Why? The Science of Athletics

136 WHY?-THE SCIENCE OF ATHLETICS way. Before setting out you are breathing at the usual rate, fast enough to supply the necessary oxygen to burn up and remove the products involved in muscular exertion of the ordinary description. By an effort of the will you start running and thus quite suddenly increase your output of energy. As you alter all the conditions at a moment's notice, your heart and lungs are caught 'on the hop' as it were, and only discover gradually that their work is getting behindhand. .Among other things perhaps accelerated circulation caused by expansion and contrac– tion of muscles helps to give an immediate warning. When they do find this out they get a move on in an effort to catch up and they are obliged to put in some 'overtime' if they want to get up to date once more. This 'overtime', or being a bit breathless, continues until the heart and lungs find they have caught up ; after which, if allowed to, they slow down again until their action becomes normal for the new pace conditions. This is the 'second wind'. "So long as you continue running at the same regular gait the heart and lungs will go on functioning easily and without apparent effort until exhapstion begins to set in. All that has occurred is that you have sub– consciously adjusted your airworks to suit the altered conditions brought about by your exercise." The foregoing are, I think, fair considerations upon general grounds ; but, it may well be asked, what happens to the athlete who gets into a race which is run at a speed far beyond the sort of time-schedule for which his parti– cular type of training has prepared him ? I think the answer to that question, put into popular phraseology, is that the man will become "out of breath". If the runner in question is insufficiently trained it may well be that he will collapse, but if he is in good training, although not trained for the speed at which he is being forced to run, the chance is that, just when he feels that he cannot possibly run another stride, he will suddenly experience a curious and apparently heaven-