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Giving up the booze
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My higher power having a laugh?
Anyway I will pick up my chip on Tuesday at my home group and that is so much more valuable than a marathon medal. There is always another race but only one recovery.
Blood sugar was really low so ended up on a glucose drop, not what I had planned but hey ho that's life. Portsmouth beckons in December. I'm not giving up that easily.
Sorry to hear Bilbao wasn't goof Jugula. Are you ok now? We'll done on 20 years
EDI. Is she going to Uni next year?
Yes. We're more scared about it than her. But I'm also very excited for her too. It's a mix of feelings I guess.
Jonnie; sorry for reading something there that wasn't there.
Jugula; well done on the 20 years and commiserations on the marathon. Do you think it was simply a fuelling issue? If so, a few well timed gels may sort that. It seems such a shame to have ended up like that at 23 miles.
Have you another planned?
Jugular i am really sorry to hear about bibao marathon i don't know what to say apart from read advanced marathoning edition 2, it covers everything it to help run the perfect marathon, it helped me to a 50 min pb this year, i swear by it, my bet is if you read it then that will never happen again, it covers all types of depletion and how you can avoid them
If you were to put a gun to my head and say what do i think caused ur upsetting marathon?!?
I would say maybe your ion levels were low, there is a whole chapter on the importance of ion in the book, good luck for portsmouth but if i were you i would wait til spring and make sure you follow a scientific training schedual from advanced marathoning,
Hope I've helped in some way
How were you on your long training runs, Jugula? Did you practise fuelling and hydration then? Was it warm at Bilbao?
Jonnie, if you like technical books on marathon training Dr Ben Tan does a good one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Run-Your-Life-Ben-Tan-ebook/dp/B00C1CGQBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413795434&sr=8-1&keywords=run+for+your+life+ben+tan
It was too geeky (read complicated for my Geordie brain to cope with) for me.
It was warm but I did long runs here in the hot summer sun so that wasn't an issue, I used mainly coconut water which worked well, with some shot bloks and chia flapjack.
Think it just wasn't meant to be and need to move on to Portsmouth in December.
Acceptance is the key.
I once bonked on a tough long-run. It was Summer, hot, and I thought I'd not need any fuel for my run (I thought I was hard hahahaha). About 12 miles into the run, up a steep hill which goes on forever (it was through the Wye Valley) I felt like I was running through treacle.
I ended up eating what I could find on a sparse roadside blackberry bush, then another mile down the road I ended up in civilisation and there was a plum tree overhanging a garden wall. I must've eaten about 20 of those plums; they were the sweetest, most loveliest fruit I've ever stolen. I was a bit worried about the effect they'd have on my bowels with another 5 miles to go to get home, but I couldn't stop myself from eating them. I was okay though.
Good luck with the December marathon.
I've switched to gin and slimline tonics rather than pints of lager if I'm watching the calories.
i need therapy, starting 21st November
What are you starting on the 21st RJ?
thing is gave up booze and finding it really hard, i used to blame me acting like a idiot on the booze now i am acting like a negative lazy so and so with no excuse , so i need therapy, running helps loads but keep getting little injuries that set me back and i am starting to feel very frustrated and not a nice person to be around
Go for it RJ and good luck
thanks cinders and I will
hows life treating you?
A.A. refers to the alcoholic who has stopped drinking, but who still demonstrates alcoholic attitudes and behaviours, as a 'dry drunk' (I don't like the phrase myself). Such individuals are said to have sobriety but not recovery.
Things like depression, anxiety, irritability, anger, restlessness etc are very very common for alkies who 'put the plug in the jug' but do little else in the way of recovery.
The thing is, booze isn't the problem, it's the way we feel sober that's the REAL problem. We use booze as a solution to treat that problem.
Good luck with the counselling, Jonnie, and trust me, you sound very normal to me. I really identify with what you're going through.
I've seen guys - who just stop drinking and do little else in the way of recovery - have a gambling habit that gets out of hand. Over-eating is another common one. One guy I know split with his wife and started womanising; at one stage he had about seven women on the 'go'. He was 'on the sick', still getting paid from work, and focussed all his attention on meeting women from the internet. A guy I sponsor is a member of three 12 Step fellowships (Over-eater's Anonymous, Sex-addicts Anonymous, and Alcoholics Anonymous). Some of the stuff he's told me - and I'm broad minded - even shocked me. He's a lovely guy though, well educated, charming - Mrs Tosh loves him - but under that friendly exterior lurked a real monster.
My preoccupation - which I'm pleased about - was developing an almost foaming-at-the-mouth interest in spiritual practises. I've calmed down a bit now, but it took a few years. I'm planning on being enlightened by Christmas and becoming the first ever Geordie Buddha. I think that's pretty cool.
I have to remind myself that alcoholism is a sober condition and does not go away by stopping drinking. I was restless, irritable and discontented at birth and drank to rid myself of these feelings, so no surprise that they were still there when I stopped!
Recovery for me has been about finding things to do that alleviate these feelings in a healthy way, like running, meetings, meditation, music and many more too.
been 5 months for me and happy with that
the geordie buddah wowza u are a alcholism guru
In answer to your question its been 20 years but it's just a lot of days really, I'm pleased that I haven't had a drink for all that time but the downside is I'm 20 years older!
wow 2 decades off the booze makes my 5 months seem pethetic!
did u use AA like EDI?
Jonnie your five months is as important and valuable to you as my time is to me and we are all just 1 drink away from disaster and we all start at day 1.
I have always used AA as nothing else works for me, I can access it anywhere at any time. If you look online you can find meetings in your area. Go to a few different ones and find which ones suit you best.
In August my 5 year old daughter grabbed my can of Special Brew and sweetly declared, "I like beer, don't I Daddy?".
Shame finally got the better of me. I went onto drink aware and it suggested my average weekly units were 98.
I then went onto another site and bought some running shoes. Lots of little things had happened for me to reach this tipping point. A huge desire to not be finished at 50. I am 47.
Running now for three months. Some successes. Stppped smoking nearly two months ago. Lost about ten pounds in weight. And thank goodness for parkrun. That almost weekly target is invaluable. Unfortunately my PB (22:31) ia now a month old. Frustrating not being able to improve it.
Frustration also comes from the drink. I am a seven days a week drinker by custom and I am trying to have a couple of dry days a week. I nearly always drink at home while making and eating dinner and perhaps while working afterwards if I know I cannot get out for a run. Struggle not to have something the Friday before a parkrun. I do wonder if a couple of strong beers affects adversely the performance.
I believe I drink less than 40 units a week and want to keep up downward trend.
Odd thing is, drinking less than I have for many years and I have never felt so dehydrated. Get through loads of fizzy water.
Anyway, thanks for this thread of honesty and inspiration.
As a famous supermarket says - every little helps
Hello EDI,
I noticed this question from you and thought it interesting enough to butt in:
Hi Senorb. Great post. Keep up the good work
As a selfish drinker, I do need to tell the world / forum about me. That in itself has a cathartic effect but it is nicer with feedback.
Enjoy your running.
haha EDI where are you? this thread needs you?, you are a guru and I miss ya bro!
senorb, feels better getting it off your chest init?
I hope you are not an English teacher as you will need more than 2 coffees to correct my gramma haha
running is good but having a binging past I do things to extremes (all or nothing) kinda way so I have injuried myself twice in the last few months so now taking up swimming (when injured) but trying to learn how to breathe correctly is a bit tricky like meditating but I will get there in the end
What's up with your swim breathing RJ?