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

32 PEDEsmmasM. practise his distance,or at any rate, somepor^ tion of the same,whether he is training either for running or walking. This portion of the day's work must be regulated by the judgment and advice of the trainer, who of courseis the holder of the watch by which the athlete is timed,and is the only personcapableof know­ ing how far towards success the trained man has progressed in his preparation. It is im­ possiblefor the pedestrian to judgeby his own feelingshow he is performingor has performed, in consequence of, perhaps, beingstiff fromhis work,weak from reducing, or jadedfrom want ofrest. The trainer shouldencourage his man when going through his trial successfully, but stop himwhen makingbad time,if he is assured the tried man is using the proper exertion. The rule of always stopping him when the pedestrian has all his power out, and yet the watchshows the paceis not "up to the mark," should never be broken, for the man who so struggles, however game he may be or how­ ever wellin health, takes moreof the steel out of himself than days of careful nursing will restore. If stopped in time, another trial may be attempted on the following day, or at any rate the next but one. In a trial for a sprint race, which of course must be run through to knowthe time, if the day is any way near at hand, we will supposea week or ten days off, total rest should be taken the following day, until the afternoon,when another trial should take place,when a difference in favour of the NEW KXJLES OP TEAIKIKG. 33 pedestrian will in most instances be found to have been accomplished. In the author's long experiencein sprint racing there has been in­ variably the above successful result. In ono instance, in which the author was himself the pedestrian, it was most unmistakably proved. He wasmatchedto run E. Roberts, the Welch- man, a quarter of a mile for £100, and was training at John Smith's, the Derby Arms, Turnham Green, in company with James Mayne, and others. He had been training about three weeks, in very hot weather, in the autumn, and having been very fleshy when training commenced, hard work and sweating was the order of the mornings, and a walk of a couple of miles to Gunnersbury Lane, near Ealing Common, in the afternoon, was requisitebefore the training-groundwasreached; up to this time, 54 seconds was the quickest time in which the distance had been accom­ plished. In consequence ofa domesticaffliction in the shape of severe illness, his presence was required at his home, and it was not until a coupleofdays and nights, during which he had no rest in bed (although sponged and rubbed), that he returnedto his quarters, and the sameafternoonwentwith Smith andMayne to the old place to have a spin, making the most of his time. During the walk, on his stating that he felt likemoving, Smith, laugh­ ingly, offered to bet a trifle that 54 seconds won, and Mayne followed suit. The author, not relishing- the "badinage," after a silence, 3