Jan 21, 2021
The Impact of Alcohol on Running
The good, the bad, and the beer sweats
Last summer, I awoke one Sunday with the hangover from hell.
Cold sweats, the smell of alcohol still coming off my husband and me, I made my way to the bathroom with a head as heavy as the keg I had drunk from at the brewery the night before. I splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth while still essentially horizontal, and got back into bed.
Only then did I realize that today was a running day.
I had been training for my first half marathon (surprise! I pulled my psoas muscle a week before the run — a story for another day) and on my schedule was a beautiful 14 km.
Oh, shit.
The night before had been spontaneous, one of those that “got away.” The morning, though, is never what you plan for. I absolutely hate being hungover and usually do a decent job of avoiding drinking altogether if I don’t feel like it.
I live with depression and manage it with medication. Hangovers for me, and alcohol in general, result in an absolutely awful day mentally. I feel upset and down — just another reason to skip out on over-consuming.
So, I decided that today, I owed myself this run.
I got on my runners, took ibuprofen, and chose my latest audiobook to tune into. I said a small prayer and headed out the door, my husband shaking his head behind me in bed.
I finished the 14km that day. Physically, it did not feel good.
Mentally, I was proud of myself for completing the run with such a brutal hangover. I could hang my hat on this accomplishment and enjoy the rest of my Sunday. However, the actual content of my run had been, well — crap.
What does alcohol really do to our body the night before we run?
Alcohol affects your hydration and thermoregulation
It is no surprise that alcohol is dehydrating. In addition, alcohol is also a peripheral vasodilator. This means that it expands the peripheral blood vessels. This action causes a loss of hydration through evaporation in addition to the diuretic elements of alcohol. All of this can result in the body not being able to regulate its temperature.
As a result, the body does not have the same work tolerance.
When you’re hungover, you often feel depleted, dry, and dehydrated. This often presents as the sensation that your body is working harder to do the same types of exercise. This is because it is.
Alcohol messes with our REM sleep
When we indulge in alcohol, regardless of the quantity, it causes neurological changes. For some of us, this is the appeal of alcohol; the relaxation of the brain.
However, we can attribute changes in our REM sleep to the changes in neurological activity the usage of alcohol causes. This is why when we awake in the morning after a night of drinking, we never truly feel rested.
For me, a bad sleep = a bad day and therefore a bad run.
Alcohol impairs your metabolic process
When we drink alcohol, the metabolic process in which our skeletal muscles take up glucose and amino acids can become impaired.
When we disturb the body's metabolic process, this affects the energy supply of the body. This can cause impairment during exercise, leading to a decrease in the feeling of energy capable of expenditure (Bede, 2019).
Alcohol can affect your recovery period
A cold beer after a run in the summer — name anything better than that. But consistently overindulging post-run can cause havoc to your recovery period, as stated in a study put forth by Sports Medicine.
“Drinking more than around 0.23 grams per pound of body weight after exercise can hinder recovery by negatively impacting normal immune system function, blood flow, and protein synthesis — all essential for recovery. It may also affect your ability to properly rehydrate.” (Bede, 2019).
Alcohol can increase the prevalence of exercise-related injuries
Apparently, this isn’t even just when actively enjoying one too many and trying to do something physical.
According to a study by Sports Medicine, “Alcohol consumption appears to have a causative effect in sports-related injury, with an injury incidence of 54.8% in drinkers compared with 23.5% in nondrinkers.” (GH, et al., 1994).
So, the next time I have a big run planned, I may just take it easy on the craft beers.
That being said, life is too short to not enjoy those moments with friends and family that we know will be worth the head buzz the next day.
Let's just call these, the hangover effect. Maybe Strava will let us start tracking if we overindulged the night before.
Drink responsibly!
Sources
Vella, L., & Cameron-Smith, D. (2010, August). Alcohol, athletic performance and recovery.
Bede, P. (2020, September 17). How Does Drinking Alcohol Affect My Running Performance?
GH. Li, S., WA. Anderson, D., Lyons, F., O’Brien, C., Steel, D., Thornley, A., . . . A.H.. Beckett, D. (1994, January 01). Alcohol and the Athlete.
