In the 10+ years I&#x27;ve been running, I&#x27;d guess I&#x27;ve felt a &quot;high&quot; maybe 3 times? The first one was actually my first year running - a brisk 5-miler in the early Fall in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Another during the second 800 of my first fairly competitive mile (dropped 12 seconds off my PR). And the third  during a late Fall run in Lexington, VA (another 5-miler). In each instance I felt this impenetrable happiness, lightness, and ease. My form, breathing, even the air-circulation allowed by my clothing, were all perfect. I remember not wanting to acknowledge what was happening for fear of it disappearing as soon as I &quot;looked&quot; at it. Whole-body tingles, no soreness afterwards.<p>I think, in each case there were a couple of prevailing influences to the sensation:<p>1.) Feeling alone. Even during my mile, surrounded by 10 other racers, I felt pleasantly alone. Everything was quiet, non-distracting, sublime even.<p>2.) I was also on the verge of a major breakthrough in my training. My first year running, my 5K went from 22:09 to 17:21, and that first high was probably two weeks before that new PR. Same for the run in Lexington. Luckily it came in the MIDDLE of my mile, because I&#x27;d run the exact same time the past 4 races in a row.<p>3.) The weather. In each case, the weather was extremely mild - cool, brisk, gentle breeze, but no wind.<p>I&#x27;m probably over-analyzing it. Also TONS of nostalgia. But still, I want to make that feeling a more regular part of my life as time ticks on :)<p>EDIT: There&#x27;s a fourth.<p>4.) Running was joyful. Not something I was doing to rack up mileage, or beat a competitor, or &quot;push myself to the edge.&quot; Yeah, those things happened as a consequence of training, but they weren&#x27;t the goal. The goal was to enjoy going fast. And yeah, I got high from it. It&#x27;s when the focus became about those other things that the best I could do was get in a groove.