From a Smoker to a Marathon Runner

by Michelle Hodges
(San Jose CA)

I was determined to give up smoking so I came up with a plan: For every cigarette I smoked that day, I would have to run that number of miles.

So right off the bat I started running between five and ten miles per day.

The running was so hard on my lungs that I was able to quit smoking after just a month of long distance running.

But when I quit smoking, I didn't give up running; rather, I gradually increased my mileage (always running in the middle of the day when the sun was at its warmest). After a couple months of exercise torture, I came to love running and the peace it brought following a twenty mile run.

A year later I completed the Seattle Marathon.

Michelle

Note from Dr. Dan

Michelle,

I never thought about running to help stop smoking, but that is a great idea.

Once you get used to it, running is very relaxing. It could help with the anxiety -- and help fight the weight gain -- that people get when they stop smoking.

Dr. Dan