Simi Singer

Age: 46

Occupation: Senior media specialist with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; lives in Los Alamitos.

Sport: Ran three L.A. Marathons, plans to run it and the Boston Marathon next year.

Smoking history: Started in college; has quit intermittently, often before races. Is currently involved in a hypnotherapy program to stop smoking. Smokes about five to 10 cigarettes a day.

Does smoking affect your athletic performance? "When I have quit, I have much more lung capacity and more energy. This past L.A. Marathon I could tell the difference [after quitting]. I definitely feel stronger and less tired, and I can run longer without feeling it as much. On short runs I can't feel it, but long runs are a lot easier."

Do your athletic friends know you're a smoker? "I run alone a lot. But I'm very open anyway, and I've told people about it. I like that people are supportive of me quitting. [The physicians I work with] are very supportive. I don't like to hide stuff anyway. People aren't judgmental."

Have you tried to quit or cut down? "When I decided to train for the L.A. Marathon, I knew I would have to be committed to not smoking, so I used the patch. It went fine. It helped me to quit to be running more. You have to be committed, and focused, and you're eating better, and you feel better about those things. I started up about six months after that. I thought, 'I'll have one cigarette,' and you think you can stick to that.

"There's no arguing that this is something good for me. I can only say that it makes me feel good on some level, just like running does. I know I need to stop, and I make efforts, but it just takes a lot for me to do it. I don't know if I should be ashamed or happy that I keep quitting."

And in the future? "I haven't always considered myself an athlete. At this year's L.A. Marathon, I was 17th in my age group. Now, as I get more into really being a runner, [smoking] bothers me more and more. I'm already doing a really fast marathon, so why not do it better? I want to start thinking of myself as an athlete. And athletes don't smoke."