly be an internal trigger for the same receptor, thought the researchers. And voila, they discovered Archidynolethanolamide, christined anandamide(Anand - sanskrit for bliss). Anandamide they found triggered the CB-1 receptor in the brain and this anandamide is released in huge quantities during intense exercise over prolonged periods. Instances of such exercises:
Tempo runs(80% VO2 for more than 25 minutes),long runs(over 1.5 hrs), long periods of cycling, rowing, etc.

The feeling experienced when the CB-1 receptor is triggered internally(i.e. through anandamide produced during intense exercise) is the same as when triggered externally(by THC contained in Marijuana), namely: carefree mood, high spirits, relaxed body, etc. The advantage of the former trigger mechanism over the latter being the lack of any side-effects.

So the next time you think why people are so crazy enough to run or cycle for such long durations, think again: they have a reason!