I Want To Be A Runner, Not A Smoker
73I Want to Quit Smoking
Recently I came to the conclusion that I want to be a runner. An athletic runner. Not the type of runner I am now, one who runs away from my problems by smoking cigarettes.
Why I Started Smoking Cigarettes
I started smoking later than most people do. I was 30 years old. After a bad breakup from a man I deeply loved, a friend said to me he knew just what would make me feel better. He handed me a pack of smokes. I was an athlete back then and was morally against smoking cigarettes. I couldn't stand the smell of smoke on people and saw my grandfather die from cigarettes. Given my desperation, I needed something, anything, to help me feel better. I then made the worst mistake of my life, and took that first drag. I smoked half a pack that night.
At first, the cigarettes tasted horrible and repulsive. My body fought its hardest to get me to stop, making me cough and choke. That alone made me assume I would never use them again. Boy, was I wrong! Nicotine grabbed a hold of me like a horrible, hellish monster on steroids. When I left my friend's house, I shamefully stopped to buy my first pack of my own cigarettes. I told myself it would be my last. Yeah, right.
After trying to quit smoking multiple times and thousands of dollars later, I am now sadly a 2 pack a day smoker. My children hate that I smoke almost as much as I do. I'll quit soon, I will. Maybe even tomorrow.
My Health
During my 8 years of smoking, I have gone from being an active athlete and parent to a lazy, overweight person who doesn't have the energy to leave the house. Contrary to popular belief, smoking does not make a person thin. Exercise and eating healthy does. Smoking causes my children to suffer mentally because they know the risks I take my continuing to smoke. Also, I have lost my zest for life, causing me to be lazy with them and not go outside to play.
I have absolutely no business being a smoker. Smoking cigarettes has given me multiple health problems. I have asthma that is now developing into COPD, which is causing me to wake up several times a night because of coughing and shortness of breath. This has persisted for 2 months now, and doesn't seem to want to go away. I use my inhaler at least 4 times a day and have constant chest pain with a feeling of heaviness in my chest. It is not enjoyable.
I also have extra blood clotting factors in my body that can cause me to develop a DVT (deep vein thrombosis). A major cause of DVT's is smoking cigarettes. I had one during my first pregnancy, and it was very painful. If I develop a clot in my legs and it breaks loose, it can go to my lungs causing a pulmonary embulus that can kill me instantly. Or, the clot can go to my brain, causing a stroke.
In addition to the above heath problems, I have gallstones at an early age. My doctor attributes smoking as a factor in this.
Today, I am making the decision to make myself healthier. My kids have begged me for years to quit. No illusions in my head exist that quitting will be easier this time. My husband still plans on smoking, which will not make it easy on me. I will just have to keep my distance from him while he is smoking. It's important and vital to me. After all, I want to be a runner, a real runner, not a smoker.
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If you want to quit smoking, what are your main reasons for doing so?
See results without votingFlorida Space Coast
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Thank you, I fully intend to follow up. This hub is an additional motivator for me. I intend on reading it over to myself over and over again, whenever I feel the urge to smoke.
Very best with your quitting. Chose a quitting day and stick with you. It's a shame your husband won't quit as you're right it will make it difficult on you but not impossible. Are you going cold turkey or another method? And don't say maybe - get control back of your life and release those chains.
Thank you! I will give it everything I have this time. Plan on quitting Monday Jan 23. I have to quit cold turkey, as I have tried every other method known, except for hypnotism. My husband will hopefully quit once he sees I have followed through with it :-)
I was a smoker for eleven years. I quit numerous times, too, but it never took. Finally, I tied my quitting smoking to a goal that I wanted to achieve. I said when I achieve that goal is the day I quit smoking. It worked. I haven't picked up a cigarette in 25 years. Best of luck to you.
Thanks for the great advice! I guess since I want to be a runner I should start on the day I quit.
Go for it. Running can make you feel great but it can take time to get there. As someone who at one point was smoking when I should have been training for a half marathon I know the benefit of quitting. You will start to see a difference in your aerobic ability as your lungs recover and you start to work at your running.
My one tip for you is to start off slow and short and build up your runs.
Thank you so much for offering to help and your advice. I've done the C25K program twice in the past couple of years, at one point running 4 miles 3-4 times a week. I plan on trying the couch to 10K program this time. It looks like it should allow me to start out slow enough. Have the app for my I phone, now just waiting for Monday to come around and praying my shortness of breath is gone, and I am still a non smoker.
Tom Vogler Level 1 Commenter 4 months ago
You give excellent first person testimony. I hope you will follow up this article with stories of your successes and challenges in dealing with this monster in your life.