Runners Who Smoke or, Smokers Who Run (Read 3112 times)

A couple cigars and I'd be puking my guts out and trying to figure out why my mouth tastes like I ate out of a litterbox.

 

Ah, bachelor parties.

You just need some Talisker to cover up the taste.

Every time I play hockey there are a few guys outside the rink finishing their smokes before going into to dress for the game. And they are usually some of the better skaters on the ice.  Not sure where I'm going with that. Sometimes it's best to not try to make sense of these things. 

Or a governor.

... cigars make your mouth taste like cat pee.

This statement begs the question of how you know what cat pee tastes like....

See, I always thought the neighbor's cat was taking a dump in my mouth in the middle of the night. Here, again, we have a serious difference in opinion. To me, there is a definite cat shit taste, but no cat piss taste.

I've seen doctors in nurses endure sub-freezing temps in their lab coats to get off the property of a major US cancer center in order to get in their smokes.

 

I've seen people who work on lung cancer drug programs smoking outside the office.

 

All of these people are very aware that ~80% of smokers will eventually suffer a major illness because of this habit and 50% will die from a smoking-related illness.

 

What sense do I make of these things?

-Addiction sucks

-Don't be so quick to judge people by it, you don't know how they got there

-People (even doctors -- gasp) are human and subject to human weakness to a powerful force

-Despite the wonders of the human brain it has a hard time ignoring a quick chemical fix for a rational long-term benefit

-I'm glad all I ever tried were cigars that made me want to vomit and stay away

-Don't TRY and make sense of it, it's probably not there

 

I've known a few decent runners who smoked but not heavily.  I've known a lot of heavy smokers who can't manage a flight of stairs.  That's all I've got.  That and that cigars make your mouth taste like cat pee.

I have seen a couple of guys light up right after finishing a 50km ultra and yet another, right after finishing a marathon. But the absolute worst is seeing a runner somewhere around the 31-32km mark in a marathon light up .. i was just too shocked for words. Of course, he didnt look like he was going to seriously threaten the remaining 10 kms.

I used to smoke until about 3 years ago .. my then-gf-now-wife told me that the aforementioned epithet can only become reality if i kicked the cancer stick. Since i was anyway searching for an excuse to quit, this was as good as any. Cold turkey. And it worked.

I started running around the same time but i can quite clearly recollect that the first few runs i did would leave me breathless and stopping to rein in the labored breathing about 10minutes into the run. And as your lungs start cleaning themselves, you will tend to cough up a lot of phlegm and thats quite a bother too.