There used to be a guy who'd show up to the local road races smoking, run and win his age group in the 10k, and then resume smoking. Strangest contradictory behaviour in my opinion, and he eventually died of lung cancer in his 40s despite being relatively healthy otherwise.

running actually helped me quit smoking. i'd hold off on the cigarettes all day, and when i finally couldn't handle it anymore in the afternoon, i'd force myself to go for a run, away from my smokes. after i was done, i'd feel so refreshed, i didn't want to smoke for the rest of the day. i now run 10ks regularly and am training for a half-marathon, and havent smoked in two years.

I've been off the cancer sticks for exactly a year now, after smoking at various intensities for more than a decade. I ran in a half-assed way while I was smoking (i.e., maybe two 5k's a week); I increased my frequency and distance after I quit and managed a half-marathon by summer and plan to compete in two more this year.

The answer to this one is fairly obvious. Run.

I havent' had a smoke in ages! Even a primetime! Yay for me!

I smoked for years and took up running about 6 weeks after quitting. That was 3 years ago and I have now run 37 5k's, 12 Half Marathons and ran my first Marathon last april. As you get further away from your quit date, you'll find it your endurance getting easier to build, but I'm so glad I did both - quit and start!

Kudos for quitting!

I used to smoke too and am also an avid runner, in fact I ran during the 3 years I smoked. I am able to run longer and feel great after only 6 months of quitting. I don't have any weird coughs and I've found that running even helps reduce cravings (if you still ever get them).

I've recently quit smoking too. I was between 10 and 20 a day, depending. I've just taken up running and although I can feel the damage done, I also know that it will get easier as time passes.
I guess don't push yourself too hard when just starting your running, otherwise you'll only hurt yourself.
Still...many congrats1

Congrats!! Today is my 92nd day without a cigarette! I run all the time, it's unbelievable how much better it feels to run and BREATHE now, even after only 3 months..

So what's a smoking runner to do? I still sneak off and smoke but I run almost every day. The funny thing was when I first started to run. I would smoke weed. So I was running high as a kite. I ran long and far. I must admit, it really helped me. Now I just run. (No weed involved.) That's because my boyfriend made me stop. But I still sneak a cig. smoke here and there.

I run 4-7 miles a day either outdoors or on a track as well as smoke between a quarter to three quarters of a pack a day and it doesn't really affect my performance (although i wont have one within an hour of going). There have been times when I've gone a day or two without one before a run and noticed that I had a better oxygen intake, HOWEVER the boost in respiration made me tend to overexert myself from the get-go and threw off my pacing substantially and as a result and I felt as if I was overdosing on oxygen and wore myself out quicker. Not smoking within roughly 24 hours of a run for me feels like going from training at a higher altitude in thinner air to running through a swamp in 100% humidity. And if you think about it, up until recently in history, every human being (including any soldier, athlete, etc you can think of) spent their whole life inhaling a ton of smoke from either wood-burning or coal-burning stoves (as primary heat sources) as well as substantial extraneous air pollution due to lack of regulations and of course tobacco smoke. Smoking has only grown out of taste in the past 3-4 decades due to the surfacing of obvious health risks (which I fully acknowledge but don't want to get into), so anyone who ever physically exerted themselves prior to the past lets say 30-40 years was probably doing so with a lot more wear and tear on their lungs and you didn't hear about how the guys in WWII (who were smoking gov. issued filterless lucky strikes in excess of a pack a day) panting as they faught due to tobacco smoke, or how the legendary spartans had to take a breather every 10 minutes because they had been inhaling wood smoke as well as dirt and anything else you can think of every day since the day they were born. So if you wanna smoke and run, go ahead and smoke and run. Although I'd stick to non-menthol lights and keep it around or under a half-pack a day.