I never thought quitting alcohol would be easy… It all started in December 2022 after a night of alcohol and hurtful verbal statements about me and family members. The following morning, I woke up with moral and physical remorse for my behavior, particularly my lack of control over my thoughts and harsh remarks in front of my wife, in-laws, and children. This episode made me dwell deeper into my relationship with alcohol. My behavior and alcohol consumption over the last year made me conclude I was drinking too much. This is the first step in every addiction, recognizing that there is something wrong going on.
My story with alcohol goes back at least 30 years from that December, when I was 15 years old and me and my family were at a Christmas party at a relative’s house. I remember sneaking in my first “Cuba Libre” cocktail during dinner. Not that I necessarily preferred rum, however, I selected this “spirit” because it would most likely pass undetected by my mother and secondly, because rum camouflages well with soda. During those adolescence and childhood years, alcohol, especially beer, was quite common in my house. My mother and father in-law used to host many parties and social events at home, and as you might know, alcohol is a great social lubricant.
Going back to that first cocktail, little did I know that my mom was an expert in perceiving alcohol and after watching me laugh more than usual, she sipped my drink and discovered my poor attempt of going undiscovered. This may be the reason I can clearly remember this first “official” drink. Of course, my mother scolded me and was extremely disappointed in my behavior.
I would say that I was hooked on alcohol since the beginning. I really liked the taste of beer and after many years it is still my preferred way to sink alcohol into my system. For other alcoholic beverages like rum, vodka, tequila, and others, I really didn’t like them that much, however, they proved to be a cheaper and faster way of getting drunk and as I was an adolescent that depended on the money that my mother gave me, there where multiple instances where I used them during my weekend night-outs with friends.
Flashing back to that December 2022 morning, I also realized that getting wasted, talking trash, easily getting mad or falling asleep on my favorite patio chair was not the example I wanted to set in the memories of my two boys and adolescent daughter. Suddenly, a part of my favorite song of Midnight Oil came into my mind, “… the time has come… to pay the rent…” This sounded like the end of my drinking journey. A ride full of excitement, fun, and adventure but also full of hangovers, moral remorse, and pain. That is right! Pain caused on me, my spouse, and others… I can firmly attest that my major mistakes, misbehaviors, and poor decisions happened under the influence of alcohol. Ninety percent of the bad decisions I made in my life took place while drinking or after drinking alcohol. Yes, I can still feel pain about some of these events while writing this sentence…
I also remembered one of Og Mandino’s books that said that only one good habit can replace a bad one. So, I started thinking of one habit I could take on to replace my vice. The first ideas were the most obvious, replacing alcohol with another drink like soda, tea, coffee, Yerba Mate, or non-alcoholic beer. These beverages would support my thirst to consume alcohol as appetizer before lunch or dinner time, at the end of my workday, or over the weekend. However, I needed a stronger reason to deflect my urge for alcohol. Suddenly, it struck me! I could try to practice a physical activity or a new sport to focus my mind and body. Alcoholism is a sickness that takes over our mind and physical bodies. I mean, our thoughts fantasize over the following drink, the next happy hour or the upcoming party and our body reacts accordingly.
During 2022, I was only playing a little slow pitch softball and riding my sports motorcycle at least once every week. Even though both are great sports, I needed a new one that would require study, focus, patience, and physical endurance. After further analysis, I came down to two options, cycling and running. Both have been appealing to me and I even had done mountain bike riding twice before with a friend, these were great experiences. However, this sport required a bicycle, safety gear, and special clothing. Additionally, I needed to invest time and money in the maintenance of the bicycle, an extra thing that I did not want to deal with. Then, the decision was easy, I would start running, just like Forest Gump did… ha, ha, ha! However, I would run with clear objectives in my mind, release stress, improve my cardiovascular system, participate in local races, gain patience, improve my running performance, and complete my first marathon race.
I started running on the afternoon of Monday, January 2. I just put some old sneakers on, did a little warm-up exercise, and whooshed out! I got out the gate of my house to run for 15 minutes but to be completely honest, it was harder than expected! I was out of breath after only 5 minutes into this first run. Then, I started feeling pain in my knees, hips, and feet. I was surprised at how hard and painful it felt. To that moment, I considered myself a fit 45-year-old man but the stress that running caused on my body was just something else.
https://www.wayward.com/runnerforlife/
Once back home, I drank all the water I could and ate my dinner earlier and while doing this, I was really intrigued by this uncomfortable ache. To quench my need for knowledge, I started browsing multiple running videos online and reading several blogs about running and alcohol. This became my number one entertainment for the first three months of the year. At the same time, the replacement of alcohol started its way. After watching many videos and reading e-books about running, health, and fitness, I discovered all the harmful effects that alcohol has on us. It also became truly clear to me that alcohol would be counterproductive if I really wanted to reach my running goals. These facts allowed me to build a stronger commitment to remain sober.
After the initial weeks of running, fatigue, and recovery, my alcohol drinking urge faded away. I just thought that it would be dumb to drink alcohol to later lose all the progress achieved while running. Progress that is very palpable and satisfactory. For starters, running helped me relax after a difficult day at work. For me, this is one of the most positive aspects of running. The exhaustion of running and the pain felt over your body inevitably makes you forget other issues or secondary problems. It really makes you focus and allows you to have time for yourself, quiet your mind, and remain open to new ideas. Additionally, running requires a strong commitment to continue because most of the time, your mind will try to postpone the next run. However, if you manage to grow a strong determination to move forward, you will find a way to put in the time for a new start, I mean, a new run. Finally, the thirst for beer was replaced by the urge to get nonalcoholic or nutritional beverages and meals after each running session.
Midway through the year, I ran my first half-marathon, the 47th Annual La Prensa Half-marathon held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on June18, 2023. This was quite an experience. The half-marathon started at 5:00 a.m. and many things did not happen as planned… not being able to leave the hotel because the gate was locked, waiting for the change to pay the parking spot, getting to the starting line late and leaving 3 minutes after the rest of runners, not being able to monitor my pace, the harsh humidity of San Pedro Sula, and stopping for a while at kilometer 16 because I was out of air… it was a difficult run for me, however, I was able to complete this 21.1 Km run after two hours twelve minutes and two seconds (2:12:02) at an average pace of 6:18 kilometers per minute. I participated in two more competitions later this year and ran with this shoes, but I will leave those stories for a follow-on article.
Now that I have completed eleven months of running and through this journey, I have gained running kilometers in multiples cities of Honduras, in San Salvador, El Salvador, and in Houston and Bridgeport in the United States, I can attest that this new habit has really changed my life for the better. Now, I feel less stressed, happier, and in the healthiest physical condition I have ever been. You can make a difference in your life by running and by doing this, you can replace any negative or toxic habit in your life (please check with your doctor before getting out there!)
Cheers!
JnRue
