The world is awash in stories of people who gave up drinking or drugs for the endurance lifestyle

Be warned: Endorphin Withdrawal can be an equally terrible thing to experience if something goes wrong [injury, as a prime example] and horrible to watch

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I'm a long time lurker who rarely posts. The title of this thread,Your 2020 relationship with alcohol is tugging at me to post.

October 1 , 2020, my fiance died from complications due to alcoholism. He was 41. I knew that he drank, but had no clue how much as we did not live together, nor see each other every day. His family chose not to disclose the reason for his death, so I haven't told many people, but posting it here is a bit cathartic, so thanks for that.

That's terrible; so sorry for your loss

Thank you for trusting us enough to share

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

 
Thank you. I appreciate your thoughts.

I think you're missing the point.
I gave up caffeine because it was giving me some health problems around the time my daughter was born.

I still drink decaf because I like the taste of coffee. Could I give it up entirely? I'm sure I could. But why? I didn't need to quit coffee, I needed to quit caffeine.

Same thing goes for alcohol. It's not the beer that's causing the issues, it's the alcohol within the beer. If you can enjoy a non alcoholic beer without issue, where's the harm?

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Wow, I'm so sorry for your loss.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

I do appreciate this feedback, and it's something that's been on my mind! Not only the risk of losing the ability to train, but also that the transfer of focus from one outlet/space of addictive patterns to another is not the same as shaking the pattern altogether (and so questioning whether I have actually made progress).

Yeah, there definitely seems to be a genetic component. Both sides of my family are littered with alcoholics, addicts, and impulsive individuals with different mental health issues. It seems that certain individuals are predisposed to addiction and impulsive behaviors, and if they manage to channel it into a positive/creative direction, they can get do impressive things. Or, they destroy themselves. Or, they screw up, get in trouble and then overcorrect in the other direction.

When I accepted I had the brain chemistry and genetics of an addict, it was easier to seek treatment, rather than to blame myself.

My dad had a tremendous drinking problem that cost him several jobs, a couple homes, and eventually his family, and then his life; however, I never knew my paternal grandparents to drink, other than my grandmom's Sunday after-dinner sherry

My mom's side is a whole other story - alcoholics all around: grandpop, grandmom, and both of my uncles; my cousin became a drug addict, and he died before he was 20

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

For me taking a year off alcohol was my intro to triathlon - the oneyearnobeer.com program encourages you to sign up for a physical challenge in the first week and I'm so grateful they do! Great excuse to buy a bike and then dip toes in the water literally getting familiar with the open water and the absolute joy of entering and completing several events.

That was November 2018 - I've been AF since then, lost 50lb, feeling happier, less stressed, no hangovers and doing my first 70.3 next September. It's been a huge improvement to my life and can thoroughly recommend the oynb emails for motivation - and signing up as a way of making that commitment to yourself, even if it's just for 28 or 90 days.

before/after

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"time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted"

I'm thoroughly enjoying reading this thread.

I was hot and heavy into TRIs from 2012-2016, but due to lots of reasons(mostly my kids and the responsibilities that come with them), I stopped doing TRIs and really haven't been doing much to live a healthy, active life since then. I LOL'd at a post I made back in 2016 about how upset I was about "letting myself get fat" @ 185#... because that is exactly what my goal weight is at the moment.. Currently 6', 205 and desperately needing to get my health and fitness back.

A big component of my weight gain(aside from being sedentary) has been my love for craft beer.... I love it, and I am drinking WAY too much.... plus with alcoholism running in my family(both parents are alcoholics, my Dad passed in 2019 due to alcoholism) it seems like a great place to start!

I also signed up for a marathon in October.. I always find it easier to get my butt out and run when I have a race on the calendar.

Thanks for all the stories and advice, here's to a great 2021!!

This will be my third year starting the year with Dry January.

My first go through showed me how much more I enjoy my life without drinking which was (at the time) surprising because I considered beer or wine a pretty fun part of my life and was convinced that it wasn't impacting my life. But it was. The biggest change I always notice is the better sleep.

I'm do not totally abstain from alcohol all the time and to be honest the stress and ennui of parts of this year I have filled with more wine than normal. I'm ready for dry January. ;-)

I've done some research and reading on sobriety and the sober curious movement in prep for interviews and because I was just curious. People have different opinions on the efficacy or benefit of "replacement drinks." On the one hand there is a lot of potential supportive research in habit change that it works fastest to replace one behavior with a similar behavior that has a more desirable result. If you want to eat chips because they are crunchy - eat carrots which are also crunchy. All of the crunch none of the fat. Then again some people would say eating carrots does not always kick the urge to eat potato chips and then you just eat carrots and later potato chips.

Several recovery organizations are outspoken against the concept of replacement drinks because it blurs the line of acceptable behaviors. Leads to a slippery slope. Probably, the reality will be different for each person. Figuring out which patterns of behavior support bad habits seems to almost always be a good start to setting up new habits.

Non-alcoholic seltzers - for me - have that crack of opening the can, and the fizz of a beer, and are just as refreshing after a workout [sometimes more so]; I just don't pour them into a pint glass

Ginger ale and other sodas have too much sodium for me/my tummy

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Definitely agree. I always drink less booze when I have LaCroix or something similar around the house.

Not missing the point at all. Just saying that you can totally be addicted to how something tastes.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

It's kinda funny how I came to this realization

I've always been one to desire a beer after a workout [although, when training on the Dawn Patrol, sometimes you have to wait 12-16 hours for that post-workout beer], but one Summer day, after an especially hot, long bike ride, the only beer I really wanted was ... a root beer!!!

A&W, Mug, Stewarts, Pennsylvania Dutch ... didn't matter!!! It was the weirdest craving

So, I went to the Rite Aid up the street and got myself one

I had the real beer later

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Well hello there!

My inbox has been blowing up lately with replies to this thread, so obviously that means it's time to close this year out (THANK FUCK) and start up the thread for 2021. I did so already, but wanted to share the rest of my 2020 story with everyone.

Obviously in the Before Times, fresh of the heels of January's success, I was being really good about my alcohol intake. I had many races to train for, after all! Well, then that all changed, and I went into a bit of a fuckitYOLO mode. Beer on ANY night of the week? Sign my ass up! There were also some low points to navigate as well- I lost three members of my family this year during the pandemic, each one dealing a harsher blow and accumulating some serious unresolved grief. I managed to keep moving, but I was definitely drinking more than I had set out for back in January.

Then, one random early day in September, my body kind of snapped to. NO MAS, it cried. And I stayed totally alcohol-free until the day the election was called in November and had a very excellent EH Taylor Single Barrel with friends over Zoom. Honestly, during that time? I felt GREAT. Weight had shed, sleep was less fleeting, I was feeling very much my normal chipper Cupcake self again.

Does this mean I've totally gone sober? No. But I can honestly count on one hand the number of times I've had alcohol since September, and I'm totally cool with that. I'm also back in honest-to-god training mode again for a self-inflicted unsupported triathlon for my milestone birthday in March, so that's making it easier to stay on the wagon.

One of my secret weapons has been distilled botanicals like Seedlip and Ritual. I had sworn I'd never use these because it's just not in the spirit of being alcohol-free, but let's be real- water is boring as fuck. So I've enjoyed various concoctions of a virgin Pimms Cup, hot cider with peaty spicy goodness minus the whisky, and a seltzer or tonic with a juniper-filled Ritual over ice. There is a great new recipe book out there for "mocktails", but I find I don't have the energy to make any of that myself after a long day (and there's no way I could make one as well as a trained bartender. OMG REMEMBER BARS? ::sob::)

Anyways, thought I'd pop in and give a major thumbs up to those of you who are continuing your sobriety through this dumpster fire of a year, and invite those of you who are ready to shake things up a bit for the better over to the 2021 thread.

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Level II USAT Coach | Level 3 USAC Coach | NASM-CPT
Team Zoot | Tailwind Trailblazer
I can tell you why you're sick, I just can't write you an Rx

What an interesting thread.

Going in to 2020 I had just done a full year or so of sobriety. Not so much motivated by an addiction (though there were times I definitely overdid it in 2018 or so) but because I wanted to see how my body reacted. Turns out I sleep better and train better, and I'm generally a better person to be around when I'm not drinking (though I suspect that last one has a low bar ;). Who knew?

Turning 40 in 2020 led to a fun evening with drinks and friends, but I've not had a ton of alcohol this year. As we head into 2021 I'll probably have one more drink or two around new years tomorrow and then call it quits for 2021 to focus on training and life in general. More things that bring me energy, fewer things that can zap it.

Congrats!! So awesome to hear. And you reminded me how much weight Iost when I quit drinking. I was a Size 38 waist 235+ pounds and within 3 to 4 few months of quitting I was down to 190 lbs, 34 inch waist. I was also drinking a lot of dark beer. This morning I was 175 lbs, 32 inch waist. LIFE IS VERY GOOD!!! I'm happy, joyous and free :-)

I'm with you. I like good wine and bourbon but maybe have one glass once a week. I self medicate with chips/cheese/chocolate.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

My 2020 relationship with Alcohol???
it was close,a very close one...Alcohol and I sometimes would be annoyed with my wife someday...this is how close we were!
Specially on that election night (week)

Joke aside, plan to do a Dry January, possibly even February if I can. Even the wife is on board !!!

Is there a science behind that? If I have a big night, i would probably struggle, but a light-medium night of drinking can see some pretty good training session times.

Not an exact one but pace to HR ratio seems better at times. I feel like I sit a good 2-3 bpm average below normal.

He came from his stay Saturday morning

He said "Dude, I was in there with some hard-core drug addicts ... there were a couple times I had to say 'Sorry, I was just drinking too much Bud Light'"

I got an image in my mind of the part of "Alice's Restaurant" ...


YMMV

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I started 2020 off with the little yoyo of a partly dry January for several weeks, then back into an avg of two per night of the "fda per male size" drinks.

Then got some wicked food poisoning from some Indian takeout mid-summer and my body swore off both Indian takeout and alcohol for about another 3 weeks.

Then it was back to the same. Broken up by random times at night I didn't want anything at all.

The low point was the Thanksgiving and Christmas time off work this year. I would do my 2 glasses of vino each night but was tossing on a good bit for the holiday meals and the takeout nights. Gained a couple pounds. Backed off now for going back to work for 2021.

I decided this time around I was NOT doing anything dry in January. I saw the 2020 dry start as just a yoyo and excuse to go for it after the dry period. Instead I'm tapering down slowly to less and less as a routine that might prove more stable than the yoyo.