I know....its been a longgg time!

I have to admit, I fell off the wagon in a hard way, but in a different way then before that really threw me for a loop. I have struggled with smoking for many many years, and typically when running season emerges from the blanket of snow in Michigan I quit. I usually start up around November because that is hunting season in Michigan.

Every year its much harder to quit. This year, and I wont mention the manufacture because I'm not on here to peddle "replacement therapy" wares, I started using an electronic cigarette. The gist is they use heated vapor with or without nicotine to simulate the smoking habit. That has always been the hardest part for me. I travel for work quite a bit, the job is stressful and I find myself in a great many establishments that happen to serve alcohol which for me is a cigarettes best friend. I just want that cigarette in my hand and yes, the nicotine helps. The very first day I used this thing, I knew I wasn't buying another pack of cigarettes. Now...there are some that will argue that nicotine is a poison and while I may be better off with no tar and the other 4000 chemicals hitting my lungs, its still harming me. I look at it right now like getting hit by a bike or a car. I'm going to walk away getting hit by a bicycle, probably not a car.

Anyway, this whole smoking thing and some stressful situations and problems at home have put my running on hiatus. I do have the Bayshore Half Marathon at the end of May that I now plan on doing as a hybrid training run. I know I cant get a sub 2:00 time, which I easily could have achieved last year, but its not the end of the world.

Anyways, I had to give an update. Broken toes and throwing cigarettes to the wayside I'm back and looking forward to every mile of my journey now.