Last updated on November 8th, 2022 at 02:33 pm
If you’re reading this, you may having a really good night or a really bad morning. So, when the last few drinks leave you feeling like a dumpster and you’re hoping to still meet up with friends for a run, this post is for you. In this post, we provide some important considerations around running with a hangover.
Will Running Help a Hangover
When you overconsume alcohol your body has to get rid of it. So, let’s look at how your body reacts to alcohol. And we’ll go over whether running can speed that process along to get you through a hangover faster.
How Your Body Processes Alcohol | Impact of Running
First, alcohol passes through your liver, which produces an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase that can break down alcohol.
Then, this enzyme converts alcohol into acetaldehyde. Unfortunately, acetaldehyde is toxic.
However, our bodies are amazing and they convert acetaldehyde into acetic acid.
Related: Running After Drinking Alcohol The Night Before
Converting all of the acetaldehyde takes time, however, and the longer the toxin remains in our bodies the worse our hangover symptoms are going to be.
So...Can Running Cure a Hangover or Not?
Unfortunately, running won’t help your body convert toxic acetaldehyde into acetic acid any faster.
For this reason, running won’t cure a hangover.
In addition, the diuretic effects of alcohol make curing a hangover with a run even more difficult.
After all, the alcohol has flushed your body of water and nutrients. In other words, dehydration.
Simply put, running won’t help you recover from a hangover.
Can Running Help 'Sweat Out' My Hangover?
While you can’t sweat away all of your symptoms, a run may help mask some of them.
Endorphins Can Get You Through a Run
In fact, running will release endorphins.
And the release of endorphins during and after exercise may help you feel a little better, if only temporarily.
If you try this out, and your endorphins have masked your symptoms, you would be wise to use these glorious moments to consume a ton of water.
In this sense, you are not sweating away your hangover, but simply tricking yourself into feeling better.
RELATED: Is it Bad to Drink Coffee Before Running?
Whether tricking your body into feeling better (endorphins), or actually recovering from a hangover (nutrients and time), the results are similar temporarily; feeling a little better.
What is that Funky Smell When Hangover Sweating
Additionally, you may notice an interesting, putrid smell when sweating while hungover.
In fact, when you drink, if your body can’t metabolize all of the alcohol. As a result, the body turns alcohol into other byproducts like diacetic acid, carbon dioxide, and water.
For instance, diacetic acid smells close to vinegar.
Then, these byproducts make their way out of your system via urination, sweating and breathing. So, this is what you smell when sweating during a hangover.
Furthermore, while sweating out these byproducts isn’t a bad thing, it won’t get rid of your hangover symptoms.
Running with a Hangover can Worsen Symptoms
Additionally, not everyone’s body will release enough endorphins on a run to counter the symptoms of a hangover.
In fact, running on a hangover may actually make your hangover worse.
For instance, up and down motions and continual impacts of running can make a hangover headache worse.
Additionally, nausea can persist during a run causing you to throw up, possibly many times…trust me, I know from first-hand experience.
Finally, if your body ends up reacting poorly to running during a hangover, you will regret ever leaving your bed.
How to Recover From a Hangover
Now, while hangovers manifest as headaches, nausea, and vomiting there more happening internally that makes curing a hangover impossible. Remember, these symptoms are just what we see.
For instance, you are dehydrated and stripped of many nutrients your body craves.
Sure, the headache is bad, but if vomiting or diarrhea have been a part of your hangover you are probably more dehydrated than you are willing to admit.
Drinking tons of water, keeping food down, and time are the only ways to fight the cause of a hangover.
Running With a Hangover Can Be Bad For Your Body
Now, no one wants to be the jerk that cancels on a running partner the morning of a run. However, it may be the right thing to do.
For instance, when presented with a choice consider that you are already dehydrated and depleted of electrolytes.
Yes, you feel bad as a result of these issues, but it can get much much worse.
Risk of Injury Increases Drastically
Plus, running while hungover increases your risk of muscle cramps, pulls, strains, and more.
So, is running this morning worth knocking yourself out of commission for a couple of days, a week, or longer?
Hangover Runs can Cause Prolonged Soreness
Additionally, even if you start and finish without cramping, hangovers increase the effects of muscles soreness.
And I’m not talking about the standard soreness you get from your normal run, but a deep prolonged soreness that can persist for days.
This type of soreness is the result of electrolyte imbalances and compounding dehydration.
Alcohol dehydrates you, period. Dehydration makes muscles sore and they take longer to repair themselves.
You’re going to be sore. For a while. Just ask yourself if it is worth it.
Benefits of Waiting to Run When Hungover
I know what you are thinking, “of course it is beneficial to wait to run when I don’t feel like death.”
And this is true to a point, however the main benefits of waiting have little to do with physical comfort.
In fact, it has more to do with how the additional time allows you to make real improvements to your physiology.
According to The Cleveland Clinic, “time is the most important factor to hangover recovery…” (Source).
Putting time between your body and the worst of your hangover is a good idea. This time can be used to add hydration and nutrients to your body before stressing it with a run.
Five Benefits of Not Running When Hungover
- Have more energy for your run
- Be able to perform better with regards to times or distance
- Use your workout day to better progress your training program
- Reduce the risk of injury or prolonged soreness
- You may actually enjoy your run
You may not want to miss your long run, and maybe you don’t have to.
Instead of hitting the trails at 8 am see how pushing the start back a couple of hours improves your condition.
Better yet, transition your morning run to an evening run. This could allow you to get a ton of hydration and electrolytes back into your system. Plus, you could also take a nap which will go a long way in speeding your recovery.
Resting While Hungover May Be Better
If the goals of your running schedule are to improve your time, distance, or endurance you need to ask yourself whether running while hungover would progress or hinder those goals.
More often than not you will find that the answer is: running on a hangover will hinder your goals.
What good is running when the act of running in your less than optimal physical condition could set you back drastically?
Related: 7 Ways to Stop Trots in Their Tracks
To Run or Not To Run on a Hangover: The Final Decision
If you are reading this post, and need to head out to a cross country practice, you may be stuck with a hard decision. Try to make it through your run, or tell your coach you are too ill. Neither of these will be beneficial for you, but these are likely your only options.
For those of us not running on a team, we can push back our run back to later in the day.
It is easy for routines to get ingrained in our very fiber. When something happens that impacts that routine it can feel as though all is lost.
This doesn’t have to be your mindset. Life happens, and you are allowed to make some adjustments to your standard running routine. This is especially true when it comes to decisions that affect your health.
Image Credit Antoine K | (source) | Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)