The Runner | The road to the 2020 Hong Kong Marathon: sobriety, clarity, setbacks and lots of running

At the heart of it was a sense of deconstructionism. Riding the tail end of my 30s, I needed a switch, a reset, a recalibration. I wanted to kill two birds with one stone – axe my biggest vice and get revenge on a goal I had squandered. Listening to racers tell remarkable stories at the 2019 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon of weight loss, friendship and well-earned personal bests sparked something within me: it was time to write a new chapter in my life.

Thus, six months ago to the day, I gave up alcohol to try to achieve a personal best at the Hong Kong Marathon, doing so in a very public way by starting this column.

I was expecting my life to change, but now I feel like the rules of gravity have shifted and I am breathing entirely different oxygen. The chances I will ever consume alcohol again are next to zero as the physical and mental benefits keep rolling in like never-ending waves, something I go into pretty deep detail in a SCMP “Behind the Story” podcast which also includes talking to other Hong Kong-based runners who don’t drink.

Giving up alcohol was a way to zero in on training, but the brain rewiring has brought an unexpected bonus: clarity, better sleeps, a steadier state and overall sense of happiness with life. The past 182 days have become an unanticipated yet monumental portion of my life: a 180 turn where I feel like I’ve swapped the operating software in my head for a new programming system. I self-orchestrated a midlife crisis without having to buy a shiny red sports car.