# Would giving up drinking alcohol make me run more quickly?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-giving-up-drinking-alcohol-make-me-run-more-quickly/528741>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 12, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-giving-up-drinking-alcohol-make-me-run-more-quickly/528741 "2010-02-12T18:02:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-giving-up-drinking-alcohol-make-me-run-more-quickly/528741/21 "2010-02-16T21:21:55Z")

</div>

> [@Lanzy](#):
>
> My guess is you have alcohol in your system all the time and you’ve gotten used to it.

Doesn’t alcohol metabolize at an average of about one drink (12 oz 5% beer/1.5 oz 80-proof alcohol) an hour? And faster for habituated drinkers?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-giving-up-drinking-alcohol-make-me-run-more-quickly/528741/22 "2010-02-16T21:33:56Z")

</div>

As both a drinker and a runner I can give anecdotal input that yes, you will be able to push yourself harder and run faster if you give up the booze. That said, if you are a 40+ year old, you are already doing pretty good and may not be able to push it much farther. If you are younger and generally in shape, then certainly you could see improvement.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-giving-up-drinking-alcohol-make-me-run-more-quickly/528741.md?page=1)