Well, your respiratory system is probably much healthier now. I would expect better oxygenation to make you less tired, to give you more stamina.
I've never been a smoker, so I'm curious, how big an impact would you say healthier lungs had in your life?
I don't practice any sport consistently, from time to time I'll join someone for a long jog or go hiking or whatever, but only a few times a year. I tend to walk a lot though, as I don't drive.
Maybe there were changes but the lack of being regular and measuring my performance prevented me from noticing them.
The big difference was more about the upper respiratory system, with huge improvements in terms of taste, snoring, and the throat. I wasn't coughing much when I smoked, but I had a significant amount of mucus, especially in the morning, and had to clear my throat often. I'm also less prone to headaches if I drink a bit less fluids than I should, I feel dry but without the pain.
I often ask myself if the positive things about smoking were just delusions to justify feeding the nicotine addiction, or if the physical consumption was a product of my mind being convinced it was a good thing somehow.
Absolutely there's a reason people get addicted to cigs in the first place. But say, driving down a scenic road on nice day with window down, without even the slighted urge to light up a cig, is not something I would have imagined while still a nicotine addict. I mean I'll think about smoking a blunt sure, but that different.
Also glad I quit before all the e-cig stuff came out. If I was able to smoke AND breath prob woulda never got off.
Every couple hours, those 5 delicious minutes, the fresh air, the nicotine rush, then right back at it.
I quit smoking a few years ago when my wife got pregnant and have smoked only twice since.
I can actually grind more nowadays, and I'm less tired when it ends. It probably doesn't have anything to do with smoking or not, but that fact would be very surprising for my old smoker self.