I was a smoker when I ran my first half marathon. I was a smoker when I completed my first triathlon. I was a smoker who was not only an athlete, but a personal trainer and group exercise instructor as well! I always WANTED to quit, but I really thought since I was pretty fit and able to do all these things, maybe it wasn't SO bad for me!?!
Reasons to quit kept piling up but I was really afraid. I thought smoking was keeping me "sane". Little did I know, it was the thing that was making me crazy.
It took awhile to see the benefits of quitting in my athletic performance, but now that I'm more than four months free, I'm noticing that it's all so much easier! I am faster, stronger, and I have way more endurance. My heart rate is lower and I recover faster from bursts of high intensity. The wind doesn't bother me as much anymore!! Wind used to be The Thing that would stop me. Not anymore!!
In my activity here, I met another soul who loves running maybe even more than I do-- PrimeNumberJD! He is having a similar experience: There is so much joy in breaking the plateau once you've really gotten into your quit! Once you start to feel that, I can't imagine a trigger that could make you go back!!
So...any other athletes out there? Feel free to chat with us here! 
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Yes, I've received an honorable mention! I must second everything you said here. Endurance, recovery, and speed; I have the energy of my high school athlete self, a time before I started smoking!
I also disillusioned myself in believing that I was off setting the effects of smoking by remaining physically fit. Truth was, I was a much lesser version of what I've become. It took a month to achieve what would take several months in the past.
I'm achieving my goals so quickly that I am starting to realize how small they are. I have to go back to the drawing board. It may be time to try to prepare for a big race, I'm just not sure where, when or what. I'm waiting for TriGirl to complete her upcoming marathon (I'm a bit too far behind to catch her on that) and see what she is feeling next. It would be cool to virtually prepare for a race together!
Thanks for setting this up Kelly, you're so inspiring.
Quitting equals the ability to go longer and harder! (meant to be a double entendre or have two meanings
)
You're awesome. We will do something virtually together next! 
I am a daily 45 minute lap swimmer (at least in the summer when I don't have to be indoors, swimming in rush hour traffic). I, too, thought that if I remained active, ate a healthy diet, and faithfully exercised EVERY day, i could negate the bad effects of smoking.....and I promised myself that if smoking ever impacted my swimming, I would stop - period.
The decline in my ability to sustain a fast pace and the breathing required was so insidious that I didn't notice the decline until after I had stopped!! I feel now like I can swim, at any pace, literally forever.......
Life IS grand without smoking!!!
Good use of your cigarette savings!
I can give you a hint, though. It's probably the breathing with which you struggle. You might go online and search for tips on it. Most people I have encountered who have trouble with laps do so because they try to take breaths that are too deep.
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Disney does a marathon.....not sure what time of year.......that could be an EX trip.......we could have runners and "cheerers". At 26.2----I'm thinking of cheering
