Comeback after smoking

Yes. Just keep at it, knowing that it'll take a few months to make running even moderately fun for your lungs and a couple of years to get yourself hammering again. I did the same thing in 1991 after 7 years of smoking. I was able to run near my best after 2 years.

it's actually pretty common for runners to indulge in other vices. it's all part of your ocd/addictive personality. i took off 9 years and smoked. within 2 years of quitting i was running well (sub-2:50 marathon/female), and in another 2 years i ran national standard times for the 10. you'll get there.

sounds like you're just a big waste of talent.

Sounds like you're a pathetic human being.

Sounds like you're a worthless piece of shit!

Thanks for those who replied seriously. Does anyone have any ideas about how to structure the early stages of such a comeback. How quickly to increase mileage/regularity of running etc.

being the waste of talent that i am, i don't know if my experience will be of any help . . . but . . . when i quit smoking and started running again it was purely for health. i didn't start running again to make a come back. i had even said i would never compete again (long story). i started really slowly, running between 30-60 minutes at a time. my lungs didn't give me as much trouble as the rest of my body. i remember having a lot of foot issues the first 6 months. don't put too much pressure on yourself to do too much too soon. above all, remember that running is a lifetime endeavor. even after you retire from competition you can still find joy in the movement. along with the running, remember these 2 words: core strength. do something to keep your core balanced and strong. you'll avoid a lot of injuries down the road.

She sure as hell isn't prepubescent in any of the pictures, so no, he's not a pedophile.

You say that your lungs didn't give you as much trouble as the rest of your body. So would you say that the reason that it took some time to get back had more to do with the fact that you had taken so much time off than the fact that you were a smoker? Like if you had taken the same amount of time off but never smoked would it have been just as hard to get back into it?

Harry Kooter wrote:

You say that your lungs didn't give you as much trouble as the rest of your body. So would you say that the reason that it took some time to get back had more to do with the fact that you had taken so much time off than the fact that you were a smoker? Like if you had taken the same amount of time off but never smoked would it have been just as hard to get back into it?

i think so. 9 years of inactivity is a long time. i didn't pick up other activities; no cycling or swimming. i went camping and "hiking" (think burning man type events/hiking). but i was built like paris hilton back then . . . skinny but no muscle . . . really gross. the lungs may have given me more problems than i realized, but i didn't notice it when i could barely stand because my feet felt like nails were being driven into them.

Peter Maher spent several years drinking and smoking and balloned to 250 pounds, then came back to running and ran 2:11.46

wasn\'t it bill rodgeres who took a year off from running and smoked like a pack a day then returned and won boston

ran 3:59/14:55/25:30 in college

graduated

smoked 2 packs/day for 8 years

quit

got up to 210 lbs

started running

ran 2:35 last month at 40.

Go *very* slowly. Give yourself 6-8 weeks of 3xweek. then see how you feel.

Just run the pace that feels comfortable.

Your body will start rejecting all the smoking residue in the first 5-6 weeks and you will love the feeling of sucking in a breath of fresh air.

Within a year of giving up smoking I qualified for Boston at 50.That was after more than 20 years of smoking.

It was not much above a quick walk initially but progress was fast.

My times are still improving 6 years on.

Kicking the filthy habit was the hardest thing I have ever done.

Running gives Me a good reason not to start again.

Good Luck and Well done.

It seems crazy, but I have 2 friends that run and smoke. I am not kidding, they were in the bar smoking within hours of running a marathon. One friend was smoking in a bar right after qualifying for Boston. It's weird because she wants to get better, has a competitive spirit, loves running, etc, but not enough to quit, I guess. I guess the real problem is that she is running faster now as a smoker than when she was a non-smoker and she is still improving. I wonder at what point her smoking will limit her.

There are many examples of people who have kind of gotten lost, perhaps started smoking, and then decided later to return to a healthier life style. I think there was this one runner who was fairly successful after quitting smoking....Bill Rodgers. You started back running a little later than him, but there is still hope. Give those darn things up and don't look back. Have you ever gone through the process of watching a person die of lung cancer. It is a very unpleasant ride filled with sadness, hope then sadness then death. If you look at the books that project longevity after diagnosis, only about 5% make it beyond 5 years - most (80%)within 2 years. At present early diagnosis is almost non existent, since it is a soft tissue that is not readily detected using X-rays. Your heading the right direction, you still have potentially some awesome running ahead of you!

Does smoking really have that much of an impact, and if so, how much? I imagine that a cigarette or two a day is not going to make much of a difference to a distance athlete, while a four-pack-a-day smoker is bound to have trouble doing the 800.

I don't know about the long term but running at the moment, it feels like I have someone else's body! I used to cruise 10 mile runs at 6min pace at 17/18 and now it is hard to manage 15mins at this pace. I smoked around ten a day so i was not a really heavy smoker.

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