Bredin on Running & Training

MY CAREER AS AN ATHLETE. 167 This I absolutely refused to do, undeterred, though by no means quite undaunted, by my trainer's view that if I dropped on the track after going a few yards, we should both have serious cause to regret the Bolton trip. Had the weather not proved so unpleasant, with frost and snowstorms, my absence from the track would no doubt have given rise to comment and suspicion, but on the Thursday I did manage to reach the then deserted ground, and, with Sam as the only onlooker, strode very gingerly along the straight to find out whether I could run without actually tumbling down, and also whether the limping was very apparent. My trainer's verdict was not favourable to my wishes and intentions, so back we sadly returned to my very comfortable quarters at a small hotel near the grounds, in a somewhat dejected state. Across the road a line lay parallel to the house, and a few yards higher up carne a bridge. The line being constructed on a rather steep incline, all heavily loaded trains found great difficulty in passing this eminence. I can safely say that, without exception, no goods train passed over this ascent at its first attempt. Starting with a rush, it would gradually slacken down, stop some yards short of the summit, give vent to a prolonged shriek, and slowly glide back to get up steam for the next attempt. I don't know whether there is a bookseller's shop at Rochdale, but I felt too unsettled to read either novels or newspapers . Remaining indoors all day, I became fascinated by this railway traffic, and passed most of my time seated near the window of our sitting– room. With a pipe, and an occasional drop of wine that gladdens the heart of man, matter might have