Athletics of To-Day for Women

----- ----- - - ~-- 166 Athletics of To-day for Women very few people have ever been able to increase their pace in a race once they have started taking the hurdles. In fact, the best you can hope for is to keep up the pace at which you have started, which shows how vitally important it is for you to train yourself by constant starting and sprinting practice to become a really fast starter. And yet, contradictory as it may sound, you must come at the first hurdle at such a speed a will allow you to clear it in well-balanc d shape. You will learn to do this by building up your approach sp ed gradually, and by lifting your shoulders with a conscious effort as you rise to the fence. This helps to shrug your body forward nd over, and also serves to keep your weight well forward for a quick landing. Land as close to the hurdle you have cleared as you possibly can. In any case you must not land more than three or four feet beyond it, nor need you worry much about your ability to reach the take-off for the next clearance in three clean strides, because there is only 8 yds. 9 ins. between flights, so if you land say z ft. 9 ins. beyond one fence and take ofi 5 ft. in front of the next, that 1 aves you just under 6 yards to cover in three tride , and since the middle stride of the three always lengthens out a bit you will find that you can do it comfortably enough with practice. Make sure that you always run through the approach from the start to the take-off for the first clearance in a set number of strides, and th t you always take off with the same foot, and from the same spot, and that you lead with the same leg over each successive hurd! . If you cannot fit in your approach run by starting with the sam leg in front as it corn natural to you to throw fir t over the fences, then start with the other foot in advance, but do not attempt to change your 1 ading leg over the hurdle, because you have one leg which i naturally strong for the take-off, and you must not substitute for it the weaker leg, which is the one you would most naturally push out ahead of you over the hurdl . Once the race is on, pay strict attention to your own business. No glimpse you may catch of what your opponents are doing will help you to go one whit faster. On the other hand, the