Drinker thread follow up...benders? (Page 2)

I am much more serious about my career and training than I am about the benefit i get out of a bender.  Truth is, I still can't realize what I get out of it...it just happens.  Fun while it lasts, pretty terrible when it ends.  

I'm not passing judgement or anything like that.  I partied as hard as anyone when I was in college.  But, if you don't get anything out of it and feel like crap afterward, I would ask myself "why"?  I think you already know the answer or you wouldn't have asked the question or made the statement above. 

Good god I'm getting old.

Recently I saw a thread on here asking about how many triathletes on here are drinkers.  I was excited to see this thread because I'm one myself and have wondered.  Most of the responses were like "I have one beer after rides all the time" or "I love a glass of wine at night"!  

My problem isn't so much that...it's the benders that kill me.  I sometimes enjoy the beer after a ride, but rarely when i get home from long day at work then a long workout do i drink alcohol.  I usually go a week in a row without touching or wanting to drink it.  95% of my weekly volume comes in one night, and I have a periodic 3 day bender, with lots of alcohol, other things, and almost no sleep.  I'm 23 so feel like i can maybe get away with it compared to y'all with families/kids, but i do have a full time job that i am very lucky to have.

I would say this bender hapens every couple months for me but given that it's Mardi Gras in New Orleans i just had a rough one the last three days.  I'm determined to have this stop happening but it's tough. I am in ironman training right now and hope to put down a good time so I at least have to really limit it.   

My questions are...what kind of damage does the periodic bender do?  How much worse than regular habitual drinking, since I'm not a regular drinker?

how many of you guys have a bender every now and then?

I don't wake up with tigers in my hotel room, but it gets close.

Thanks all.  I think the problem for me lies in the recovery from it rather than the bender itself.  I am much more serious about my career and training than I am about the benefit i get out of a bender.  Truth is, I still can't realize what I get out of it...it just happens.  Fun while it lasts, pretty terrible when it ends.  

I think the biggest harm is that you can't just "snap" back in to it like you could if you skipped a workout because you were tired.  It is very hard to get back to that level.  I am pretty sure this is far worse than regular drinking.  You can put down a decent hangover workout...tried to run an 8 min field test today, different story.   I feel like a completely unhealthy person.  After a really bad 4 days, everything just hurts...like the body is withering away.  Really makes you wonder how some people live this way (drinking, terrible food, no exercise) 24/7/365.

I guess it's all relative in thinking about what's important to you.  Yes, being young it's easier, but things like IM are pretty special too.   An order of priorities, but I really do wonder how many great triathletes will have nights/weekends/weeks like this.  Think about other sports...the cases do exist for sure.  I think my take-away is that if I'm going to do this, which i probably will, I ought to keep it out of tri season.

Recently I saw a thread on here asking about how many triathletes on here are drinkers.  I was excited to see this thread because I'm one myself and have wondered.  Most of the responses were like "I have one beer after rides all the time" or "I love a glass of wine at night"!  

My problem isn't so much that...it's the benders that kill me.  I sometimes enjoy the beer after a ride, but rarely when i get home from long day at work then a long workout do i drink alcohol.  I usually go a week in a row without touching or wanting to drink it.  95% of my weekly volume comes in one night, and I have a periodic 3 day bender, with lots of alcohol, other things, and almost no sleep.  I'm 23 so feel like i can maybe get away with it compared to y'all with families/kids, but i do have a full time job that i am very lucky to have.

I would say this bender hapens every couple months for me but given that it's Mardi Gras in New Orleans i just had a rough one the last three days.  I'm determined to have this stop happening but it's tough. I am in ironman training right now and hope to put down a good time so I at least have to really limit it.   

My questions are...what kind of damage does the periodic bender do?  How much worse than regular habitual drinking, since I'm not a regular drinker?

how many of you guys have a bender every now and then?

I don't wake up with tigers in my hotel room, but it gets close.

That accomplishes nothing. I could pass any "test" I wanted and it only reinforced what I wanted it to... I didn't have a problem. Either it get's in the way of life or it doesn't. If you are willing to sacrifice what you want in life to get off, regardless how that is defined... then there is a problem.

To the OP, sounds like you have what you want figured out. Nothing wrong with being silly when silly is still fun and responsibilities are relatively low... that will change. Have fun... you won't need a forum to tell you when things are not going according to plan. If not, change them. If you can't, plenty of folks that can help with that. Good luck on your IM training.

That accomplishes nothing. I could pass any "test" I wanted and it only reinforced what I wanted it to... I didn't have a problem. Either it get's in the way of life or it doesn't. If you are willing to sacrifice what you want in life to get off, regardless how that is defined... then there is a problem.

To the OP, sounds like you have what you want figured out. Nothing wrong with being silly when silly is still fun and responsibilities are relatively low... that will change. Have fun... you won't need a forum to tell you when things are not going according to plan. If not, change them. If you can't, plenty of folks that can help with that. Good luck on your IM training.

All I know is virgins do not take pregnancy tests. If you need to "take a test" to find out if you have a problem... you already know you do.

Enjoy it while you can.  I'm 34, partied a lot in college, but have tapered down over the years.  Occasionally I'll still go on a bender, and find that I can drink as much as I used to, but pay for it MUCH longer that when I was in my early/mid 20's.  The "amount of drunken fun vs. length & intensity of hangover" equation has changed for me.

And remember, once a wife and/or kids come into the picture, it's frowned upon to spend the following day on the couch recovering...

What's really weird and I think ultimately why I allow myself (and justify after) one of these every so often is because i have my life together a lot more than my peer group and most people my age in this city. People here start drinking here when they are like 12, and there are very few independent people in their early 20s with good jobs, in shape, etc.  It's a terrible mentality and I think really needs to stop.  I was wondering how many serious triathletes really do this, it seems like none.  Thanks for the great replies and hopefully I can start phasing in some better things to do at night.