I travel to meet up with and conduct an anonymous interview with two freerunners who have been exploring mixing low doses of psychedelics with their training. They reveal that it’s about far more that just physically progressing...

*Disclaimer: Team Farang in no way endorses the use of any illegal substances, and this article is designed to inform, not encourage. Do your own research.

Although it still remains a bit of a taboo in popular culture, psychedelic exploration has been undergoing a bit of a renaissance of late. You’ve got an increasing number of public figures like Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss, speaking openly about their life-changing experiences with these fascinating mind altering substances such as LSD, and Psilocybin.

Back in the 60’s it was all the rage. In the era of hippies and flower power, many thought psychedelic exploration would usher in a new cultural shift towards compassion and altruism. But after a few sketchy stories, and a heavy crackdown by governments around the world at the beginning of the 70’s, all the momentum the hippies had managed to accrue had all but been stamped out.

In this new era, the focus has shifted somewhat; self-optimisation. An entire new generation of people have started to look beyond the propaganda and taboos, and rediscover what these mysterious substances are capable of. You’ve got young entrepreneurs and coders in places like Silicon Valley, making the very apps you’re reading this article on, who are exploring the idea of ‘microdosing’ - taking very small doses of these psychedelics and going about their everyday life.

The idea is that it may boost creativity, energy levels, focus, and a whole range of other things, without all the tripping and hallucinations typically associated with traditional psychedelic taking. Who can blame people for being interested in that, especially in such a competitive environment? Steve Jobs himself admitted to taking LSD back in the day!

Of course it was only a matter of time before freerunners would look into this for their training. I happened to know of a few guys who have been exploring this recently, so I got in touch with them and decided to head over to their part of the country. We caught up, and I managed to get two interesting little interviews about their experiences with microdosing. Of course because psychedelics are still illegal in most parts of the world I am unable to reveal their identities.

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So exactly what psychoactive substances have you experimented with, what doses?

Well for me I was experimenting with microdosing psilocybin, which is the main compound in magic mushrooms and magic truffles. But you’d only take about 0.2g to 0.3g, but I just judged it by eye - I had this dried stash that I knew I wanted to use for a project like this, because I had read a lot about how it can affect your life.

What I found happened was I only ended up doing it about once a week, and timed it with situations where I thought it would be most beneficial. What I found was during the first few weeks the effects were pretty profound… but because I started to get used to it the following weeks were more subtle, but still effective. I gradually became less aware of its presence, which was really interesting.

What benefits did it offer over regular everyday life?

The benefits it had over everyday life tended to be it clearing out all that trash in your head. It’s almost like psilocybin has this natural aim to target the dark areas of your own mind, and basically purify them - rewire your general thought streams and neurological patterns. It’s nuts! It’s very very curing, and it will make you cry sometimes when you’re on your own looking out the window on the bus at some water… it might make you cry! [He chuckles].

It connects you with a lot, it’s very very wonderful, and it allows you to let go of your daily… it’s not like a xanax, or something that will make you not care, it makes you realise what you should be caring about. And all the little worries and trash is just left behind. And the funny thing about psilocybin is it tends to get rid of them permanently… but it’s only because it shows you it, and then you get rid of it yourself. And where all the anxiety in depression in your everyday life used to be is just these empty spaces, and at first it’s a bit confusing. You’re like “Hmm, well I should be feeling this way, but I’m not.”

What made you want to explore this route?

Oh well, I first went through this whole conspiracy stage, which led to aliens, which eventually led to spirituality after a big influx of anxiety and depression. And then spiritual ideas led onto an interest in ‘experience’ in general, and I wanted to find something that would ‘sort me the fuck out’. Which led me to an interest in psychedelics. I love the idea that you could take on a difficult experience that would make you stronger for having gone through it.

Do you know anyone else doing this?

Only a couple who I train with, but I have known a handful of people who have done it. We don’t always use it training, because it's so beneficial in its own right. But when you do use it training… you start getting incredibly creative. And all the usual little worries like “oh I might shin myself on tha..” are just gone. You can just play and enjoy. From that state of mind you’re not hesitant, you’re not worrying… which weirdly leads to less injuries. Oh and the focus level is nuts! On small doses psilocybin also heightens visual acuity slightly, so it’s a pretty magical experience, you can make so much progress in that space.

Of course you never want to rely on it! Never rely on it - don’t create that relationship with it. But what it did for me was… well I went through this long stage with my knees where they were awful, so I had this neurological habit of associating parkour training with pain. My knees are fine now, but I still had this mental association with pain. I found the psilocybin disrupted that neurological habit, to the point that it wasn’t even there at times. So when previously I would go for a jump and feel that pang of hesitation, that was no longer there so the whole process of training became so much more fun. It’s like psilocybin cured my mind of that leftover thought pattern.

Would you consider it a performance enhancing drug on some level then?

Performance enhancing drug on the level that you don’t need it every day. You take it once and it will last in your system for two days, and then its effects will bleed over into your life, you know? It clears out all your trash. It allows you to experience why you did freerunning originally - because it’s bloody fun!

That’s wonderful! But to balance this out a bit, what would you say to someone who is curious about this? What are some of the risks?

Always know your dose. See the thing is, on a microdose you’re not really going to have a bad time. The anxiety you feel is just stuff that’s already in there but is just bubbling up to the surface, because that’s what the psilocybin is targetting. I’ve not explored LSD or anything like that on a microdose yet, so I can’t really speak to that.

Just know your dose. Mushrooms can be a very confusing psychedelic if you take too much. You just want to take enough that your visual acuity starts to increase and your mind stills, that’s when you’re there. You’re not trying to trip, it’s not what this is about. If you push too far you’ll encounter confusion, zoning in and out, your mind slipping in strange ways. Of course if you want a large dose that’s the kind of stuff you go for! But at the right level, around 0.2g it’s only performance enhancing really, insofar as it sorts your head out.

What specific training have you done under a microdose of psilocybin?

To be honest while microdosing it’s all about fun and enjoyable sessions. You tend not to want to focus on going too hard… maybe you would though - it just depends on the state of mind. But if you’re running around just enjoying your session you’ll really find yourself in the mood to do something specific, and then you just will without questioning it. It’s just great fun.

It leads you towards.... It’s a life enhancing thing, it truly is. As a training thing it can be good, and you’ll enjoy your session a bunch, but uhh… if you want dedicated training, then that’s all on you. It’s the warrior inside that has the willpower to just push, push, push. But psilocybin is all about relaxing you, helping you, showing you what life is all about. And that’s how you’ll train on it. And insofar as it helps you sort out your head, it can help you build a connection to that inner warrior that wants to train really hard, if that’s what you want. It’s great at aligning you with that hero’s journey story of your own life.

But in terms of the direct effects, it won’t really make you want to train in that way - you’ll just be enjoying everything too much!

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As you can see, one of the main themes seems to be putting you in touch with the content of your own psyche, but spread over a much longer period of time. This does raise an interesting ethical question however; if psilocybin really does increase visual acuity, then would it be fair to take it before a competition? Just something to think about there.

The next interview was carried out the following day with another freerunner who has been focusing more on climbing of late, but plays out surprisingly similarly. Check it out...

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So exactly what psychoactive substances have you experimented with, what doses?

I’ve experimented specifically with magic mushrooms, in doses from around 0.1g to 0.5g when I was microdosing, and I’d be taking that every 4 days for about 3 months. If I was doing individual trips, I wasn’t doing them when I was microdosing, but I’d being doing anywhere between 2 to 3.5ish grams, and only once every 4 months or so.

I would take them every morning before breakfast, usually with my vitamin D which I usually take. But then I’d make sure to have breakfast straight after because if I took the shrooms on an empty stomach they’d make me feel a bit nauseous.

What did you notice was different about your everyday life when you were doing this?

First thing I noticed in my everyday life was that the colours became a lot more pronounced, I would see all the colours a lot more clearly - as if the saturation had been turned up in my vision. The second thing I noticed was that mentally I was a lot more sharp, there was a lot less indecisiveness in my head, just about anything - small things to big things, when I go to work. I found myself a lot more decisive about anything that had to happen. Simply because there was a lot less mental noise, I’d just go for one thing and that’s what I’d do.

What training did you try while microdosing?

I did try training on them, most the training I did was bouldering. Most of the benefits were mental, not physical - although I did feel like I had more energy during the day, which is a big one. Specifically with bouldering, when I’d find myself unable to solve a problem I’d be less willing to give up, which I think was definitely a mental boost from the shrooms. And I’d try things for for much longer, and I’d often find more creative ways to solve the problem compared to how I’d normally do it.

One of the main differences I found training on shrooms was that i’d be a lot more focused on the task at hand, and during the training sessions I wouldn’t let other problems that i’d encountered during the day get into my head. I’d be completely focused on what I was doing there and then, which actually helped quite a lot.

Were you worried about people finding out?

I was a little bit worried about people finding out, especially when I started doing it because I was going to work everyday and I thought that I would be behaving differently. But because I was quite careful with the dosages I managed to keep it in line quite well. I think no-one noticed - because the effects were quite surface level compared to doing a full dose, it was quite minimal effects. It would have been difficult for other people to notice. I mean I was worried… but not really. [He laughs]

Do you know many people doing this?

I don’t really know many other people doing this. Most of my friends are into experimenting with psychedelics but I don’t really know anyone who tried to microdose for such a long period of time. So most of the information I got about it before I tried it I found online. I just read blogs about it, I researched it quite heavily for a few months or so before I actually tried it. But I’m hoping that now I’ve tried it that some of my friends will try too, and with other substances too so we can see what different effects we get.

What made you want to explore this route?

I’ve been quite heavily into physical training since my teens, and I’d read a lot of information about general training - everything from freerunning, weightlifting, to rock climbing. A lot. All over the internet, books and stuff. I’ve essentially always been obsessed with progressing in those ways. I accidently stumbled across some blogs about microdosing, I read them and kinda put it to one side. I’ve never really been into the idea of ‘supplements’ but the more I thought about it the more interesting it became. So I researched and researched and eventually I just felt I had to try it. Not just to improve my physical performance, but to see what other stuff I could achieve in life.

I’m also quite into chess, so I spent a lot of time on the microdosing learning about chess, learning different moves to play in stuff like that. Learning in general improved quite a lot when I was on the microdose - and not necessarily because of the substance itself, but because it motivated me a lot more to pick up new information. I felt like I couldn’t sit down for long while I was doing it; I always had to be doing something, so it motivated me to learn a lot of new skills.

Do you think other people would benefit from doing the same?

I definitely think that other people could benefit from this. Specifically because the doses are so low - there’s actually not a lot that could go wrong. I think a lot of people close their minds to stuff like this because of stuff you hear in school etc. But with the doses being this low you’ll only ever really get these surface level effects that are beneficial to you, but they don’t really change the way you act too much, they don’t change a lot about your life. It’s good to play around with because you can achieve quite a lot of things with these like ‘mini-boosts’. But I think it could help a lot of people out for sure, especially people with things like mood disorders because it does wonders for your mood and stuff like that.

Is it scary, what are the risks?

It was a little bit scary at the start simply because convententional supplements generally affect your body, and people take them to improve physical performances. Whereas this affects your mind, which can be a little be scary at first to be at peace with that. Depending on the dose it can change the way you think a lot, and there are a lot of people who don’t like that. I think it’s quite an unexplored route as well - there's not a lot of science behind it yet. Most of what I read was purely anecdotal. But to make it less scary and open to other people it would be better if more concrete research was done, but I don’t know how far away we are from that.

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He raises a good point at the end there, there isn’t a lot of scientific literature about microdosing at the moment. So no matter what our intuitions say about the dangers, we still don’t truly know - you’re taking on a potentially huge risk. But that’s something freerunners know all about anyway!

There are organisations such as MAPS however who are looking into the potential medicinal benefits of psychedelics. For example the link between controlled doses of MDMA combined with psychotherapy, and curing PTSD is looking increasingly strong!

I’m sure there will be more developments on this fascinating topic over the coming years. Many thanks to the two guys I interviewed for this!

I’m potentially looking to write more on this topic, so if you’ve explored mixing psychedelics with your parkour training, feel free to contact me and I’d be interested to ask you a few questions for a future article.

*Disclaimer: Team Farang in no way endorses the use of any illegal substances, and this article is designed to inform, not encourage. Do your own research.