Smoking

I figured out why it is so hard to run here somedays. I have been running everyday, but some days are considerably easier than others. Apparently Florence has some of the worst pollution in, like, the world, making it hard to breathe (my Italian teacher has to go to the mountains every six months just to clean out his lungs--his doctor said he is "allergic to Florence"). Also, everybody and their dog smokes, so I am constantly running through a haze of cigarette smoke. I definetly agree now with how everyone says that smoking greatly effects your athletic ability. I think, for all practical purposes, I have become a smoker since I've been here, and I have not even touched a cigarette. Sad. But, running should be really easy at home because of this, right?