Saturday Morning Hits Different With a Clear Head

I'm not perfect, far, far from it. So when I say I've gone from feeding a hangover to running a parkrun.

I really mean that is what I aim to do as often as I can.

I write this as I'm sitting in the barbershop, currently regretting my choice of eating a sausage sandwich on tiger farmhouse bread.

More often than not, I don't eat breakfast nowadays; that's a story for another day though.

Saturday Kitchen Shame

Honestly, in my worst times, I'd wake up on a Saturday around 9 am - 10 am. I couldn't sleep any later as I'm pretty sure I was developing sleep apnoea and snoring like a hog, especially after a drink.

That might sound late, but if I was getting into it on a Friday with an extra bottle of wine or a few whiskies, I'd stay up until the early hours, watching setlists of my favourite bands on YouTube.

This wasn't social drinking; it was anti-social drinking.

I used to spend an hour or so on my phone, doomscrolling Twitter and getting angry at things I couldn't affect and people I didn't know.

Then to try and ease the sore head from the night before, I might shuffle to the co-op to get a packet of Richmond sausages, eggs and a baguette and try and eat the pain away.

It's not just the hangover, to be honest, it was also the guilt.

Anyway, after eating that large breakfast, I'd feel so lethargic, I'd just stay sat on the sofa until approaching midday, just watching quintessential middle-class TV, Saturday Kitchen.

It's not Saturday Kitchen's fault either; it in itself, caused me no shame. It was just the vessel that got me through to the afternoon, having barely moved and consumed approximately 1000 calories for breakfast.

That was typical.

I'd say 9 out of 10 Saturday mornings were like this, and it set the tone for the weekend.

The booze was always the catalyst.

The Change I had to Make

When I first went to a parkrun, I walked the whole thing; I was not physically capable of running it.

However, when I finished, I felt a sense of accomplishment different to anything I'd felt for a long time, so I resolved to go back as often as I could.

At this point in time though, I was still drinking alcohol.

So I was still having four cans plus a drop of whatever spirit was knocking about the house on a Friday, subsequently I ended up facing Saturday Kitchen's Matt Tebbutt against my best interests when Saturday morning came around.

I knew in order to get out of the house and be active and healthy, I had to make the change to stop drinking on a Friday evening.

That was the change I had to make.

Giving Up Completely

No longer drinking alcohol on a Friday was always going to be the biggest challenge in terms of giving up alcohol completely for me. Since I became an office worker around 10 years ago. A Friday drink had become a cathartic ritual; it would be one pint after the close of play at work. Then several more when I got back because I'd got the taste.

Subsequently, when I drew the line in the sand and stopped drinking on a Friday. I found not drinking at all for the rest of the week to be nowhere near as challenging.

So, the first hurdle was the toughest.

The clear head on a Saturday, and the sense of accomplishment and community that I was/am getting from running at parkrun or other events far outweighs any 'fun' I was getting from drinking on a Friday.

Being More Present For Family

In line with the main aims of giving up alcohol, I've found that now I'm far less irritable, and obviously, that is better for everyone.

However, I feel like I'm being a better Father to my kids, and Husband to my Wife, and sometimes, I even manage to drag them out to parkrun with me.

I haven't made it to parkrun today, I had a haircut duty to fulfil before heading off to watch an early Coventry City Football Club kick off today.

That's OK, though, I don't need to be perfect, just better, and I continue to give myself a better chance of that by staying sober.