Athletics (British Sports Library)

SPRINTING 45 month of hardening-out, by not too strenuous work at half-speed and plenty of walking. The second month is the critical time, in which the runner learns to come fast out of his holes and to finish with a top-pressure burst of speed, leaving the middle of the race to look after itself, as it always will do. At this period, too, the man must learn to stride with such regularity that he can run two trials within half an hour of each other without showing even a. variation of inches in his striding. Then comes the final period when trainer and pupil are both " fed up," both anxious about the race and eager to get it over. The athlete, in particular, will be anxious to perform prodigies over the full distance every time he pulls on a spiked shoe ; and this is just where the trainer shows his worth in the way he handles his charge. There are two points to bear in mind. The half– trained athlete is apt to be depressed by the poorness of his form, as proved by the stop-watch; the man who is at the top of his form feels so amazingly fit that he is never satisfied, even with his best, and wants to try all the time to prove that he can do better. Herein lies the danger of letting him do too much. Schoolboys, as I have already pointed out, are kept so fit by participation in their all-the-year– round games that they have no use for the first