I don't drink outside of social occasions and even then infrequently. Had a moment in Milwaukee at Brothers (huge bar, packed always) where I was absolutely blasted and I looked around at the probably 500 people who were also plastered and realized all of us were dumping poison down our throats.
Struck me as really weird, a little disturbing, and entirely out of the blue. I felt off the rest of the night and still can't shake that feeling whenever I drink. It was almost an out of body experience that I can't quite put into words.
Best of luck in your sobriety, one day at a time
Tbh I’ve had the same experience… like “wtf are we doing”
I stopped drinking on February 8th 2024, 56 days ago. I have since run 507 miles, and my Runallyse VO2max estimated fitness (for whatever that may be worth) has increased by 6 points. When I first quit, I had trouble running 2 miles at barely under 10 min/mile. Now my easy pace (128 - 135 bpm) is between 8:20 and 8:40 / mile.
Best damn thing I have ever done was quitting that stuff. I'm signed up for the Mesa marathon on February 8, 2025, and I'm very curious to see what my fitness looks like by then. Oh yeah, I also no longer think about killing myself, so that is a nice side effect...
Funny. I haven't had a drink since July of 2010. Have run steadily and seen my VO2max increase zero.
Interesting timing on this thread, finally decided tonight was my last drink. As far as consumption, I've never really gone off the rails with anything. But it's consistent as hell. Rarely missing a night. Other than my wife, I doubt anyone thinks I've got an alcohol problem. No DUI's, no stupid decisions (other than to keep drinking) I've manage to be a completely functional alcoholic. Good job, great family, pretty much all you could ask for. But it's time.
For me it's almost all mental. I'm depressed as hell. First it was just being depressed, then the alcohol to cover it up, that lead to more depression and so on and so on. It's to the point that my 2 year old was doing something absolutely adorable tonight and my wife was busting up laughing. The wife looks as me and asks me how I can't think it's cute as well as I sit there stone faced, totally in my own head thinking about my relationship with alcohol for about the 50th time today. Well, knowing I'm raising someone while drinking every day that will ultimately lead to an early death, again, just depresses the hell out of you. Pretty tough to laugh at anything at that point.
So I'm at the point where I can't even enjoy the best moments in life because of alcohol. And I can't do it anymore. Poured all the booze out, the wife is 100% on board, so I'm happy to have finally made the decision.
Great thread, good to see it bumped, although it's usually not for great reasons. Update on my post from above from 8+ years ago. I lasted about 30 days. Back in 2016 is also about when I stopped running with any regularity. So the drinking only worsened, but I at least was stable with it. Meaning still no serious repercussions with relationships, career wise or legally. Just continued damage to my health.
Then COVID hit, and that pushed me from a every night drinker, to an every day and night drinker. And within a few months without completely realizing it, I became physically addicted. When I say without realizing it, I mean it. I had no idea how bad it got. I took one morning off drinking to drive the family to the cabin and spent the afternoon working outside. I got a bit lightheaded and told them I wanted to lay down for a minute. Apparently I got up, walked outside, and down a gravel road. Luckily I turned right on the road, towards town a few miles away. Had I turned left I would have entered a 40,000 acre wildlife refuge. So they were able to find me in the ditch unconscious about an hour later.
I then spent 8 days in two hospitals with multiple grand mal seizures from withdrawal. That sobered me up for about 30 days but the depression was too much from all I'd put myself through and I was back at it. Eventually I stopped eating and could only drink. So I admitted myself to rehab and spent a month there in May of '21. I stayed sober after that for about 4 months but couldn't hack it. And was back in rehab for another 3 weeks last April.
The good news? On April 26th this month I'll be sober for a whole goddamn year. I've got my first race since 2015 in a couple of weeks and a marathon next month. I could give everyone reading this thread a novel on the whole process, but these are at least the cliffs notes. But I'll just say that the process is an individual journey, no body can tell you how it's going to go for you. So be skeptical of taking advice from anyone that thinks they have all the answers. But the one commonality between everyone, and I mean everyone, that has at least gotten to where I have with sobriety is they haven't given up. And whatever you do, don't do that.
Covid did a number on a lot of people who were vulnerable to the challenges of being isolated. I had one crisis in my family and a tragedy that were mental health and drinking related during the first year of Covid. The tragedy was my brother literally drinking himself to death. Technically he died from a fall but he was a late stage alcoholic putting down vodka at a rate you wouldn’t believe. Covid isolation just accelerated everything. I have always been acutely aware of the health risks of drinking so had been a pretty moderate but daily 1-2 drinks habit for many years. Obviously that’s not healthy either if I’m not a heavy drinker. As part of my own recovery from grieving my brother’s loss I broke my daily drinking habit a few months ago. It was actually not difficult and the empowerment I feel along with better sleep, weight loss and feeling more mentally sharp all reinforce what a positive shift this is for me. At this stage I’m good with a few glasses of wine here and there versus stopping altogether. Will see how that goes long term, but my thoughts and well wishes go out to everyone struggling for happiness and balance in life. You can find it if you have the determination to keep working at it.
Covid did a number on a lot of people who were vulnerable to the challenges of being isolated. I had one crisis in my family and a tragedy that were mental health and drinking related during the first year of Covid. The tragedy was my brother literally drinking himself to death. Technically he died from a fall but he was a late stage alcoholic putting down vodka at a rate you wouldn’t believe. Covid isolation just accelerated everything. I have always been acutely aware of the health risks of drinking so had been a pretty moderate but daily 1-2 drinks habit for many years. Obviously that’s not healthy either if I’m not a heavy drinker. As part of my own recovery from grieving my brother’s loss I broke my daily drinking habit a few months ago. It was actually not difficult and the empowerment I feel along with better sleep, weight loss and feeling more mentally sharp all reinforce what a positive shift this is for me. At this stage I’m good with a few glasses of wine here and there versus stopping altogether. Will see how that goes long term, but my thoughts and well wishes go out to everyone struggling for happiness and balance in life. You can find it if you have the determination to keep working at it.
How did you just stop? I’m struggling from the habit of having 2 or more wines a day. At night I feel bad for not being able to stop at one or none and promise my that the next day I won’t drink. But then in the evening my brain says Hey go have that glass. And the cycle repeats its. So frustrating
"Trying" to quit is not a winning strategy. You must make a mental change from "trying' to "doing". Once you can say to yourself with conviction that you simply DO NOT DRINK anymore, then you have won. This is, of course, very simple but not so easy to do.
Covid did a number on a lot of people who were vulnerable to the challenges of being isolated. I had one crisis in my family and a tragedy that were mental health and drinking related during the first year of Covid. The tragedy was my brother literally drinking himself to death. Technically he died from a fall but he was a late stage alcoholic putting down vodka at a rate you wouldn’t believe. Covid isolation just accelerated everything. I have always been acutely aware of the health risks of drinking so had been a pretty moderate but daily 1-2 drinks habit for many years. Obviously that’s not healthy either if I’m not a heavy drinker. As part of my own recovery from grieving my brother’s loss I broke my daily drinking habit a few months ago. It was actually not difficult and the empowerment I feel along with better sleep, weight loss and feeling more mentally sharp all reinforce what a positive shift this is for me. At this stage I’m good with a few glasses of wine here and there versus stopping altogether. Will see how that goes long term, but my thoughts and well wishes go out to everyone struggling for happiness and balance in life. You can find it if you have the determination to keep working at it.
How did you just stop? I’m struggling from the habit of having 2 or more wines a day. At night I feel bad for not being able to stop at one or none and promise my that the next day I won’t drink. But then in the evening my brain says Hey go have that glass. And the cycle repeats its. So frustrating
I get it. I had similar regrets and feelings. For me it’s a couple things. Change my evening routine. Don’t put yourself in same situation and be occupied with something else. Go to bed early vs stay up and drink. Also I came down with GI illness in Jan so didn’t drink for a few days and I realized I actually slept better not drinking and could make it work.
How did you just stop? I’m struggling from the habit of having 2 or more wines a day. At night I feel bad for not being able to stop at one or none and promise my that the next day I won’t drink. But then in the evening my brain says Hey go have that glass. And the cycle repeats its. So frustrating
Don't have wine easily accessible. I drink if I have beer available. Pretty hard not to but rarely more than 1 or 2 at night. If I just don't have any around it becomes easy. Rather than 5 seconds to grab and open a beer, it takes 15 minutes or more to go somewhere and get a beer. After a few days, I'm just indifferent. Maybe have a beer every other week if I happen to be somewhere and I'm in the mood, but even then mostly I just don't bother.
I only drink probably ~7-10 times per year (probably twice in XC and than once in indoor/outdoor and occasionally in summer) as a college runner. probably drink a bit too much each time but it is what it is.
There's not much left except me and the drink at this stage
The cycle keeps repeating
Same here man. If I could drink 3-4 beers on Saturday instead of 6-8, I'd be way better off. Only drink 1x/week as a pressure relief valve (and to enjoy craft beer) but would be so much better off if I could keep it to 3-4 beers (a minor buzz) vs 6-8 (solidly drunk).
Really helpful thread, hope it provides an understanding that many of us are struggling the same. I absolutely love red wine on the weekends. I look forward to it all work week, almost as a reward. I drink 2 large goblets Fri, Sat and occasionally Sun nights. (Said goblets are filled with about 16oz) So Im drinking about 64 -96 oz a week. The drinking doesn’t seem to bother me physically other than waking me up at 3am. I’m starting to think I have a problem despite not drinking “heavily”.