A new day dawns

Hello and welcome to Tobias Talks

As with most weeks, it's been a mixed week for me, a strong week of running and eating well followed by a derailment at the weekend. And, as with several of my blog entries, alcohol is the culprit.

After a few quiet beers with a friend on Friday, I woke up with a sore head and nausea. I am definitely not 18 anymore. I slept in late but managed to wake and clean the whole house as I had planned. Unfortunately, this left no time for the long run I had planned.

I then woke up Sunday with a continuation of the hangover. That's right! A two day hangover from 5 or 6 beers. Ultimately the result is the same, although I had fun, the beer didn't really add anything to the enjoyment, it was empty calories that led to weight gain and dehydration. The equation just doesn't work out. There really is no place for alcohol in my life anymore.

Having said all this, my stag do (bachelor party) is coming up in just two weeks time! Hooray! Now, as you may or may not know, the british custom for a stag do is normally to fly to an eastern european (bonus points for former soviet) country and drink copious amounts of the local lager and whatever incredibly strong local spirit they have in that specific country.

There is a strong possibility that the stag do will be one of the few times I drink ever again. There of course will be occasions where it is warranted, the wedding day itself, maybe a christmas or two. But ultimately alcohol just doesn't align with any goals I have set for myself.

My goal has not changed, in the short term I am aiming to run a 10k race in October, but the primary goal is to run a half marathon in April 2024, approx 2 weeks before I am married. Throughout this challenge there is underlying goal to lose some weight too, for various reasons. It will protect my knees while running, help me run faster and further as well as more superficial reasons like my wedding suit fitting me better.

TLDR: Alcohol bad, Running good. Reduce alcohol, Increase running.

Thanks for reading,

Your friend, Tobias