Alcohol and Running - Advice!

Dundalk

Im signed up to do the Dublin Half Marathon and the Marathon. Next Saturday a good friend is getting married and i was wondering if it would be okay to drink that day (lets be honest ill get smashed!) and be okay to run the half marathon the following Saturday.

Basically i want to know if it will affect my performance or not and will it be out of my system by then. I have been training for the last 15 weeks and havent really drank much during that time

RacoonQueen

Alcohol takes 4 days to pass through your system(allegedly) so you should be fine. Although, just be careful, you'll miss your Saturday training session and your Sunday one and if you get REALLY smashed you could miss your Monday one too.

I'm not a big drinker anyway, last time I drank was back in July for my friends birthday. I probably drink once every couple of months, that being said, when I do drink...I REALLY drink, which is the main reason I avoid it when I'm out.

menoscemo

I Drink most weekends and have had a few races where I am am happy with the times. My sister is getting married the day before the half, so I will be having a few beers the day before. I am definitely planning to give up the booze for the last month before the 'big one' (i.e. after the half). I would be interested to hear opinions on this from the more experienced runners. Should we be giving up the booze altogether before the marathon? and for how long in advance?

In answer to the OP, I doubt drinking a week before is going to affect your performance too much. Surely your hangovers don't last that long?

shels4ever

Well for me, Drink = poor training / poor diet for a few days so i'm off it at the moment, not a huge drinker anyway so it's not much of a problem.
But when i've been on a session it would mean the next 2 days training wouldnt be great .

Krusty_Clown

I would be a fairly regular (but not exceedingly heavy) beer drinker. I might go out once a week, and enjoy 6-8 pints (binge, binge, binge!) and then the rest of the week I might have another 8-10 pints/500ml bottles spread out, so typically I might have one hangover/dehydrated morning per week (but I try not to let it interfere with training).

My point is: I gave up beer 3.5 weeks ago (to give myself a 1 month run up to the marathon), and since then, I've lost about 4/5 pounds, even though I still enjoy the odd bottle of Erdinger Non-alcoholic, and am still muching through half a packet of biscuits in a sitting. So if you want to lose a few pounds (with no negative side-effects) try losing the alcohol for a while.

I didn't set out to lose any weight, it was more about the total impact of drinking (hangovers poor diet, sneaky-ciggies, over-tiredness etc.). However, all going well, I do fully expect to be sitting in a pub at 12:30pm on Sunday in Berlin, with a medal draped around my neck and a stein full of German beer clasped lovingly in my fist. Beer - let me count the ways that I have missed thee.

cfitz

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Alcohol takes 4 days to pass through your system(allegedly) so you should be fine. Although, just be careful, you'll miss your Saturday training session and your Sunday one and if you get REALLY smashed you could miss your Monday one too.

I don't see any reason for missing your training just because you're going drinking. Train Saturday before the wedding - no reason for this session to suffer. Day after might feel a bit rough but you could switch your days around to suit if you wanted to make it a bit easier. As for the Monday session, that's just making excuses...

Isn't training supposed to help the recovery from a hangover anyway?

HardyEustace

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

However, all going well, I do fully expect to be sitting in a pub at 12:30pm on Sunday in Berlin, with a medal draped around my neck and a stein full of German beer clasped lovingly in my fist. Beer - let me count the ways that I have missed thee.

No need to go to the pub, they give out free post-race beer (I suspect it was non-alcoholic but we were all too knackered to notice), so you can stretch out on the grass in front of the <<insert proper name for German parliament here please>> and relax.

Then on the way back through the park, you'll cross over a small foot bridge. There's a cool little pub there with deck chairs by the river. Would highly recommend it as a post-race stop off (weather permitting). The only disadvantage is the silent screaming of your thighs as you struggle out of the deck chair. That said, there's waitress service so a large tip with the first order will keep the out-of-deck-chair-struggle to a minimum for necessary nature calls.

griffin100

My best half marathon time was the wexford half earlier this year which was the day after I spent the previous evening in the front row of AC/DC at the O2 and had a 'few' beers afterwards:D

Krusty_Clown

HardyEustace wrote: »

That said, there's waitress service so a large tip with the first order will keep the out-of-deck-chair-struggle to a minimum for necessary nature calls.

If you tip them well, they'll help you with your nature calls? Now that's service!
Thanks for the tips. Will defniitely look out for this place.

Dundalk

Thanks for the help lads I think I can enjoy Saturday a bit better !!

I normally do my LSR on a Saturday but ill switch it to Friday instead

Peckham

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Erdinger Non-alcoholic

This stuff is fantastic and isn't far off the real thing in terms of taste. Trying to stay off booze in training is tough enough for a lot of us, but this certain quells the beer desire for me, and is a good option on a night out, as soft drinks certainly get very tedious after a while.

Krusty_Clown

I've also found that you can actually run quite comfortably immediately after a few bottle of Erdinger non-al.

RacoonQueen

cfitz wrote: »

I don't see any reason for missing your training just because you're going drinking. Train Saturday before the wedding - no reason for this session to suffer. Day after might feel a bit rough but you could switch your days around to suit if you wanted to make it a bit easier. As for the Monday session, that's just making excuses...

Isn't training supposed to help the recovery from a hangover anyway?

As a girl I wouldn't have time to train before a wedding, especially a family one. If you've got a SERIOUS hangover, you're inlikely to be training...and if you've done some seriously serious drinking Monday will be a mare if you go out training and your body will still be suffering from the dehydration etc from the drink. I've never had a bad hangover and always go out training of some sort after being out so who knows what a real hangover does to a persons training. You're certainly not going to be going for a 17 miler two days after a heavy session.

CaoimheX

Dundalk wrote: »

Im signed up to do the Dublin Half Marathon and the Marathon. Next Saturday a good friend is getting married and i was wondering if it would be okay to drink that day (lets be honest ill get smashed!) and be okay to run the half marathon the following Saturday.

Basically i want to know if it will affect my performance or not and will it be out of my system by then. I have been training for the last 15 weeks and havent really drank much during that time

Personally speaking - alcohol great for dancing, terrrible for running

Abhainn

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

However, all going well, I do fully expect to be sitting in a pub at 12:30pm on Sunday in Berlin, with a medal draped around my neck and a stein full of German beer clasped lovingly in my fist. Beer - let me count the ways that I have missed thee.

Krusty you'll be glad to hear there's free beer at the end of the marathon in the recovery area.
Last year instead of availing of the free Red Bull , tea etc I promptly made my way over to the beer area. Had 3 lovely beers lying on the grass.

tisnotover

cfitz wrote: »

I don't see any reason for missing your training just because you're going drinking. Train Saturday before the wedding - no reason for this session to suffer. Day after might feel a bit rough but you could switch your days around to suit if you wanted to make it a bit easier. As for the Monday session, that's just making excuses...

+1 on this, raced a half yest, did a long run on the previous sat, and had a lot of beer that sat nite, the sunday was a rest day.

Dundalk

Right so drinking it is!

TJC

Just make sure you take it easy on the Friday nite...
That's where it usually all goes wrong!! U know urself, "Ah i'll just have 2 pints..." ;)

Krusty_Clown

Abhainn wrote: »

Krusty you'll be glad to hear there's free beer at the end of the marathon in the recovery area.
Last year instead of availing of the free Red Bull , tea etc I promptly made my way over to the beer area. Had 3 lovely beers lying on the grass.

But it's only fake beer. Tasty beer admittedly, but not real beer. Not 'what happened last night; never, ever again' beer.

misty floyd

OP,
I'm in the same boat. I have a wedding to go to this Saturday. One of two before DCM. I know its going to be good craic but I hate the timing of it. So this week, my plan is:

Monday:Some weights (done)
Tues: Speed session + going to add a few miles (8-10 miles altogether)
Wed: 10mile easy
Thurs: Rest
Friday: 20miles with 10MP
Sat morning: 5 easy or maybe nothing, I don't want to be too tired. Have a great time at wedding & drink lots of water.
Sun: Get over it, enjoy all Ireland.

Krusty, like you I've lost lots of weight by cutting down on the beers.....makes a hell of a difference. Had some coors light yesterday...just a taste and its like watered down beer. Low calories but to hell with it if it tastes like that.

You can't avoid some sessions. Some people are able to go out and not booze and sadly in the country most people can't do that. If your the later (like me on big sessions), go and enjoy yourself but don't worry about the half......I'm sure you have loads of good miles in the tank.

Can't wait for some nice food, wine and beer on Saturday. Enjoy while you can OP...I will.

Dundalk

I will

If it all goes horribly wrong Ill blame you!!

Only joking, I reckon ill be fine so Ill just train hard this week, do my long run on Friday and I should be back to normal on the Monday