Going On A Beer Run

Christie Aschwanden was curious about the effect of drinking on exercise:

My friends and I often joke that we're carbo-loading when we split a six pack together, but once in a while I wake up groggy and wonder: Could my drinking habit be hurting my running? Turns out the research on alcohol and exercise is as herky-jerky as our culture's attitude toward the bottle. Most early studies investigated alcohol's potential as a performance enhancer. It seems ridiculous now, but during the 1904 Olympic Marathon, U.S. gold medalist Thomas Hicks was given a mixture of brandy, strychnine, and egg whites in an effort to gain a competitive edge. Many coaches then believed alcohol boosted energy.

Using a small sample set, Aschwanden and exercise scientist Gig Leadbetter found that women ran an average of 22 percent longer the morning after drinking while the men ran 21 percent shorter. Leadbetter is doing a follow-up study with more runners.