One Red Hot Country Mama!

I picked up a Runner’s World magazine at lunch the other day and read an article about Chris Bergland, an athlete who has won three iron man competitions and has the Guinness World Record for the most distance covered on a treadmill in 24 hours (153.76 miles).

His dad was an MD and one-time chief of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He specialized in the effects of pain and pleasure. The article says the following about Bergland:

We all have these neurochemicals flowing through us. What separates Bergland is that he’s developed ways to tap into them and use them on demand. He’s able to do this because of neuroplasticity, which refers to the brain’s ability to change its structure and function by expanding or strengthening certain neural circuits while shrinking or weakening others. "Neurotransmitters released during exercise can contribute to neuroplasticity," says neuroscientist Ronald Duman, Ph.D., a professor at Yale University’s School of Medicine. "Neuroplasticity within the brain’s motivation and reward pathways may play a role in the perception of experiences, including exercise."

Bergland’s translation: Positive thinking builds positive neural pathways. The more you think optimistically about something, the more apt your brain is to choose that path. "A neural pathway is like a trail in the woods," he says. "The more hikers take it, the more worn it gets, and the more likely it’ll be taken in the future. You can reshape your brain to think and behave like a better athlete.

It makes you think about which paths you are wearing down… hey? Or not wearing down for that matter…