I'm attempting a feat I haven't accomplished since before college: Not drinking. For a month.
Now, I know you're thinking "Ric -- YOU crazy girl!"
But really first off, that's not that long.
Don't get me wrong; I don't drink nearly as much as I did at UW-SP. Or since most everyone moved away from Whitewater, my college away from college. At this point, I'd probably the be worst choice for a beer pong partner; and the Beast hasn't touched my lips since at least a year ago.
But I still drink on a weekly basis.
I usually have a glass of wine once or twice a week when I eat, or relax while surfing the nets, or reading a book. I'll get over that. I'm usually pretty busy M-F anyway, so I'll bide my time.
My achilles? Beer.
I'm not talking about that watered-down, flavorless crap Miller and Budweiser try to pass for triple hops, barley special edition brew master fresh, blah blah blah... (which, I can enjoy on occasion). I'm talking about full hops IPAs and nutty amber ales. See, I don't know much about beer. But I know when it tastes good.
So relaxing on the weekend, I've been sitting back, grilling out with a burger and Beck's Dark. Or hang out on the porch, enjoying a Guinness.
But I've noticed it's affected my marathon training. Last week, after tailgating for a Brewer game Monday night, and heading to Thursday night trivia at the Milwaukee Ale House; I noticed that the combination lack of sleep and too many pints put me over the edge. I kept up with my training schedule, but struggled each time I put on my running shoes.
Instead of cutting back, I'm going cold turkey. But wait, derrs more!
A couple weeks ago, I won a six pack of Special Edition Jim Gaffigan Point Pale Ale (and his new comedy album) from the Pabst. Awesome! I still have to pick it up...
Then, in compensation for writing a cover story at work for my old magazine, my bosses bosses boss said he'd pick up a 12-pack of any brew I wanted, instead of cash. (Apparently we've resorted to the barter system at the office...) Cool. Gimme some Newky Brown!
Alas, they'll have to sit in the fridge. For now, I'll stick with resisting temptation to focus on the big picture: kicking that half marathon's ass.
4 comments:
Kick it right in the face ma'am. Sometimes you've got to set aside certain things to accomplish your goals.
AMEN!! I've already puked on too many runs to continue drinking. After those runs, I vow to give up the bottle. But alas, I still find myself out multiple times in a week saying, "I'll just have one..." And we all know where that leads.
I hope your will power is stronger than mine....
Then again, you have a job. And I drink like it is my job.
Good luck. You'll have to let me know how it goes. Hopefully your running is still progressing steadily.
Quit being a chump Schulz!!
Beer is good, beer is great, have a drink and stay up late!!
LoL, no, I bid you the best of luck, I wish I could do the same. I've been running a lot lately too, but I am forced to go 4-days w/o booze because of my schedule so I somewhat accomplish my fitness goals. The next 4-days however, have sometimes been an absolute shit-show, but its not hard to workout on the side during that time.
-Nate, whom you haven't hung out with in a very long time, *tisk tisk*
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