WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. We want to be encouraged by your successes as you have waged the war against excess weight and other health matters. In each issue of our newsletter we will print one or more stories as we all try to encourage and inspire one another to stay the course. Submissions must be less than 1000 words and may be emailed to peter@speakwell.com ». Please include your name and your city.

Running Away From the Pack

 by Scott Crinson

Today is August 28th. It's pretty much just like any other mundane Thursday. However, four years ago, on this day, I made a decision and acted on it. That decision changed me; it changed my life, and perhaps today would be a good day to share that story with you. You see, four years ago today, I decided to quit smoking. Any of you reading this article who has quit smoking (successfully or otherwise) already know all about the withdrawal symptoms, the cravings, and the emotional roller coaster ride that a "quit attempt" brings with it. I won't bore you with all those gory details. Instead, I'd like to offer the rest of my story up for your consideration, just in case something in it resonates with you.

I grew up in a small town in Ontario as the youngest of three children, in a reasonably health-conscious family. My parents smoked in their teens and early 20s, but kicked the habit long before I came on the scene. By the time they adopted me in 1970, it had probably been 20+ years since either one of them had lit up a smoke. None of my friends smoked, and I was a very active kid. I ran for local the high school track team, and biked everywhere I needed to go. I was only ever tempted once to try smoking. I hated it, and the guilt of even trying forced me to confess to my mother the next day.

I finished high school, and went directly into military college. Fortunately, my military career was brief – only 2 years. I ran competitively for the College during that time, and was still "smoke-free" when I left the military in early 1990. That, as the saying goes, is when the wheels fell off. I started smoking within 6 months of leaving the College—I fell in with a group of friends who all smoked, and it was just too easy to pick up the routine from them. I found smoking to be a very social habit—don't forget—this was 1990 ... smoking was still socially acceptable back then. One became several, which became many ... you get the idea.

Over the next 14 years, I smoked—a lot. I was smoking as much as 25 or more cigarettes a day. I smoked when I had coffee, after I ate, when I was bored, when I was driving, when I was sitting in traffic ... pretty much anything and everything was a trigger for me. I tried quitting more times than I could count. My success rate was, well, zero if you consider that I kept going back! I managed a few weeks, at most a few months, and then along would come ... something ... anything, really. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I just couldn't seem to break the cycle.

That changed for me four years ago. My wife is an ex-smoker—she is much brighter than I am. She only smoked for about 5 years and quit almost 20 years ago. She still hates the smell of cigarette smoke, and for the first couple of years we were together, she tolerated me smoking, but just barely. With her support and encouragement, I decided to quit—for good. I switched to nicotine patches to avoid the physical withdrawal, and got through that part. Then, on October 1st, 2004, I did something I hadn't done in years. I strapped on an old pair of runners and went for a run. In spite of my years of smoking and general lack of physical activity, I had it stuck in my head that I could run 10 kilometres. My wife thought I was out of my mind, but being the supportive soul that she is, she not only wished me luck, but insisted on following me around my chosen 10K course in her car! I won't kid around here—that first run hurt. I had to stop and walk a bunch of times to give my beleaguered lungs a break, but I finished it. My wife tells me that by the time I was done, my face had turned a rather alarming shade of purple. In spite of that somewhat shaky start, I stayed with it. I only ran 5 times that month—10K each time. Every run was a little bit faster than the one before it, so I kept on trying. By the end of December 2004, I was 10 minutes faster over that same 10K route. My lungs were healing, my legs were getting stronger, and I was developing a new addiction: endorphins!

The start of 2005 brought with it a crazy idea—why not train for a full marathon? Don't ask me why I decided to shoot for the full 42.2 km distance. Most sane people would probably have chosen the half-marathon first. Not me. I decided that I would use a 10K race here in Victoria as my "barometer" for the marathon attempt. If I could run 10K in 45 minutes (or less!) then I would take on the training for a full marathon in the fall. On April 24th, 2005 I toed the starting line of the Times Colonist 10K along with about 10,000 other runners. I ran a pleasantly surprising 42:04! Not too shabby for an ex-smoker-turned-runner-who-quit-smoking-only-8-months-ago!

The journey from a 10K race in April to a full marathon in October of the same year was an exciting one for me. The details of the training and preparation are important, but secondary to the purpose of this piece of writing. In brief, I trained 4 or 5 days a week, I logged over 1200 km in training mileage, and went through at least 2 pairs of running shoes. On October 9th, 2005, I lined up for the 26th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon. I ran 3:17:54 ... still a personal best to date. One additional bonus: I qualified for the Boston Marathon as well. And to think ... I had quit smoking only 13 months previously.

Fast forward to today ... I'm still smoke-free. Running has become my passion. I've logged close to 10,000 km since that first, very painful 10K run. I run 6 days a week now, I maintain a (mostly) healthy diet, and best of all, I know I've finally kicked the habit—for good. Any time I've been even remotely tempted to return to my unhealthy ways, I think about all the time, effort, energy (and sweat!) that I've devoted to running, and I realize that I wouldn't throw that all away just for one lousy cigarette.

Vital Stats:
Age: 39
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: approx 145 lbs
Heaviest weight: about 175 lbs, early 2000 or 2001

Personal Bests:
Fastest 5K 18:42 (March 2008)
Fastest 10K 38:16 (July 2008)
Fastest 1/2 Marathon 1:25:03 (May 2008)
Fastest Marathon 3:17:54 (October 2005)
Boston Marathon 3:19:23 (April 2006)
This year's projected marathon finish time 2:59:00