The Modern Method of Training for Running, Walking, Rowing & Boxing

26 PEDESTBIAKISM, CEAPTEE IV, KEW KULES OF TRAINING. beingso many classes of individuala J- whoma,yderive benefitfrom training, eacliof •whom have difterent modesof living,and whose particular line ofexcellences are as different from eachother as light fromdark, it must be patent to all that the same system carriedont to the letter would not have the same beneficial effect on all,the moreespeciallyin the dietary system, which,in almost everycase,wouldrequire some change,as no two men have ever scarcelybeen foundto thrive equallywell on a stereotypedrule. The pedestrianalone comprisesa class by itselt, whichis subdividedinto as many differentrami­ ficationsas there are other sports and professions that require severe training; therefore, as pe- destrianism is the groundwork of all training and all excellence in athletic games,it is the in­ tention of the author to givethe hints requisite for the man who is matched to get himselt sufficiently well in bodily health and bodily power to undergo his practice with credit to himself and trainer and justiceto his backers. In all engagements for large amounts there is almost invariably a trainer engaged to attend to the man whois matched,whois supposed to thoroughly understand his business; therefore KEW ITDXES 0E TRAINING. 27 these fewwords are not intended for the guidance ofthose in the said position, but for thosewho may wishto contendforsuperiority,for honour, or small profit. The sameamount of work and strict regimen is not requisite for the sharp burst of a hundred yards or so, that it is im­ perative on the trained man to undergo if in preparation forthe morearduous struggle of a mile'sduration; but, as stated before,the theory of the practice is the same. The author, in his own experience, from his ability to stand longand severework, and his pedestrian powers comprisingthe apparent contradictionsof being verygood at running from a hundred yards to a mile, as well as a first-rate performer a,t walking at all distances, has found that the more work he has taken at the commencement of his training, after having undergone the requisitemedicalattention, the easierand better his fast trials were accomplished when hard work was put on one side and daily practice took place against a watch. Yet the author, in pedestrian language,could race up to a hun­ dred and sixty yards but not finish two hundred properly—could run three hundred yards and a quarter of a mile, but yet not be equallygood at three hundred and fifty. The same was found to be the case at the different distances up to a mile, which is the farthest distance he had practised. The first and primary aim ought to be the endeavourto prepare the body by gentle purgative medicines, so as to cleanse the stomach, bowels, and tissues from all ex-