Day 3 Thoughts: Accountability

Growing up in a family of smokers had an impact on my life, one that lasted a couple of decades.  By the time I was 14 years old, I too had picked up the habit.  At first it was only a couple here and there, usually about two to three a day, but that only lasted a few months.  Before I knew it, I was smoking nearly a half a pack (10 cigarettes) a day.  By the time I graduated high school I was up to a pack a day.  Shortly after graduation I was smoking non-filtered Camels at almost two packs a day. 

I ran track in high school and managed to post sub-one minute ¼ miles.  I joined the US Marines and managed to post 19 minute 3 mile PFT runs (though my worst time was around 26 minutes), and all this while being a smoker.  After my honorable discharge in 1998 I vowed to myself not to run again.  I managed to keep that vow until a friend asked me to run a race that was to support a local autism unit.  Still smoking 20 years later I began running again.  Before I knew it I was running my first half marathon, then a second, and a third, but I was still smoking.  Then I ran a full marathon on my 36^th birthday.  Within an hour and a half of finishing I was lighting a cigarette while wearing my marathon t-shirt!  22 years of smoking and still running.

Before I go too far I must confess that my wife and kids have been on me forever about quitting.  Many of my running friends have been there too.  What surprises many is that I run, and smoke, and post times better than people my age or younger who do not smoke.  Why is that? 

Recently I watched a movie that sparked something inside me that has never been there before: a desire to honestly want to quit.  No, it wasn’t a movie about the damage smoking can do; nothing about lung cancer, COPD or emphysema, no it was nothing of the sort.  The movie was about running a marathon and followed several people on their quests (whether first or 31^st marathon).  Having already run the 26.2 miles twice as a smoker the movie made me wonder, how much faster could I be if I was smoke free?

When I finished my first marathon in 5 hours 5 minutes I was disappointed to say the least.  I was happy that I had finished, but not with the time.  However, I don’t believe it was my smoking that kept me from getting closer to my goal or 4 hours 45 minutes.  It was 89 degrees in Chicago when I crossed the finish line, heat more than anything else slowed me down that day.  When my next marathon came up 11 months later I posted a 4 hour 21 minute time, still as a smoker.  I have posted a sub-two hour half marathon time, a 54 minute 10k – all as a smoker.

The movie had got me thinking, what if I did quit?  Could I run faster, longer, better OR, would I notice very little change?  Either way, my life would be greatly enhanced by not smoking; not to mention lengthened!  So I made the decision, when what I had was gone, that was it.  I wouldn’t spend any more of my time or money on a habit that could wreak havoc on my body.  I’ve told my wife and kids the same thing.  I have been telling friends and co-workers the same thing; all to have a greater amount of accountability.  I have stopped smoking before for short periods of time (3 to 5 months), but have never decided that I was going to quit permanently.  My decision this time around is a planned quitting, something I hope never to return to.  By reading this, I hope you too will keep me accountable to this.

With this brief history in mind, know this: at the end of March I will be running the Ohio River Road Runners Club Marathon in Xenia, the place where I posted my sub-two hour half marathon last April.  This time around though, I will be running the full 26.2 miles.  My goal?  Beat last year’s Air Force Marathon time of 4 hours 21 minutes.  By the time that race rolls around I would have been a non-smoker for at least 50 days.  Five weeks after that I will be running the Flying Pig Marathon here in Cincinnati, where I hope to get even faster!

Runner With a Reason has another reason: get better and faster as a non-smoker AND support those who are like me.  My focus and attention for autism has not diminished, but RWR is adding another facet to who and what I am, and why I run. 

This is day three of no smoking . . . so far, so good.