Peak Performance

A GLASS OF WINE OR A COCKTAIL HERE, A WORKOUT CLASS OR A 10-K THERE. WHEN SHOULD YOU FORGO ALCOHOL IN FAVOR OF EXERCISE GOALS-OR OVERALL WELLNESS? WH INVESTIGATES.

- Erin Strout

Sarah MacKay Robinson recalls the exact moment she started questioning the role that alcohol played in her life. It was the day after she finished her crowning athletic achievement: competing at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials, the once-every-four-years race in which the top three finishers earn a spot on the U.S. team. Simply qualifying for the event is a major achievement, one that Robinson dedicated a lot of work to accomplishing.

As many runners do, Robinson celebrated the culmination of months of intense training with a few drinks with friends after the race. And although she's never felt addicted to alcohol, or that there's anything wrong with choosing to drink, she began realizing her decision to have a glass of wine a few times a week, or to toast a big moment, wasn't adding value.

"I was sitting in the airport, holding my 18-month-old child, a little bit hungover," recalls Robinson, who's a brand and content specialist in Tacoma, Washington. "I remember thinking, Is this really how I want to feel after one of the biggest and proudest moments in my life-woozy at LAX? Do I want to be hungover with my kids? That was just a bummer to me."

Another impetus for Robinson, who is now 40: "I was so tired of questioning whether alcohol's good or bad for me," she says. "I wanted to free up that mental space for something else."

So, right around that time, she stopped drinking. Just for a little while at first-on-and-off periods for 30 days or 60 days. As life went on, those experimental periods grew much longer.