Give Up Drinking?

I suppose I should give up drinking now that I am committing myself towards training for the VT100 and the fact that the alcohol tends to exacerbate my headaches. However, I told myself I should live my life in moderation and giving up all alcohol would be abstinence and not moderation. I believe that total abstinence is the right policy for very few things in life. I like to try most everything at least once in a while. Think about it… I can’t even say that I totally abstain on killing. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill a cockroach running across my path. Yesterday I did manage to drink again. I was with a large group of colleagues from my office and we were all at the Marriott Marquois Times Square bar chilling out after attending a day of conferences. At first I decided to only drink water, but the temptation of free booze and getting a little loose with a group of people I for the most part liked was eventually too great. I decided to have a Guinness beer or two while we were hanging around waiting for a post conference party to begin. I was careful to monitor myself and not drink too much as I didn’t want the headache I had in the morning to return. That headache required a shot of Imitrix in my ass to get rid of it. I didn’t feel like going back there. So anyway, I drank 1.5 beer mug size glasses (or was it 2.5) of Guinness before we headed to a Mexican restaurant/bar for the after party. There I had half a glass of a frozen marguerita, which I didn’t like and hence only half a glass and then a bottle of Bohemia, my favorite Mexican beer. I ate lousy, noshing on tortilla chips and an assortment of Quesadillas that were being served as cocktails. While I was there, I was talking to another colleague who does a lot of training as well. She was telling me how she decided to take today off from training. All I could think about was how I missed my training this morning and how I really felt like I should have done something today. I decided right then and there that I was going to cut the night short and go home for a run in Prospect Park. I said my goodbyes and made for the subway. I got home pretty quick, but feeling minimally headachy and tired. I forced myself out the door though, since I know come the VT100, I’ll be more than headachy and tired come 1am in the morning when I will have been running for over 18 hours. I need to get used to running when I don’t want to. Perhaps drinking and making myself not feel so great is a great strategy for preparing my body for this type of training. I’ll have to check with my coach on that one. So anyway, last night’s run turned out to be a decent 4 miles around Prospect Park. I felt really good about getting myself out there and I enjoyed a nice run in solitude. It was just the type of calming thing to help me fall asleep later, without the need of an Ambien.