heightened sense of smell after running

I think it is something you should get checked out.  Mainly because your BT name is "tissuedigester," which means you probably blow your nose a lot or have crazy allergies, and have nose issues which are somehow exacerbated by running and then showering.

But, if you don't blow your nose a lot, I think the heightened sense of smell is all in your head.

Well, of course it is in your head.  That's where your nose is.  I mean your brain is conjuring all this up.

have you ever thought you might be a super hero?

edit: if you're a woman you might be pregnant.  if you're a man, you still might be pregnant but i'd be more worried.

Edited by jtaddei 2009-07-21 5:16 PM

I have a heightened sense of my own nasty nast smell after running.

Something with the water.   Put on perfume, go to the pool a few hours later, right when you first get in, you'll smell the perfume much more strongly.  I think for some reason your awareness is heightened to it after you run, so you're picking it up every time.

I was going to ask preggo bump ?

LOL well, I thought about the pregnancy thing, but I'm about 97% sure I'm not pregnant. I'm definitely not trying, and we are taking steps to NOT get pregnant, but I guess there's a failure rate in everything.

I also figured since it was only after running, not anything else, it might be something else. thanks for your replies though. Guess I'll make an apt. with the doctor to make sure I'm not radioactive or anything.

Do you detect an ammonia smell?

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Many, many times after a workout, I get a very strong smell of something like benzene.   It happens maybe a minute after I stop running,etc.    It goes away after a couple of minutes.

No, it's not ammonia, or benzene. I don't even notice it until I'm around something perfumed, and then it feels like I'm being punched in the face with Cucumber Melon or whatever I'm using.

yep,  heightened sense of smell and taste after a long workout session.  My wife thinks I already have an overactive sniffer, but on long bike rides it seems like I can smell every flowering tree and shrub in the countryside.

I too will get this after a long hard workout.

I personally have bad sinuses, which may or may not have anything to do with it.  I think it has to do with the harder breathing and usage of my nasal passage has opened up everything in there.  For a short period after working out certain smells are really strong ie; soap and shampoos.

I might have a gut, but I'm not pregnant!

Oooo okay, that makes me feel better. I was starting to get nervous and debating whether or not I should buy a pregnancy test just in case....

You're not alone (and apparently neither am I).  When I get in the shower after a hard run or bike, I get overwhelmed by the smell of my shampoo.  I don't notice anything if it's not after a work out.  But after a work out, it's like someone is spraying the stuff up my nose.

This seems to be me. I can smeel every restaurant, flower, dog, tree, etc while running/biking. Stuff I would never notice

huh - i wonder what causes that. I tried looking online and all i could find was either "You're pregnant!" or some weird holistic new age page saying I had exhuasted my adrenal glands.

all I ever am able to smell on my rides / runs are the restaurants and dead skunks.

I have no scientific evidence to back this up but i'm going to venture a guess that when your heart rate is elevated for a period of time more blood goes to your brain, probably enhancing your sensory experience.  I know that when your adrenaline kicks in for a survival situation you tend to get more in tune with your senses and take things in much more vividly (thus remembering things like car accidents as happening in slow motion).

After a race I tend to smell beer within a 200yard radius.

Just a theory, but could it be that after what is essentially a long traumatic experience our brain interprets it as say a hunt or survival situation?  Which I would assume would heighten all of our senses.

Well, I'm going to give a theory and break it down as much as I can when it comes to anatomy and physiology.

I believe this is a cause from the autonomic nervous system which is broken down even lower into the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)- "Fight or Flight"
-This is the portion of the nervous system is easily known as the "Fight or Flight sequence."  This is the route that the brain sends messages to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline.

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) -"Rest and Repose"
-Much more complex than the sympathetic nervous system.  This system controls all secretions/excretions that relate to digestion, sleep, sex, etc.

Ok, now for the explanation... SNS and PNS stand on a... teetor-totter... if you will.  When the SNS is most active (fear, anger, and simply working out will trigger this) the PNS is at a equally low point.  So lets put it on a 1-10 scale with SNS being the first number and PNS being the second (this scale is not exactly accurate it's just an example).  So lets say your running your usual route and your half way through it.  Usually your SNS-PNS scale tips at a 5-5 but at this moment its at a 7-3.  Now lets say right as your about to end your route a very large and angry dog comes out of the bushes and starts chasing you.  For something like this it takes your body less than a second to go from 7-3 to 9-1 or even possibly 10-0.  Ok after you get away from the dog and you get in the shower your PNS now has to make up for time lost, so the scale won't just go back to 5-5... it'll drop all the way down to 2-8 if the brain feels it needs to.  NOW FOR THE FINALLY!  Because you were in the shower after your run your PNS was the most active at that moment.  And you may have felt hungry or thirsty after the run and the brain sent endorphines out to highten your sense of smell because it is naturally the first sense (by mammals) to use to find food.  That is the best guess I can make.

Haha sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to give my best insight :P