Breathing Easy

December 28, 2009

Approaching 40 this past summer, I had smoked for 24 years and had never accomplished anything athletic in my life. A trip up the stairs would leave me winded. I had a pack a day habit and had unsuccessfully tried every pharmaceutical approach available to quit smoking. It was not until I tied on a pair of running shoes that I was finally able to quit.

That is not to say I quit smoking right away. I bought the shoes in 2007, a pair of New Balance 1223. They looked good, especially when I wore them out to the patio to smoke another cigarette. I thought they looked particularly good when I walked down to the grocery store for a case of Killian’s and a bag of Doritos.

After losing my dad to cancer in 2007, and watching my mom’s health deteriorate since then, I became increasingly determined to give tobacco the boot. Still, it was not until I learned of my cousin’s success that I figured out how I might actually quit.

The Captain is two years my senior and had smoked all his life. Then, in 2008, he started running and quit smoking. He began running regularly, counting calories, and losing weight.

On June 16 of this year, I smoked my last cigarette at midnight. I went to bed and, after a good night’s sleep, strapped on my running shoes and went for a jog around the block. Actually, I should say I jogged from my driveway to the neighbor’s driveway and walked the rest of the way.

I was terribly out of shape. The pounding my lungs took that first morning was enough to keep me off cigarettes for the rest of the day. Although I wanted the pleasure of a cigarette, I knew I could not suffer one. I kept up the routine for the next several days.

It did not take long for my knees to complain.

My doctor prescribed physical therapy, and I started riding my bike instead. That eventually led to riding the 100 mile course in Pelotonia in August but that is another story.

Now that the weather has turned colder, I have put the bike away. My physical therapist has cleared me to start running again, so I am working up to the Commit to Be Fit 5K in the spring and the Columbus Marathon in the fall. At the moment I am running one mile, walking two, and I have not had a cigarette in six months.

As for the Captain, he ran the Akron Marathon this past fall and qualified for Boston.

He really had to set the bar high.

Bastard.