Slows recovery. I avoid alcohol altogether (then make up for missed time in a huge binge!)

i juice up several times/week. couldn't get through the week without.

i attempt to avoid alcohol. being in college that can be tough. at most ill drink once a week. but i have read about many elite level triathletes (peter reid & belinda granger) who drink a glass of wine (2 max) with their dinner on a nightly basis. as you said, in moderation alcohol has minimal effects on the recovery process. as an age grouper i like to think i am competitive, but you have to live it up once in a while to keep things fresh. i try to take this approach with my diet as well. ill eat healthy 6 days out of the week, but there is ALWAYS one day where i eat whatever i want. this gives me something to look forward to when im eating my egg whites, and in return prevents binge eating.

anyway back to the topic of alcohol.... is there anything better than a cold beer after a brutal race?

I'm racing IM Louisville but live in CA so I am drinking exclusively mint juleps to "climatize" my body. It's like high altitude training, and while I don't get any stronger or faster, I do get better looking! Everything in moderation.
JDB
*Note: The same rule does not apply to Kentucky Fried Chicken *

Yeah, me too. Then I found good beers. IPAs and the like. Tasty stuff. And it'll fuck you up. Just the way I like it.

Is Rogue in you neck of the woods? I thought I rememberd reading Oregon on the label. I had a Dead Guy Ale not too long ago. Fantastic. As well as the Shakespeare Stout and every other product they brew.

I had the rogue Christmas beer, stuff was bitter I think it was a 45 ibu beer, which to me is just over board. Currently I'm on a Beck's Dark kick. But I only try and have a few beers a week, to me honestly its like why do I put myself through all this training if every once in a while I can't sit back and enjoy some small indulgences.

Beer is good for training, gives you something to work off the next day :-) Can't say no to a nice Rogue, Magic Hat, Blue Point, Brooklyn, Samuel Smith, Spaten, Chimay, etc... ;-)

Glad to see that people have good taste here. Samuel Smith, Chimay, Rogue... The list could continue. A new bar just opened in my area, which serves a lot of Belgian Beer. Good thing I'm not too hardcore about training right now I guess.

The group I run with enjoy a cold beverage after running 20+ miles (ok, after EVERY run!), but someone would have to drive this girl home if I had a beer after a workout. Once January hits, I lean toward the no-drinking policy. I'll have a glass of red wine on occasion, but stay clear of hard liquor. I'm no goody-goody...I too endulged myself during the entire month of December ;) But for me, drinking is not conducive to training (this strong conclusion came to me while on the bike after a night of tequila shots).

We tend to have wine with dinner probably 3-4 nights a week. In addition to tris, I love to cook and we collect wine and love trying new stuff that friends find. I've never liked beer, but will have a margarita or two on a hot summer night relaxing on the patio.

Drink too much, everything suffers not just training. But, I've been known to have a glass of wine with dinner the night before a race (including in a Paris bistro before the Paris Marathon in 2004), and I've never seen a real difference in performance from those races when I didn't have a drink the night beforehand.

Just had ~5 Stone Pale Ales and a half a bag of doritos last night and the run this morning felt fine. (fantastic really, moving to my new apartment over the weekend had me all stressed out) Beyond that, Thursday is bowling night and I think its league rules that you drink at least a pitcher a night ;-) Its cross-training... really...

I'll agree with Nobody that it depends on how serious you are about it. At ~5 hours of training a week right now... I'd only feel the effects if I got totally trashed. Which I did last year before a 10k on horse trails, and eating a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich 5 minutes before starting the race, which was actually 10 minutes after the race started.

Whats the definition of "recreational athlete" again?

i think it is bad only because triathletes train heavily and training with alcohol consumption causes severe dehydration or hypoglycemia. =(

[not being obnoxious] that's sort of impressive...but then again, not all that commendable...maybe it makes the ice hurt less if you were to stumble?

Agreed.

Ahh yes, when I was scrolling through the 'recents' and came to this ? I giggled. With now being back in the swing of things again I keep the consumption WAY lower than I used to a year ago. I am a beer girl and no one mentioned Yingling (sp.) and that my friends is an amazing beer but when I go out I'm the vodka tonic gal (grey goose) and occasionally a Mich. Ultra. However, Yingling is for special occasions and don't feel guilty. That too being my boyfriend and I don't put beer in the fridge anymore to avoid more consumption, usually put in the garage. Wine even after one glass just gives me headaches.

You're talking to someone who was a consist to hardly not anymore drinker and it makes a difference let me tell ya! This St. P's day was an exception after my 5 miler, my legs killed the next day--more water before beer. (ouch!)

I got into triathlons to quit, quit, quit , drinking, however the last one I did a beer was handed to me upon completion, which I drank and still regret. I had many more. To each his own!

You forgot to add "die young".

OHH and FYI when my girlfriend (that is girl who is a friend) and I were in Paso Robles recently visiting the wineries we learned an interesting tid bit about Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck(which is actually $3 here, but I digress). Any hoo. TJ buys their wine in bulk from the popular wineries down there and rebottle with their lable. I guess the wine drinking employees taste test the different lots and then note the case # so they can go in and buy all the good stuff. So you could actually be buying a $30 bottle of wine when you go in there, and why there are some drastic differences from bottle to bottle.

Random question

Before my first HIM last summer i ended up getting drunk 3 times the week before my race (i know, very irresponsible choice, stupid, i could have thrown away months of training, i regret the decision) One of the nights was the night before the night before. My race went better than i could have ever imagined. I went faster on the 56 mile bike course than i had even managed to hold for 20 miles in my training, had never even biked past 40 miles in training, then I ran faster over 13 miles than i had the entire summer. did i get extremely lucky and somehow carbo-load perfectly for my race?

For the record since then i have reevaluated both my training and drinking habits and changed them for the better

Coach says beer is carbo loading....

I definitely haven't quit for good but I stopped drinking a month ago in prep for IMLP and have lost that last pesky 5lbs (check with me next week, maybe that'll be 6 ;) For me, alcohol is extra calories not to mention, it weakens my resolve to not eat that chocolate cake or that chips and salsa or those french fries or that ice cream....hmm, I can't wait until after the race! :)