OPINION: Ben Kaplan On What Next After Dry January
/Ben Kaplan is the publisher and editor of iRun magazine, and also an acquaintance of many many years. Here is his first hand thoughts on trying out Dry January and beyond. A surprise photo is at the end of this article if you read all the way through!
Ben Kaplan running the 2019 erie marathon
Well, liked it and hated it but mostly liked it because it made things clear. I knew what I was doing: not drinking alcohol. But now, a week into.. what? Shaky February? It's less prescribed what the right drinking choice is.
It's tempting to completely abstain. And I tried that into February, until February 5, at which point I drank, if not indiscriminately, then certainly enough to make me miss Dry January the next day. It's like I revisited all my friends at once. Whisky, red wine, beer, then draft beer, Guiness!
The problem with Dry January is, by design, it's not sustainable. So what do you do when it ends? For me, I still have the taste on my mouth of the good times: I didn't particularly sleep any better, but I certainly got more done. I was a working machine. But that too I don't think could sustain. Alcohol still serves a role in my life in that it signals for me to stop, to let go, to quit working and chill.
I run a lot, which is awesome. But that's still working. Especially when it's freezing cold. So drinking, ordering another, or rejoicing into a bottle of wine, is sort of like a vacation in my mind: I've earned this moment to let go. To stop trying. To give myself a break from me.
There's got to be a way to do that without alcohol. And I liked my night in Shaky February out on the town. But I didn't like the next morning and I'm not sure where that spits me out.
How do you replace alcohol with Sprite? How can you find your personal vacation from your everyday life with something that doesn't lead your boat onto the rocks?
I'm still trying to figure that stuff out, and I better think quickly. I have big plans Friday night and no clue what to drink.
Young Ben and Sarah having drinks circa 2006
