Happy Friday!
Let’s talk about booze, shall we?
When I first started blogging back in October, my life had changed pretty drastically over the course of a few months. Running was my main focus. In fact, it had become my only focus. I was running daily — anywhere from 5 to 13 miles — and had no desire to rest or slow down. When I wasn’t running, I was thinking about when my next run would be.
I was obsessed.
In my quest to be the best runner possible (even though I didn’t have any races planned), I gave up drinking. Every now and then I would get a glass of wine, but I stopped going out to bars, stopped staying out late and, though I didn’t see it at the time, kind of stopped having fun. I didn’t want to risk sacrificing an awesome long run for one night out.
Silly girl, Ali. Giving up fun at the ripe age of 25.
Now, as I type this post, I have one of the worst hangovers I’ve had since college — though my body isn’t recovering nearly as well as it used to! I’m back to having fun. I’ve been going out more lately, and I’ve found a way to balance an active social life and a healthy personal life.
I don’t regret the fact that I gave up drinking for those few months. It was good to cleanse my system, and because of my Crohn’s Disease, I really shouldn’t be going on regular binge-fests to begin with. But I do enjoy my Pinot Grigio, and since I don’t believe in depriving myself of other fabulous things…
…I’m not going to deprive myself of a delicious glass of vino every now and then. And yes, Mom, I’ll do it in moderation. Last night was an exception. Promise!
Of course, with drinking — as with most indulgences — moderation is key. Due to a few too many shots last night (bad Ali) and way too few hours of shut eye, I couldn’t quite pull myself together this morning. My outfit today is a recent repeat, and the hair is, well, a mess.
Not my best. I blow dried my hair, but the rain and humidity outside (I’m fine with it! It’s warm!) took its toll on me, and now I apparently have curly hair.
Someday I will probably regret the fact that I have no reservations about posting these photos of myself on the Internet.
In other randomness, my friend sent me this photo last night, which I of course found to be utterly hilarious somewhere around 11 pm:
OK, SO TELL ME: I want to know your thoughts on drinking. Are you a big drinker? Social drinker? Sober sister? Beer fine? Wine guzzler? Queen of Shots?
0 Responses
I’m a beer girl, and I don’t drink much, but I get tipsy a lot. To clarify: I’m the biggest lightweight ever, so 3 drinks and I’m starting to feel pretty gone. Four and I’m totally done. It’s nice because it’s cheap and healthier, but I wish I could have two drinks without going into full-on glazed eyes and crooked walk mode! When I do drink though, it’s almost always beer though!
woops, I forgot thto mention that I meant moderation as in balancing working out with drinking. Sometimes, drinking in excess is necessary:)
Moderation is key!
So glad to see you enjoyed your night.
Great blog btw!
Great post. I’m SO glad you’re back to “Fun Ali” as I think it’s probably a healthier balance for you. Scratch that – it’s DEFINITELY a better balance for you! I’m with you in that moderation is key – and that indulging sometimes is totally healthy! I don’t think I could give up my love of wine. I really, really, don’t know how pregnant ladies do it LOL!
I’ve also cut down my alcohol consumption considerably since I’ve been running. It happened kind of naturally for me just because it’s just not fun at all to run when you are hungover and dehydrated!
Fortunately for me, there arent really that many places here (southeastern va) where I can or want to go and get completely bombed. I do have a beer or two every so often and will definitely indulge a bit more on nights when I don’t have to crank out a 20 miler the next day.
Good luck with finding a balance! Those cupcakes look delish!
I definitely drink, but socially– I try to limit myself during the week to no more than 2 if I go out to dinner/party, since it’s a work night. I have also tried to just pick one night per weekend where I’ll drink and enjoy myself. I am definitely guilty of not drinking as much or skipping out in order to not be hungover the next morning, but try to have a balanced lifestyle most of the time. It’s so important to go out and enjoy time with friends, and if that means drinking, so be it! There are definitely ways to be social and drink in moderation.
I’ve struggled with this for the last few years as well. I’m a big fan of Friday happy hours (preferably in a beer garden) in the summer, but that conflicts with my training schedule of a long run at 7:30am on Saturdays, so I stopped doing anything on Fridays. I admit, it was a bit extreme (and my non running friends thought I was turning into a recluse), but I think that’s because when I was younger I didn’t know when to go home… happy hours would turn into “let’s stay out until 11pm” (hard to break college habits!), so I just avoided drinking all together while training. Luckily, I’ve learned how to have a glass or two and then call it at night.
Recently I started thinking of my Friday nights a little differently. I try think about what I take more value in… a random night out that results in a huge bar tab, a hangover (and subsequently a skipped or mediocre workout) OR a night in followed by a great workout/productive weekend? Usually I stick to staying in, but if a friend is in town, its someone’s bday, etc I will break my hermit ways and go out. I also think that if I stay in on Fridays and run on Saturday, then I’ve “earned” a night out on Sunday. 🙂 It is a balancing act for sure!
Correction to my earlier post… if I stay in on friday, then I ‘ve earned a night out on Saturday… not Sunday 🙂
I drink moderately. I don’t really like the taste of alcohol all that much, but for social reasons I do drink–at least a few drinks a week. Sometimes I wish I could have enough conviction to stand my ground and just say I would prefer not to drink at all, but that day is yet to come. I am pretty good at keep the number of drinks I have moderate.
Whew! Girl, I am sitting in class right now with a slight hangover. My sorority sisters talked me into going out last night and I drank beer… beer?!? I have never drank beer! Combine 3 beers with 3-4 shots and…yeah, I’m dragging this morning.
Like you when I was training for Disney I stopped drinking all together (except for one night). For me, it was more important to have an amazing run verses going out late and drinking. The one night I did drink, I ran 6 miles the next morning and I can remember that it was my WORST run during my training.
I will say, all in all, I have cut back my drinking DRASTICALLY since October. I used to drink every weekend, but now I drink maybe once a month.
It’s no secret I like to booze, but I loathe being hungover so much that I definitely don’t drink as much as I used to. But if I do, I drink as much water as I possibly can and pop Vitamin B before sleep.
Yay, I’m glad you loved the pug 🙂
I’ve been battling with the same issue with drinking vs. exercise… My goal is at least 5 yoga classes per week, and I really can’t go if I’m hung over (which for me happens with something like 2 glasses of wine – we’re not 19 anymore…). It’s more of a habit than anything else – if it’s Friday, I think to myself, I should go out and have some drinks with friends – but I’m really trying to break myself of this. I’m actually doing a juice cleanse next week, so no alcohol/carbs/sugar/dairy/meat for 8-9 days, hopefully it will help me both with this issue and with reevaluating my overall relationship with food! (But I’m still scared)
I think you can totally drink in moderation during training. Giving it up completely leads to quicker burn-out in my experience. I do kind of miss the days of going out way too hard and sitting around completely useless for the entire next day. Healthy, no. Fun, yes!
I love the new balance (and glad you had fun last night!)
ps- looks like you got your hair professionally done – I’m so jealous!! It doesn’t look “rain hair”-ish at all!!
I love that you skipped yoga for wine. Bravo!
I’ve drastically cut down on my drinking since I went paleo. Not that I drank much before, but now I really don’t drink much. I feel awkward ordering wine at a bar for some weird reason, so I stick with vodka sodas.
well… I am no case study as I’m a bit strange in general (athletically speaking).
BUT
In 2009 I started getting serious just like you. I would go out on Friday and drink and have fun, then wake up (not neccessarily hungover) but foggy and race a NYRR Race successfully. I did this 3 weeks in a row and my times kept imporving dramatically! My Dad then said ‘You know Chris, you should really take this seriously if you are good at it.” Sure Dad. So the next race I stayed in the night before, ‘dinner and a movie’ if you will… and my time got worse!
I think moderation is great in this case because come on lets be serious, none of us are going to the Olympics.
I have changed my diet in different ways to sped up. For instance, in the weeks before a race I go straight vegetarian. More on that later! Have a good weekend.
Hahahahahahahaa pug stew! Your hair looks like you got a professional blowout. Only you. LOVE Crumbs just for the amazing toppings. It is no secret that I love my liquor. Drinking is fun. But I hate how it ruins my next day, I definitely can’t drink the way I used to. Last night I went out and had a few drinks, feeling OK today (thanks to coffee and egg wrap).