I can’t get this subject of runners who smoke out of my mind.

According to a poll of 2500 runners conducted by Runner’s World Magazine, 2% reported being smokers, but “in the closet” to their friends, and 4% reported being public smokers!

If you Google “smoking and runners” the blogosphere is full of the dark confessions of runners and other athletes who smoke, but keep it from their friends and teammates for fear of humiliation!  I even found one post by a woman runner who confessed having run multiple ultras and gone through tthrough pregnancies - smoking all the while.

Though it is not as common in the United States, as it is in other countries, there are A LOT of runners who smoke. Coach Joe English recently reported on his blog that in attending the Honolulu Marathon, which attracts 60% of its runners from Japan, that he actually saw runners participating in the race smoking WHILE running!  Do not try this at home!

Now, before any of you get the idea that maybe you don’t really need to quit, here’s a rundown on what smoking does to you and how it impacts your running:

Running well requires that you pull as much oxygen possible out of the air. That oxygen is transferred to the lungs where it is then transported to working muscles. Muscles need the oxygen to produce energy, so therefore anything you do to constrict the flow of oxygen will reduce performance.

Smoking causes:

Increased Airway Resistance in the Lungs
Smoking restricts the rate at which air moves in and out of your lungs. It also causes swelling of the mucous membranes in your airways, increasing airway resistance. The tars in smoke exacerbate the situation, the tar coating the lungs (remember those black-lung cut-aways from 5th grade?), reducing the elasticity of the air sacs and preventing absorption of oxygen into the blood stream.

Decreased Oxygen Absorption
Oxygen is transported to the blood by attaching to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. But carbon monoxide (which is delivered by cigarettes), has an even greater affinity to hemoglobin, increased levels of carbon monoxide in the blood also impairs the release of oxygen from the blood into the cells. This has a significant effect on the heart and muscle cells when there is a high demand for oxygen when you are running.

Reduced Endurance
Improving your fitness levels can improve oxygen intake by more than 20%, but smoking can reduce this effect by up to 10%. A study on adolescents who has smoked for 5 days before testing had an 8% reduction in endurance time when compared to a control group.

Bottom line – if you want to be the best you can be – you’ve gotta cut out the butts!

Image: Nina Katz | Smoking Hand
 

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Tags: smoking, running

Yes, I would actually LOVE to see this! Posted by: Karen on Sep 05, 2008 at 09:58 AM

Ha, ha...barely run and not smoke. That is a good one. Yeah, I can't imagine it either...but I really would love to see it. :-) Posted by: bmoore on Sep 04, 2008 at 07:06 PM

Wow. great article. Never been a smoker. Props to you B...for switching over :-) Posted by: KDface on Sep 04, 2008 at 12:01 PM

DOn't even get it. Never was a smoker, my father was tho...pretty sure he was a walker...walking while smoking...Crazy. Glad to hear you made it through B! Posted by: Sarah on Sep 03, 2008 at 01:53 PM

I can't imagine how they can smoke and run?!! I can barely run and not smoke! Seriously. That is funny, I just wrote about how there is a 'community' of runner/smokers. Posted by: Betty on Sep 03, 2008 at 12:06 PM