Hi all,
As I've mentioned before, I'm going to be quitting smoking in January. I've been a 2-pack-a-day smoker for more than 10 years and have smoked for about 16 years total. My lungs are trash. I am, however, relatively fit. I've been running for about 8 months, doing the weights, elliptical, biking etc, etc. I do lots of exercise but I have come to the realization that I will not be able to make any more progress with my cardio activities, running specifically, without quitting smoking. Despite all of the many excellent reasons for quitting smoking, the reason I have finally come around to making the decision to quit is because I want to run. Right now I run 3.25 about 3 times a week, but despite having been at it for many, many months, I still have to take breaks to walk every mile or so, because my lungs are so bad. For the same reason, my pace has never really improved.
So, what I'd like from you guys, is recommendations for reading about becoming a runner. Books, magazines, web sites, programs etc etc. My reason for this is twofold: 1. I want to psyche myself up for the rewards of quitting smoking and 2. because I want to put into place a running program once I've stopped smoking and once my lungs have started to recover from the abuse. The last couple of weeks of C25K will probably be a decent place to start (although I can already run 2 miles without stopping at all--it's the third mile that presents the problem, and I can easily do 60 mins of moderate intensity cardio), but I don't know how to go about increasing my distance, my speeds, etc etc. Basically I'm excited to start running properly without massive protest from my lungs and I want to learn all about it.
So, that was the long-winded way of asking for suggestions. Suggestions?
Help from Runners, Please!
) But yikes, the prospect of quitting is very, very scary. I'm hoping my desire to run further and faster will be strong enough to overcome my very entrenched desire to smoke many, many cigarettes. 
(I quit a few years back - I hear ya!)
