Forums >General Running>alcohol and running
I've got a fever...
On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.
Somebody call me? I only drink a little bit when I train, maybe one beer before a short to medium run (up to 12 miles), and two beers before longer runs (up to 20). I don't put beer in the camelback because it gets too foamy.
Young Gun
www.HumanPotentialRunning.com
Marathon Maniac #3309
I loves me some alcohol, and this holiday season, it pretty much replaced running. However, you should be careful when mixing boozing and running. Downing more than three drinks in a 24-hour period (guilty as charged, with gusto) increases your risk of atrial fibrillation, which is a non-fatal type of heart arrhythmia. And the chances of a-fib go up even more when strenuous exercise is mixed in. Basically, a-fib means that the top two chambers of your heart beat very fast and out of control. The danger is that because blood is not being pumped effectively through the atria, clots can form. A-fib is often as "holiday heart" because it happens to people who normally don't drink much, and then drink excessively around the holidays. Myself, I keep my drinking up all year, so the holidays are no shock to me. It's called good base building. The reason I bring up a-fib is that I've had it happen to me three times. In my case, it was slamming ice-cold liquid during and after runs that caused it. The ice-cold liquid hurtling down my esophagus caused a reflex in a nearby nerve which in turn made my heart beat funny. But the very first time it happened, I had gotten absolutely sh*t-faced the night before (and also had a ton of caffeine, another a-fib trigger). So although it was the ice-cold Gatorade slam that caused it, tequila shots the previous night may have contributed to it. As a result, I don't do anything but very easy running (or none at all) the day after some serious boozing. BTW, the first time it happened, the cardiologist was skeptical that my Gatorade slam had anything to do with it. However, everyone came around when it happened again. So you may ask how I managed to do this to myself a third time despite the previous experiences. I'll sum it up as: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on my parents for birthing and raising such a moron.
Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way - Run often and run long, but never outrun your Joy of running!
Damn....wish I hadn't read this...I should be dead by now Plus about 100 of others I run and bike with, mostly triathlete buddies. We always laugh at the one's that show up for a run or bike ride hung over, but after 30 minutes or so everything is fine
I'm not quite sure what the heck you're talking about... but chicken little is ringing a might friendly bell. As I've done all that you state NOT to do.. NUMEROUS times and have yet to experience any problems.
I like your signature though... isn't it 2008?
However, you should be careful when mixing boozing and running.
E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com -----------------------------
If you'd gone to a real college, you never would have said that.
- Anya
Life time runner wannabe
I'm wondering how you knew it was happening to you. When my dad had a fib, they found out during a check up for something else; he was completely asymptomatic. So I find myself wondering if I could have it too.