I got into the Berlin Marathon
This week, me and a few mates got into the Berlin Marathon for 2026. There's a lottery and, on a lark, we all applied. Three out of four of us got in. I'd heard stories of people applying eight times and still not getting a place, so my expectations were fairly low, but just applying got me thinking about the bigger picture of health, dedication, preparation, and what it would mean if I did end up getting in. Well, that ship has now sailed and "thinking" is now needing to become a lot of "doing".
Earlier this week (on a Sunday no less), we'd been celebrating Thanksgiving with some other friends of ours and of course we'd had a few wines, so one of the crew offered to give me a lift home. We get halfway home, me just chatting away in the backseat with the two up the front, and we stop at a light. However, out the window I see my mate Ben and his mum about to cross the road! So as I'm already halfway out the car I shout "thanks gotta go!", and dive out of the car to go say hi to Ben and his mum. I'd been telling Ben I wanted to meet his mother while she was in town, but the stars hadn't aligned (until they did). They were rather surprised.
We shot the shit for a bit and it was lovely; his mother truly is a gem, something I could sense even after just a few short minutes of talking. Afterwards I started to walk home and I get a message from Ben, relaying that his darling mum had called me a "beautiful human" and a "lovely person". Ah, mum, you're too kind!
When I'm drinking, I can be a bit of a charmer. I'm engaged, I love listening to people, I can be very patient (until I’m not); and I was channelling that completely while we spoke together. I have always had this feeling that I need to learn to independently be this person I become when alcohol flows through me, and that needs to happen without booze, otherwise I’m no more than a crutch. Frankly, it’s pathetic to be so enamoured and indebted to a liquid.
Honestly I’ve enjoyed drinking recently; it’s been fun, it’s been social, it’s been wholesome (as far as it can be), but deep inside there’s a devilry that won’t stand for progress: and that is booze. This shit is holding me back.
That means next year I'm going to try a year off alcohol. I’ve got goals I want to achieve: how fit can I get? How hard can I climb? Can I even finish the Berlin Marathon? Can I be the person I enjoy on my own terms? None of these benefit from drinking. I trick myself into thinking it doesn’t matter or can be positive, but it does matter and especially after one too many, it's never positive.
It's time to start training, and it's time to see what I can really do.