SUP…

SUP….Stand up paddle boarding….linked to everything that I have hopefully sorted out in my head since my seriously strange summer.

Drinking alcohol…or too much of it…that was me..heavy drinking in the summer “oh it’s ok, everybody does during the summer, we don’t have to be up early to get the kids to school, etc, etc, etc…excuses after excuses.

Waking up in a fog, bad reasoning, causing rows, interpreting information wrong, memory loss….

I never considered myself an alcoholic or even alcohol dependent..but my drinking could be heavy…half a bottle of vodka or Jamesons’ whiskey on a heavy night socialising, a quarter easily when not, just sitting watching the TV.

Red wine, good for you yes? Maybe but not nearly a bottle per night.

As re my seriously strange summer I had two bouts of gastroenteritis…bad appetite and   nausea followed.  Alcohol!! I realised it didn’t help. Also, needing to get up with the puppies early didn’t help the recovery either.

I no longer drink during the day (on a day off that is, never had when working).  Sparkling water is now my companion and maybe if I feel like it one or two (tops) glasses of red wine.  It is very hard to keep this discipline, but my goodness I feel so much better for it.

I’ve always trained, triathlon training and I have a paddleboard which helps work my core.  My BMI and weight is low and I eat healthily and do not smoke.  Alcohol was always there.  I realised that I was beginning to work my training around alcohol.  Heavy night meant I trained later in the day, always tired.  Missed quite a few good tides because I needed to rest or sleep off effects of alcohol.

Why is this blog called SUP.  Well this morning for the first time ever I caught an early tide.  I had my sister in law around last night and we watched Steel Magnolias and laughed and cried and laughed and cried.  I had two glasses of red wine on a Friday night and plenty of my Sparkling companion.  The goal for to enjoy my paddleboard early in the morning.

Now as I sit on my paddleboard at 8am on a relatively clear sea just watching the seagulls land and take off from the water, the dog walkers on the beach and look over towards those White Cliffs of Dover I feel a sense of achievement…it may be little, but little is good, those little steps are what lead to the final goal.

I took control of the alcohol and it felt good……………..