what kind of affect.....

badly_dubbed

will living with my smoking mother have on my riding???

on two seperate ocassions now i have been dropped by riders i know im quicker than.

i was hydrated, and had food before and during the ride.

yet i struggled to maintain 16mph avg....

the ride was to a meeting regarding the west highland way so was a 15mile ride there, 1hr meeting and 10 miles home.

previously today i had a solo ride of 10 miles and maintained 17.1mph on my own as well as a 3mile commute this morning.

i really am paranoid now as i know im better than this and am starting to think that its due to living with my mother who smokes 40+ a day.

im in the house usually from 7pm till 7am, in my room which has the door shut permenantly, tho obv i have to make tea etc so am around it but with windows wideeeee open!

its really really annoying me yet due to unforseen circumstances with the ex i have nowhere else to go!

so is this the reason im finding these runs hard???

help!!

Zachariah

It's a difficult one, and I share your pain to a much lesser degree - our downstairs neighbour smokes occasionally and the stale smell sometimes permeates through the floorboards, which is disgusting enough. Fortunately only to the landing and not to the living room or kitchen, where I do the turbo sessions.

Firstly, I'd say it's unlikely to affect your condition over the short term (I ain't no doctor though, so take this with a pinch of salt). If you're young and healthy, it should be no worse than light traffic (if that). There are probably a bunch of other factors at work - your diet and training over christmas, for instance. Your clubmates may have upped their game over the same period. You may have overtrained. You could just have had an off day or two. The stress of your living situation could also be having some impact.

Relax. Slow down. Talk with your mother and tell her you want her to be around for a few more years, and that would be helped if she cut down just a little (do not ask her to give up smoking completely, that sort of quitting power only comes from within). Don't blame her for poor form, at least not to her face - that'll make her more stressed, to which the answer is more smokes. Take her out to a nice place where you both can chill out, and tell her you won't mention bikes if she doesn't nip out for a crafty fag

badly_dubbed

well i can safely say now she is so ignorant there is no chance of her stopping,cutting down going outside whatsoever. totally no chance.

my diets good, it hasnt changed since i "felt" awesome and was happy with myself!

i did do 1hr 40min spin class lastnight so possibly could be that but i doubt it really

im seriously considering moving out, i can "feel" it in my throat - its horrible.

ive been here 2months now and i reckon ive declined in those 8 weeks.

Garry H

I'd say it has more to do with your spin class than your mother's habit. Can you not move her into the shed or something?

badly_dubbed

10th floor flat otherwise id have had her moved into the shed already!!

Garry H

Do you have a balcony?

badly_dubbed

no

just holed up in my room with the door shut, can still smell it tho!!

Garry H

Throw her out or report her to social services

badly_dubbed

20 pack unopened sitting here.....wonder if they can fly lol

Pokerface

I don't mean to be cruel, but at 40+ fags a day, you probably won't have to put up with her smoking for too much longer. :twisted:


But seriously - I doubt it will affect your performance much. When I was a smoker I could still ride all day but noticed an improvement once I quit. But that's nothing compared to second hand smoke.

badly_dubbed

So you mean 2nd hand smoke is worse??

Pokerface

badly_dubbed wrote:

So you mean 2nd hand smoke is worse??

No - first hand is much worse! Second hand (even if you were getting it all the time) won't 'hurt' nearly as much.


You would feel it in your throat if it was affecting you. Like having a sore throat all the time. That was what it was like when I was a smoker.

unixnerd

Get an active air filter. They suck in the stale air and filter the rubbish out through a micro-filter, bit like a gasmask for the whole room! Should be 20-30 quid and you can manually activate it or stick it on a timer.

My father smoked when I was young and I hated it. When he lit up I used to leave the room. Had an ex who did it too, she'd quit for six months then restart for six months like some kind of cycle.

mattshrops

hope you dont mind honesty but it does sound like ur looking for an excuse- :?
second hand smoke is not nice but at least she let your ungrateful ass back in! :oops:
on a serious note if its really getting to you you need to start planning for a move.-put up with it till then.

ut_och_cykla

Whilst passive smoking probaly takes years to do real damage it's possible you're getting asthma from her smoke - that would hold you back. Check it out with the doctor?

Pross

Are you saying you had already ridden 10 miles at a fair speed and done a 3 mile commute in the morning before the ride in question? If so, is there a chance that several rides with breaks between have left you a bit dead legged?

KnightOfTheLongTights

Pokerface wrote:

But seriously - I doubt it will affect your performance much. When I was a smoker I could still ride all day but noticed an improvement once I quit. But that's nothing compared to second hand smoke.

Pokerface, I'd be interested in your opinion. I am a light social smoker: I only smoke when I drink, which is often only two nights a week. So on a good week, I'll smoke say 10-12 roll-ups, but on more sociable weeks a few more.

It feels to me like this has very little impact on endurance, but probably does have an impact on at the higher intensity end, i.e., anaerobic efforts, threshold fitness or VO2 max - not that I've ever had either of those two properly measured.

Is that what you found?

Obviously I should just give up cos I can go 5-6 days easily without, and not even think about it, it's just sheer force of habit: pint=fag.

jgsi

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

But seriously - I doubt it will affect your performance much. When I was a smoker I could still ride all day but noticed an improvement once I quit. But that's nothing compared to second hand smoke.

Pokerface, I'd be interested in your opinion. I am a light social smoker: I only smoke when I drink, which is often only two nights a week. So on a good week, I'll smoke say 10-12 roll-ups, but on more sociable weeks a few more.

It feels to me like this has very little impact on endurance, but probably does have an impact on at the higher intensity end, i.e., anaerobic efforts, threshold fitness or VO2 max - not that I've ever had either of those two properly measured.

Is that what you found?

Obviously I should just give up cos I can go 5-6 days easily without, and not even think about it, it's just sheer force of habit: pint=fag.

Bit daft to smoke however infrequent if you are riding competitively - (are you?) ....lots of people out there falling over themselves to help you quit if you want to... leisure riding .. well you aint going to notice the effects as much..but they will be there simmering underneath... showing themselves when a gradient hits 15%.. and the symptoms show up as worn cleats
now.. you other 'fault' alcohol intake... empty calories as some would put it.
To the OP... go to spareroom. co. uk and lodge with someone who is into fitness

KnightOfTheLongTights

JGSI wrote:

Bit daft to smoke however infrequent if you are riding competitively - (are you?) ....lots of people out there falling over themselves to help you quit if you want to... leisure riding .. well you aint going to notice the effects as much..but they will be there simmering underneath... showing themselves when a gradient hits 15%.. and the symptoms show up as worn cleats
now.. you other 'fault' alcohol intake... empty calories as some would put it.
To the OP... go to spareroom. co. uk and lodge with someone who is into fitness

I don't ride competitively. But I do compete fairly regularly in fell races (trail / mountain running) and ride for cross-training.

rhext

badly_dubbed wrote:

well i can safely say now she is so ignorant there is no chance of her stopping,cutting down going outside whatsoever. totally no chance.

my diets good, it hasnt changed since i "felt" awesome and was happy with myself!

i did do 1hr 40min spin class lastnight so possibly could be that but i doubt it really

im seriously considering moving out, i can "feel" it in my throat - its horrible.

ive been here 2months now and i reckon ive declined in those 8 weeks.

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in 7 years." - Mark Twain!

Garry H

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

JGSI wrote:

Bit daft to smoke however infrequent if you are riding competitively - (are you?) ....lots of people out there falling over themselves to help you quit if you want to... leisure riding .. well you aint going to notice the effects as much..but they will be there simmering underneath... showing themselves when a gradient hits 15%.. and the symptoms show up as worn cleats
now.. you other 'fault' alcohol intake... empty calories as some would put it.
To the OP... go to spareroom. co. uk and lodge with someone who is into fitness

I don't ride competitively. I compete in fell races (trail / mountain running) and ride for cross-training.

I suspect it applies equally to running.

As an aside, isn't it funny how some sports are more amenable (for want of a better word) to smoking/smokers. Coming from a climbing/mountaineering background, it's astonishing how many climbers are also smokers. Fell running seems to be similar.

KnightOfTheLongTights

Garry H wrote:

Fell running seems to be similar.

Mmmm, there aren't too many fellrunners who smoke, not those who enter races anyway in my experience. I always attract astonished / disapproving glances from fellow competitors when I nip out of the pub for a rolly - specially as I'm usually in the top 30-35% of the field.

Makes me feel even more daft. :oops:

Garry H

Would think that smokng would have quite an affect on fell running. Just imagine how good you would be if you didn't smoke...

vorsprung

badly_dubbed wrote:

on two separate occasions now i have been dropped by riders I know I'm quicker than.

Clearly you are slower than them
Good excuse though "I live with someone that smokes" must remember this...

KnightOfTheLongTights

Garry H wrote:

Would think that smokng would have quite an affect on fell running. Just imagine how good you would be if you didn't smoke...

yeah maybe

also top 30-35% in a fell race is not quite as impressive as top 30-35% in a bike road race, as the range of abilities is far greater, i.e., a lot of very slow runners enter fell races.

But then in the big races you are competing against the top racers in the country (there's no such thing as 'elite' or categories in fellracing, everyone enters the same races) - so maybe it evens out that way ....

Garry H

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Would think that smokng would have quite an affect on fell running. Just imagine how good you would be if you didn't smoke...

yeah maybe

also top 30-35% in a fell race is not quite as impressive as top 30-35% in a bike road race, as the range of abilities is far greater, i.e., a lot of very slow runners enter fell races.

But then in the big races you are competing against the top racers in the country (there's no such thing as 'elite' or categories in fellracing, everyone enters the same races) - so maybe it evens out that way ....

I know

jgsi

Interesting point about many climbers who smoke... always admired the all body strength you need to climb and the fact that that strength comes with being totally lean and not stacked like male weighttraining gym bunny....
perhaps it is the full on mental effort that that particular sport demands as well...
the sheer adreneline buzz when things can go a bit hairy and when it is all over it is almost natural to say sod that and ask if anyone has a ciggy spare.

Garry H

JGSI wrote:

Interesting point about many climbers who smoke... always admired the all body strength you need to climb and the fact that that strength comes with being totally lean and not stacked like male weighttraining gym bunny....
perhaps it is the full on mental effort that that particular sport demands as well...
the sheer adreneline buzz when things can go a bit hairy and when it is all over it is almost natural to say sod that and ask if anyone has a ciggy spare.

Nah, it's probably because you spend hours standing still at belays, bored out of your skull. Wish the filthy feckers would take their butt ends home with them though, rather than leaving tem at the bottom of craggs.

I believe smoking is an appetite depressant, so wopuld help to keep you lean. It's strength to weight that matters, not absolute strength, same as cycling up a mountain.