Anybody out there been a smoker in the past? I’m looking for motivation to quit. I know the health benefits, but was wondering if anyone has been a smoker as a triathlete and then quit. I was wondering what kind of change they noticed in terms of finishing times. I am finishing my third season in a few weeks and primarily race 70.3, with my PR around 5:23, I also finished my first IM this year in 12:55, but was limited by blisters on the run, costing me about an hour or more. I’m in my late 20’s, and have been smoking about 12 years, 1/2 pack a day. I’ve tried many times, patch, gum, cold turkey and usually can’t make it past a week. Any motivational tips? Thanks very much
Auricular therapy. Its frickin’ awesome.
Get a prescription for Chantix. I’m not a smoker, I dipped 4 cans a day. I quit 3 weeks ago, the 1st week was bad but not terrible, but after that it’s been pretty easy. The Chantix will really, really help but you’re not going to quit unless you really want to.
Performance gains? It’s too early into quitting and too late into the season for me to tell. Probably have a better idea next summer. Smoking is not going to make you faster.
if you quit, you will go to Kona 
(that might not be true, but it might motivate ya)
.
Unless you have a medical problem or predisposition to the negative effects of smoking, screw it, the occassional smoke is one of life’s greatest blessings, right up there with a cold beer, hot wings, and a beautiful woman. As a prior service Marine and some one who has completed about 150 tris and countless other races, I’ve been a full time smoker in the 80’s (3 packs at times per day) and a part timer the past 15 years. Maybe every so many weeks I’ll go have beers with my friends, typically wearing the shirt of the race I did that morning, have a bunch of beers and burn a half pack. There is a price to pay for everything, whether it is bad food, cold beer, Snickers bars, a good smoke, etc. Shit no, it aint good for you but neither are the beers and other guilty pleasures most of the prima donnas out there espouse.
I’ve had a few PR’s on a few hours sleep, a lot of beer, and a pack of smokes. Yeah it was dumb but I fricking smiled the entire time. Doing the Geezer Jock Masters Championship next week and plan on coming home with some hardware. Then I’m going to go burn one…
I smoked from age 15-20. Back in those days, many years ago in the late 60’s, as a high school kid, if you didn’t smoke you didn’t rate.
The hardest thing in my life I ever did was quit smoking. For five years after I always missed that first smoke in the morning, that smoke after a meal, and whenever in a bar (back then they weren’t non smoking).
Even today I’ll sit down and savour a Cuban cigar once about once a year. One of life’s small and naughty pleasures.
In contrast, my dad smoked a pack or more a day for thirty years. He started smoking for “his nerves” as a fighter pilot in WWII. One day he decided he was going to quit and he did. It was that simple. He’s now 82 and has been smoke free since the mid 70’s
It’s a combo of physiologic/psychologic addiction.
My best friend tried everything and found that hypnosis eventually worked for him.
IMO, nobody will quit smoking unless they really want to. That’s the main factor.
Just do it! Trust me, as a reformed 20 year smoker, I’m so glad to be rid of it. Sure it’s hard to quit, but believe me it’s worth it!
Hi,
I’m in Canada, and the latest drug here that is heads and tails better than any other product is CHAMPIX (varenicline tartrate). All the studies prove it to be the most successful. They were also the longest studies in duration conducted.
I’m a Respiratory Therapist and my colleague teaches a smoking cessation class. This is what I know she recommends. I just went to a lecture on this at a Respiratory conference.
They said Zyban and some other meds like it are basically antidepressants, but weren’t as effective. Zyban is better than any nictotine replacement therapy. These products take too long to get the chemical reaction in the brain like smoking does (almost an instant nicotine response), so more relapse problems. Acupuncture and hypnotic type of treatments were not proven to be effective in the studies that were presented. Good luck. The average is 5 tries before quitting for good, so don’t give up!
Marty
Dude…4 cans a day? How? I think I’m a heavy dipper and it takes me 3 days to get through a can. You must have had a “freshy” in during every waking moment.
I just can see how it’s possible.
No sh*t! I saw that too. I am a diper as well - been trying, okay thinking about, quitting for years. 4 cans a say is a serious habit. I do about 4 cans every two weeks! Might give the Chantix a go though.
Depends on the job I’d guess… and the size of the “pinch”…
I’d say do what it takes it stop also. I’m a lung doctor and smoking always makes things worse. While your body might not be one of those people who get’s emphysema, you’ll still be more suceptible to Lung cancer or heart disease. I agree with the other posters.
Chantix has proven to be fairly helpful. Zyban works. But whatever it takes, it is DEFINITELY BETTER to quit, no questions asked. You don’t want to possibly be a pulmonary cripple in 30 years, just because you wanted to light up, it really isn’t worth it.
And please, I’m not being judgemental, as a doctor, I really do see some bad stuff, and you really want to avoid it if you can.
Good luck with trying to quit if you decide to go down that path.
I live in France where everyone smokes-police, gym teachers, principals, everyone lights up. What I find so amazing is the people who can smoke 1 or 2 cigarettes per day or per week, or just in a bar like the above writer. There’s no addiction. Sometimes they can go a month w/o a butt. unbelievable!
I’m sure that this is not good for you but compared to other things they could be doing, they think so what. I am told here that i have to respect others and if they want to smoke so be it. ;-(
That gets me too…all the people who have one cigarette a week or similar…how can they do it?
At least now the smoking ban in restaurants etc means there isn’t some selfish wanker who lights up a cigar while many people are still eating.
Re: quitting smoking - I quit cold turkey from one day to the next after seeing what it can do to you (being in a 30 bed lung ward in an English hospital seeing chronic emphysema, cancer etc makes it pretty easy to stop)
You “just” need to want to stop - if you have the motive then you’ll stop easily.
During the months afterwards I noticed immediate benefits such as easier breathing, less tightness in the morning and reduced asthma.
So even if the health aspects don’t make you want to stop, maybe the performance gains will 
Zyban…best damn drug out there. I quit over 7 years ago after a pack a day habit. I didn’t start running until the day after I quit though so I can’t help you with race times.
Seriously though, if you REALLY want to quit and you have to really want it otherwise you are just fooling yourself, then I can’t recommend Zyban enough. My Dr has had an 86% success rate with his patients.
http://www.biovail.com/english/products/default.asp?s=1&product=253&viewer=patient&state=displayProduct&country=Canada
In terms of motivation, just remember that most of it is in your head. You have to break all your old habits of getting up and having a cigarette with coffee or whatever you do first think in the morning. If you have smoking friends get away from them for a while because they will not help you quit. If you take the same route to work in your car every day and smoke while you are driving, drive another route. You get the idea, do everything different so your mind and body associates all the new stuff to not smoking. You CAN do this. If you need some moral support, email me and I will help you out.
It will be the best thing you will ever do.
i quit about 11 years ago and fantasize about smoking on a regular basis. a few weeks ago, at my uncle’s funeral, i did smoke a cigarette. in my head i thought, “i could pick this back up with no problem”, even though i really don’t want to, i could see how easy it is to relapse. it’s a strong strong addiction; some people miss smoking many years after quitting.
for me, the motivation to quit came from not wanting to live like a “smoker”. sedentary, with lungs not able to do very much. i know there are people, like you, who smoke and are active. but you are the exception.
anyway, you have to decide you want to quit bad enough to actually do it. in my experience, much like drinking, it takes hitting “rock bottom” before wanting to get off that crazy train (of smoking, or any other addiction).
so, the question really does need to go back to you. what are you living for? what makes you want to quit? why is that important to you? is it important enough to go through the pains of quitting?
it is hard, but totally possible. just like drinking, i quit smoking cold turkey. one day i looked at my pack of smokes and thought, “if i don’t quit know, i’ll be chained to a pack forever”. i stamped out the cig and that was that. i gained weight right after quitting, but then lost it by running marathons.
my friends who still smoke look like hell. they are significantly more aged, less active, and unhealthy. this is exactly what i wanted to avoid…i’m fine having a random fantasy about smoking instead of being a real smoker.
I’ve been a reformed smoker for about 10 years now (and I’m only 28), and I’m so happy that I quit.
I have something of an addictive personality. I had to quit drinking before I could finally quit smoking. There were times when I would quit for almost a year, then would start smoking again after a few drinks. I finally quit for good about ~13 years ago.
Watching my mom die of cancer at 56 after smoking all her life helped solidify my decision. Since then I’ve been a hospice volunteer and have sat with many good people as they’ve suffered and died from the effects of a lifetime of smoking.
I have a special kind of hatred for tobacco companies. I try not to give them any of my money, but that can be tough since they own so much.
When I quit, it helped me to have something to do with my hands. I kept one of those super bouncy balls in my hands for a few months and was constantly bouncing it. Also, I took walks after dinner when the craving for a cigarette was worst. That’s what led me into running, and now ~13 years later I just finished my first ironman.
Good luck quitting!
i took the approach that i never wanted to have 2 cigarettes ever again and figured if i did not have one i could never have the second. made it much easier
I was in the same boat you were. I smoked heavily from 13-29, then quit for good (5 years ago). I tried many times, using the patch, and eventually was able to quit. Yes, quitting makes a huge difference. And after a year or so, you will be utterly repulsed by even the thought of smoking.
I absolutely second the Chantix path though. That thing is a miracle drug. Way better than zyban. It it specific to withdrawl and the reward center in the brain. My mom smoked for 40 years and tried many times to quit. She took Chantix and not only did she quit, I saw her about a week after cessation and I didn’t even know she was quitting (that is to say she wasn’t tearing the head off every living thing near her). It’s been probably a year now for her and no relapse.
The thing I would obsess about if I were you is that triathletes work out hard and our lungs adapt to bring in more oxygen. I would be willing to bet, but don’t know for sure, that smoking damages our lungs more because of this.
Good luck.