alright, before I get flamed (not sure if I will, but you never know...), I just want to say I'm here for help, not bashing.
being 18, I've made a few poor decsisions in my lifetime. about a year ago I was finishing up my first and last cross country season (I was a senior, only ran one year), and I could easily run several miles in a row, topping out around...oh say, 13 or 14 in a single run. needless to say, I was in the best shape of my life.
when cross country ended, I was going through a lot of things at home, mostly college-related. to make a long story short, I started smoking pretty regularly (erm...not cigarettes).
I played baseball in the spring, and was still in decent shape, though it had diminished a little bit, I attributed that to the off season. baseball ended, and between work and school I didn't keep up with the exercise. A few days ago, I went for a run. I could barely do a mile...I was so tired I thought I was going to have an asthma attack. It's obvious the reason, my lungs are probably pretty torn up from the smoke. I took this as a wake-up call. I've stopped the smoking, and trying to keep on a regular running schedule, but damn...it's really hard.
here's my question. how permenant is this damage? will I be able to get back into my old cross-country physique and physical shape? will I be able to get close? is it just going to take a lot of hard work and running through the pain? I'm willing to do it, cross country was hard as hell, I think I can take a little bit of running pain to get through this.
I'm not really looking for judgements here...not even really looking for support (though it's always nice), just answers. this really concerns me, I've been "mr. athlete" throughout my entire life, and yea, I realize I made a poor decision, but I've changed that, and I'm looking to get back on track now. thanks in advance
