So I've been lurking this thread pretty much since it started. I can relate to many of the posts on here. Here's my story:
I've been a daily drinker for about 12 years. During college, while running, I was able to keep it to 1-2 beers per day. After college, I continued to train heavily, running over 100 mpw so I rationalized it was OK to up the drinking since, "why not, I'll burn it off running this much". Drinking increased to 3-5 beers per day, more on the weekends sometimes even starting at 10am. I also got pretty big into the craft beer scene, so I start actively seeking out the 7%+ ABV beers, but hey, it's all about the taste, not the alcohol content, right? Around age 28, when I met my wife, I decided I should try and reduce consumption, which started the cycle of being able to reduce for a week or two, before going back to my normal routine. About age 30, I decide to start throwing in bourbon in my routine, and this is where the downward spiral really starts taking affect. I'm now finishing runs and re-hydrating with beer, because that's more refreshing than water. I'm married now, and start to hide liquor bottles in the garage, computer desk, and sneak swigs while the wife isn't looking. I'm drinking the beer in front of her, but hiding the pulls from the bourbon bottle so she doesn't know the full extent. I estimate I'm spending close to $150/week on alcohol alone. My running has taken a nosedive as I routinely skip runs to nurse a hangover. I'm getting drunk almost everyday, while getting blackout drunk probably twice per week. My wife expresses growing concern and this ends up being a recurring fight once every couple of weeks.
My breaking point was two days ago, Halloween. I had polished off 3 beers before she came home and I ended finishing half a bottle of bourbon before the night was through, by taking swigs when she wasn't looking, all while drinking 4 more beers. I couldn't even hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. This resulted in me violently throwing up in the kitchen sink before breaking down to my wife saying that I needed help. Usually an episode like this would've landed me in the dog house for days. This time, she was incredibly supportive at my realization that I'm an alcoholic and I need to quit. In my complete drunken haze, I had a moment of crystal clear thinking that I need to stop before it kills my marriage, or it kills me.
I attended an AA meeting yesterday on November 1st and received my white chip. Incredibly supportive group there, and was pretty therapeutic to listen to others and their horror stories. I'm only on day 2 of sobriety, but I've made a commitment to quit this time, as opposed to simply cutting back. I can't cut back, if I have 1 drink, I have 6 drinks. I ran this morning (5am) and was dry heaving the whole way despite not touching a drop last night. Don't know how today will go just yet, but I've made a commitment to myself and my wife to give up drinking for good, and I hope to stick by it.