I just read this interesting article in the paper yesterday about these elite marathon runners who are also smokers. Three of them qualified for the Boston marathon- so it's not like they suck.
The article basically said that running doesn't negate the health consequences of smoking, which I didn't think it would. They did say that an active smoker is healthier than an inactive smoker- again, seems logical. I was just interested in the fact that they can still run marathons while smoking...
I'm down to a pack a week of light cigarettes. Most of the smoking I do is at work...it does help my stress and stomach, but no need to tell me about all the bad shit smoking does. I watched my grandma die of smoking-related cancer- it was horrible. I know it's bad; I do it anyway.
My question is- are there any other runner/ smokers there who feel it really impacts your running? Or any kind of cardio? I can 4 miles at 6.7MPH fairly easily these days. I want to run a half marathon in the summer, or at least a 10K. I used to do lots of track in high school, and I'm trying to get back into my top form. But a friend of mine flat out didn't believe I could do that and still smoke. I'm sure it hurts my cardio system, but this article made me wonder how big the impact really is?

