Weekends

Weekends somehow always seem tougher on remaining alcohol free, due to social activities and especially during hot summer weekends.

Started out fine with a garden party at a friends’ place, who had thoughtfully provided several water based lemonades and infused water, so that was great and no urges whatsoever. Which was a good thing because I had a run on Saturday.

 

Spent most of my Saturday relaxing and being slightly nervous about this run, which is a so called ‘urban trail’, I think. It is a 10 km race, which covers my city and takes the runners inside many buildings in town, such as city hall, the museum, the library, the court house, university and school lecture halls and gyms, parks, and so on.

I started my race at 8:30 PM and stumbled across the finish line 1,5 hours later –  I run like a snail to be honest, especially on cobblestones and when loads and loads of stairs are involved. Plus is was still pretty warm. But the main thing is that I finished. Again, as I also participated last year.

The funny or not so funny thing is that the potential rewards for runners are a choice between water and a beer! No wonder that I saw several guys running who had quite substantial beer guts. No need to say I stuck to water. Still no temptation here.

On Sunday I was rather beat from all this healthy living and treated myself to a Ben & Jerry ice-cream on the annual car-free Sunday in my town. Cycled around a bit to look at the various activities and visited some friends.

In our street, the summer vacation ended with the street barbecue and as always, it was inundated with gallons of wine, cava, and other alcoholic beverages.

At this point, my muscles were sore, I had slept badly from the adrenalin and was tired and cranky, which are all triggers for me. So did the meet and greet, and gently took myself out of the danger zone and onto the couch, into a cup of yogi tea and Netflix.

This Monday morning ramble is just to say that even though I have now been sober for over 4 months, there are very odd times and places and sometimes expected times and places where cravings hit. Coping mechanisms and sober tools are important to stay on course because when defenses are low, it is so easy to get sucked back in.