Impressions of Northern Athletes and Athletics

vocations should take a four or five mile walk daily, and practice deep breathing, inhaling and exhaling through the nostrils. Eat light, nourishing food. Avoid an excess of meat, and take plenty of fruit and vegetables. Milk is good for nervous troubles. Concentrate your mind on whatever you are doing. Do not smoke or take alcoholic beverages. The trite, yet true, aphorism: Rome was not built in a day,” illustrates the position of the man who would be strong and excel in athletics. Health is a greater acquisition than strength. “Health” and “energy” are synonymous terms. Exercise with discretion and forethought. Ask yourself “Am I doing too much?” “Shall I ease up a little?” etc. Endeavour to rest, or at any rate refrain from heavy and quick movements for a quarter of an hour or more after eating, but do not retire to bed immediately after a meal. To digest food easily due care should be paid to the teeth – a frequently neglected part of the anatomy, though hygienic and aesthetic considerations alike demand that they should receive attention. Physical culture will not always prevent monetary difficulties – though it does sometimes – but it induces a more buoyant temperament, is a cheap and sound investment, and good alike for the body, the mind, and the spirits – it is, in fact, the sovereign panacea for many evils of the present day. Always keep fit! Study athletics deeply, and only pay attention to the advice of those who do things! Leave theorisers severely alone. When opportunity occurs, practice and compete with your superiors. As speed is very essential in athletics, anything calculated to produce slowness must be avoided. “Life hangs upon a thread,” and unless the harmony of the physical and nervous system is maintained, ailments will, in their natural sequence, result. Many a person impairs his health in acquiring wealth, and ad then would give all his wealth to retrieve his health! 8 GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF AN ATHLETIC GAMES MEETING John O’ Groat Journal , Friday 1 November 1912 It is invariably understood that nothing is more detrimental to the success of any undertaking than the influence of incompetent and inconsiderate individuals; and as this actually is too frequently evinced in the management of athletic gatherings, I think it expedient to treat some of the