How Running is Helping Me Quit Smoking

Photo by Jenny Hill on Unsplash

Running and smoking cigarettes — I’d be hard-pressed to find two more diametrically opposed habits if I tried.

And yet, for several years, I’ve done both.

I’ve been an on-and-off smoker for over a decade, and an on-and-off runner for the past few years. Normally these habits haven’t overlapped, but occasionally they have, even for months at a time.

I’ve found myself coming home from a long run, my heart pounding, only to immediately light a cigarette. I’ve stood on the porch sucking down smoke and nicotine as the sweat from my run was still dripping to the ground.

I don’t have the words to describe how foolish I felt. (At least I never smoked during a run.)

These habits both represent what I want to change the most about myself, but in opposite directions. I’ve struggled for a long time to give up cigarettes, while at the same time working hard to run consistently.

I’m proud to say that lately, I’ve been experiencing success in both directions — it’s been nearly two months since I stopped smoking, and I’ve been running fairly regularly for about a year now. (Although, I did have to take a month and a half of that off for an injured leg.)

Don’t Use Bad Habits as Excuses

Although I felt foolish taking up running as a smoker, I’m glad I did.

I’m actually surprised how often I see questions about running and smoking pop up on running forums. Typically, it’s someone like me, who has been a long-time pack-a-day smoker and wants to pick up running but doesn’t think they’ll be able to.

My answer would be: don’t wait.

Smoking was awful for me, but what would be even worse is if I allowed that bad habit to become an excuse for me not to pick up a good habit. That kind of thinking would justify stalling any efforts to improve myself.

Instead, I chose to start running even as I continued to work on giving up smoking.

Did smoking interfere with my ability to run well? Of course, it did. The months that I ran as a smoker were always harder. I couldn’t breathe as easily, I ran slower, and I couldn’t last as long.