Bredin on Running & Training

TRAINING. or whisky in the hand, sufficient to allow it to glide easily, should follow the hot water treatment, but must never be permitted until nearly all the swelling has disappeared. Elastic stockings, made so as only to surround the injured part, can be obtained at most chemists' shops, and are beneficial as a means of support . I have little faith in such stockings for the first-mentioned breakdown, as owing to the thickness of the leg at that part it is questionable whether any outside tightening can affect the damaged muscles. However, an elastic binding can do no harm if it can be kept in the proper position, which is by no means an easy matter, especially if the strain has occurred high up the thigh. I once noticed a very ingenious arrangement, and certainly a most simple one, to prevent these bandages from slipping down, which was to have them sewn to a strong pair of "slips," a small species of bathing drawers that many runners wear under their knicks. The man who used this contrivance had suffered from a break– down in the upper part of each leg, and was confident that he would have been unable to run without wearing it. A muscle that crosses over the front of the knee, directly above the knee-cap, is apt to be tiresome when strained, and would, in my case, allow no track work, yet it did not interfere with walking or skipping exercise, during some three weeks that I wished to remain in training, and was prevented thereby from the practice of running. Hot fomentations and sub– sequent rubbing had apparently no effect, and I question whether it would have occupied a longer F 2