The Wagon and the Damage Done

So yes, it’s dry Darren for Marathon glory! Dry until the 7th of November, with three – fairly sizeable passes (1. one being the Greenman Festival, the event itself looks like it’s not going to be dry so I don’t see why I should be, 3. my book launch – there is no way I can do that without something to take the edge off, and 3. – ahem – an event in Swansea in October…)

With these three passes it may not seem such a huge sacrifice, but it is tough when you get home from work on a Friday and your better half asks if you want a beer. Or if your sat in a pub – as I was this weekend – and you're drinking non-alcoholic Becks (which goes straight through you) while everyone else is getting pleasantly fuzzy. Oddly in my more boozy days when I was hammered and holding court I was hilarious! Every rye observations on life, a gem! Every joke, comedy gold. However over the years when I’ve worked in bars I’ve observed drunken yahoos being loud, boorish and who think that are were god’s gift to comedy and I’ve thought “Look at that idiot! Jesus! How come when I’m drunk I’m hilarious? But when they're drunk... errrr….’ang on….”

Arthur Smith, a real, actual comedian was once asked what he missed about giving up the booze and he replied “The instant bonhomie.”  which is what I miss even though it’s even only been a week, but I know I’ll only miss it for a bit and my three passes will knock the drinking snot out of me.

At the end of the day training for a marathon is hard enough without the added hurdle of a hangover. So here’s to victory, and one afternoon soon I’ll be sat in a bar in Manhattan drinking the best tasting beer of the year.