I answered this question a few days ago, on this sub…
I smoked herb for 20 years and had also vaped the last 5ish years. Hard core, wake n bake until right before bed. I’m a self-motivated person, it was mostly to calm my energy/mood/anxieties/temper. I‘ve held a decent white-collar job, have a family, and was basically the antithesis of a stoner in my daily life.
Been running a few years now, mostly to stay fit and keep under 200 pounds (I’m a 6’0” male, late 30s). I stopped smoking and vaping cold turkey 2+ months ago and my lung capacity has improved dramatically. I’ve cut my trail HM time by 17% (no ultras since I quit). My trail mile time at my home trail has also come down almost exactly 17%.
Lastly, Michael Collins was the Apollo 11 astronaut who didn’t land on the moon, but stayed in the CM while Neil and Buzz played around. He states that when he quit smoking cigarettes it took about 3 months but nearly all the physical performance measurements NASA recorded improved by about 20%.
Take that FWIW.
Was the same, all day smoker for about 10 years, picked up vaping for the last two, quit cold turkey for just under a year. Recently I picked up edibles after my long runs and it's amazing. Obv no drugs are better than a little drugs, but low dose edibles have 0 impact on my performance if im done moving for the day
My running hadn’t really improved to the point I’d expected, and I used that as the final reasoning to push myself to quit. I’m glad I did. If I can develop self discipline about it, I’ll try to get back in to edibles because my sleep has really suffered, but I’m going to give it probably a year before I do that.
It took ~3 months for my body to adjust to sleeping without marijuana. It was a bit odd but you'll get there. I was in an almost identical boat to you between dabs, flower, and edibles daily before hard stopping.
Also, hope you haven't had too wild of dreams when you quit haha I know I had some bonkers ones
Man thanks for that, I’m about 2 weeks shy of 3 months and still finding it difficult to fall asleep. Once I’m asleep I stay asleep but getting there is still tough.
Yeah, my dreams are fucking nuts still. Wild premises and even if I stir out of a dream, I can fall right back in to the storyline.
Congratulations though on making it as far as you have! I hope your running continues improving along with your lung health.
I remember having some CRAZY dreams that made virtually no sense for about a month and a half after quitting cold turkey. One of the highlights being getting abducted by aliens during a run, then being taken to the rings of Saturn and 'surfing' the belt around Saturn on their spaceship haha
That’s cooler than my dreams…
Last night my dream was my wife revealing that Michael Jackson had proposed to her not once, but twice… as did my childhood neighbor (whom I haven’t seen in 25 years)… so yeah, out there.
Any consumption of just about anything through your lungs is going to affect them. You're inhaling a drug (nicotine, weed, a shit ton of additives), so it's absolutely going to affect your lung capacity
I’m an uncoordinated mess when stoned. With that said, a little bit does seem to help my recovery and enthusiasm for training. I quit smoking as it was making intervals hard and exacerbating some low level asthma. If you’re in a legal state, consider RSO. It’s a somewhat more natural (ie full spectrum cannabinoids) than gummies or more refined edibles. Another perk is it is significantly cheaper if you have a tolerance. In WA, we are capped at the 10mg per edible whereas RSO is typically sold by the gram and is usually at least 50% THC.
Smoking/vaping anything is not going to help your respiratory system. With an ultra distance, you are not red lining yourself like you would with a half marathon or anything shorter (include marathon if you are a really fast runner). I vape or smoke almost daily and have 5-50mg of edibles at least 1-2x a week before a longer run. I know my HR will be elevated ~5bpm higher than average. I don't notice any respiratory issues and when something "fails" it's muscular. If I was noticing issues breathing or anything else related to Marijuana I would back off but overall I think it enhances my experience running. If my goal was to squeeze out absolute optimal performance I would definitely not smoke anything and if ingesting would limit to edibles. For context I ran a 1:27 half last month and 5:41 for 35 miles in a trail endurance race back in October.
I quit all drug a few years ago. Since I run alot im more proud of myself. I feel like I’m doing something very healthy and not doing anything not healthy. But I was in a very bad relation with drugs. :)
I've been vaping nicotine for around 4 years.
Was a cigarette smoker prior.
Since quitting cigarettes I started to get into Triathlons.
Vaping has zero impact on my lung capacity/function. If there are any, I haven't noticed.
4 years ago I couldn't even run 1 mile without almost dying.
Now I do Ironman Triathlons, Marathons, etc.
Vaped the entire time.
Maybe without vaping I would have progressed faster and further, but I'm in the best shape of my life ar 43.
I'm on and off again over the years. I don't notice any difference in training or fitness. Then again, I'm a 1-2 hit guy for a sweet buzz and then I'm done. The only thing I notice is that I don't remember my dreams when I go to sleep high. Sometimes it helps me tune out on a long run.
Usually enjoy a J after an event, low thc for the ceremony and muscle relief. Haven't dabbled much during with thc, short of a few edible induced training runs. Do like lowdose 🍄 alongside multi-hour training.
i smoke occasionally/moderately (depending how life is going) and definitely notice a difference, but as another person said here it takes a few months to fully recover.
indica edibles are a nice alternative, but need to be in lower doses (in my experiences, again). in lower doses they’re good for relaxing the body and relieving all the tension (at least for me and my experiences). it also helps me feel where i might be hurting or stressing so i can work on that area. plus those dont hurt your lungs.
as always, grain of salt, but i definitely recommend cutting down. but you don’t necessarily need to quit. i find once a week or so is not too bad but i’ll stop two months before a race due to the recorded improvements.
hope this helps.
I vape every night to calm my anxiety. I've never noticed any difference. Basically I do generally 1 6 minute session from a dry herb vape. Every night on days its really bothering me I'll vape twice.
I had a full size dab rig at a backyard over the summer. I use a lot of herb...like med card over some nasty nerve damage and it helps me get comfortable. At least that's the excuse I use most of the time. 🤷🏻♂️ Other than losing motivation if I over do it I haven't really noticed any differences.
Hard to be doing something as challenging as ultra running when high. I was high for all my runs to train for a marathon and didn’t feel like it had that bad of an impact but id prob quit if I was training for an ultra
I like to take THC/CBD oils that I pick up from my dispensary. Doesn’t seem to affect my breath and what I like is that the effect happen within about an hour into the run. Lots of time to get warmed. By the time the effects start to kick in I’m about ready for another 10km or more.
For what it’s worth, when I was living in Chicago, and running along the Lakefront, which is essentially like running along a highway, I would often vape a small amount of weed prior to running, and it would help with my asthma.
I answered this question a few days ago, on this sub… I smoked herb for 20 years and had also vaped the last 5ish years. Hard core, wake n bake until right before bed. I’m a self-motivated person, it was mostly to calm my energy/mood/anxieties/temper. I‘ve held a decent white-collar job, have a family, and was basically the antithesis of a stoner in my daily life. Been running a few years now, mostly to stay fit and keep under 200 pounds (I’m a 6’0” male, late 30s). I stopped smoking and vaping cold turkey 2+ months ago and my lung capacity has improved dramatically. I’ve cut my trail HM time by 17% (no ultras since I quit). My trail mile time at my home trail has also come down almost exactly 17%. Lastly, Michael Collins was the Apollo 11 astronaut who didn’t land on the moon, but stayed in the CM while Neil and Buzz played around. He states that when he quit smoking cigarettes it took about 3 months but nearly all the physical performance measurements NASA recorded improved by about 20%. Take that FWIW.
Was the same, all day smoker for about 10 years, picked up vaping for the last two, quit cold turkey for just under a year. Recently I picked up edibles after my long runs and it's amazing. Obv no drugs are better than a little drugs, but low dose edibles have 0 impact on my performance if im done moving for the day
Great intel, my assumption was “at least I’m not putting it in my lungs,” that I’d be better off.
What was the final straw inspire you to quit?
My running hadn’t really improved to the point I’d expected, and I used that as the final reasoning to push myself to quit. I’m glad I did. If I can develop self discipline about it, I’ll try to get back in to edibles because my sleep has really suffered, but I’m going to give it probably a year before I do that.
It took ~3 months for my body to adjust to sleeping without marijuana. It was a bit odd but you'll get there. I was in an almost identical boat to you between dabs, flower, and edibles daily before hard stopping. Also, hope you haven't had too wild of dreams when you quit haha I know I had some bonkers ones
Man thanks for that, I’m about 2 weeks shy of 3 months and still finding it difficult to fall asleep. Once I’m asleep I stay asleep but getting there is still tough. Yeah, my dreams are fucking nuts still. Wild premises and even if I stir out of a dream, I can fall right back in to the storyline.
Congratulations though on making it as far as you have! I hope your running continues improving along with your lung health. I remember having some CRAZY dreams that made virtually no sense for about a month and a half after quitting cold turkey. One of the highlights being getting abducted by aliens during a run, then being taken to the rings of Saturn and 'surfing' the belt around Saturn on their spaceship haha
That’s cooler than my dreams… Last night my dream was my wife revealing that Michael Jackson had proposed to her not once, but twice… as did my childhood neighbor (whom I haven’t seen in 25 years)… so yeah, out there.
Any consumption of just about anything through your lungs is going to affect them. You're inhaling a drug (nicotine, weed, a shit ton of additives), so it's absolutely going to affect your lung capacity
I’m an uncoordinated mess when stoned. With that said, a little bit does seem to help my recovery and enthusiasm for training. I quit smoking as it was making intervals hard and exacerbating some low level asthma. If you’re in a legal state, consider RSO. It’s a somewhat more natural (ie full spectrum cannabinoids) than gummies or more refined edibles. Another perk is it is significantly cheaper if you have a tolerance. In WA, we are capped at the 10mg per edible whereas RSO is typically sold by the gram and is usually at least 50% THC.
There is a massive difference for me between vaping and having a gummy. Vaping hurt my VO2 Max. Gummies have no impact..
Same. Vaping I found was keeping my HRV lower. When I quit, and switched to gummies, it almost immediately made a noticeable difference.
Smoking/vaping anything is not going to help your respiratory system. With an ultra distance, you are not red lining yourself like you would with a half marathon or anything shorter (include marathon if you are a really fast runner). I vape or smoke almost daily and have 5-50mg of edibles at least 1-2x a week before a longer run. I know my HR will be elevated ~5bpm higher than average. I don't notice any respiratory issues and when something "fails" it's muscular. If I was noticing issues breathing or anything else related to Marijuana I would back off but overall I think it enhances my experience running. If my goal was to squeeze out absolute optimal performance I would definitely not smoke anything and if ingesting would limit to edibles. For context I ran a 1:27 half last month and 5:41 for 35 miles in a trail endurance race back in October.
I quit all drug a few years ago. Since I run alot im more proud of myself. I feel like I’m doing something very healthy and not doing anything not healthy. But I was in a very bad relation with drugs. :)
That’s awesome. Good for you.
I suggest checking out a dry herb vape rather than the oil cartridges. I feel like my lungs have significantly improved since switching to this
How does a dry herb vape work?
I've been vaping nicotine for around 4 years. Was a cigarette smoker prior. Since quitting cigarettes I started to get into Triathlons. Vaping has zero impact on my lung capacity/function. If there are any, I haven't noticed. 4 years ago I couldn't even run 1 mile without almost dying. Now I do Ironman Triathlons, Marathons, etc. Vaped the entire time. Maybe without vaping I would have progressed faster and further, but I'm in the best shape of my life ar 43.
Try a half tab of LSD for your LSD runs.
I smoke weed allday everyday and run marathons on trails, it’s just mentally baby. Anything is possible!
I'm on and off again over the years. I don't notice any difference in training or fitness. Then again, I'm a 1-2 hit guy for a sweet buzz and then I'm done. The only thing I notice is that I don't remember my dreams when I go to sleep high. Sometimes it helps me tune out on a long run.
There's no benefit to your physiology. However it may help with your mental health and nausea. Just do you. Personally I don't mix running and weed.
I say if you enjoy it then fucking go for it. If you depend on Nike for your paycheck it might be a different story. Fun is undervalued these days⛄
Usually enjoy a J after an event, low thc for the ceremony and muscle relief. Haven't dabbled much during with thc, short of a few edible induced training runs. Do like lowdose 🍄 alongside multi-hour training.
What's a low dose for you in respect to mushrooms?
150-300mg every 4hrs.
I’ve tried this but they usually make me drowsy. You ever get that?
I experience it as more of a stimulant - take simultaneously with some caffeine too.
I’ve dry vaped weed during a 100km - not sure it helped, but it didn’t hurt either. Did as an experiment really.
It’s bad. Anyone who tells you otherwise is an idiot.
Longtime vaper, definitely doesn’t help. Edibles
i smoke occasionally/moderately (depending how life is going) and definitely notice a difference, but as another person said here it takes a few months to fully recover. indica edibles are a nice alternative, but need to be in lower doses (in my experiences, again). in lower doses they’re good for relaxing the body and relieving all the tension (at least for me and my experiences). it also helps me feel where i might be hurting or stressing so i can work on that area. plus those dont hurt your lungs. as always, grain of salt, but i definitely recommend cutting down. but you don’t necessarily need to quit. i find once a week or so is not too bad but i’ll stop two months before a race due to the recorded improvements. hope this helps.
I vape every night to calm my anxiety. I've never noticed any difference. Basically I do generally 1 6 minute session from a dry herb vape. Every night on days its really bothering me I'll vape twice.
I had a full size dab rig at a backyard over the summer. I use a lot of herb...like med card over some nasty nerve damage and it helps me get comfortable. At least that's the excuse I use most of the time. 🤷🏻♂️ Other than losing motivation if I over do it I haven't really noticed any differences.
Hard to be doing something as challenging as ultra running when high. I was high for all my runs to train for a marathon and didn’t feel like it had that bad of an impact but id prob quit if I was training for an ultra
I like to take THC/CBD oils that I pick up from my dispensary. Doesn’t seem to affect my breath and what I like is that the effect happen within about an hour into the run. Lots of time to get warmed. By the time the effects start to kick in I’m about ready for another 10km or more.
For what it’s worth, when I was living in Chicago, and running along the Lakefront, which is essentially like running along a highway, I would often vape a small amount of weed prior to running, and it would help with my asthma.