WALKING, RUNNING, AND JUMPING
$Walking.$--As a rule, the walking of long distances in a short time
is a sad mistake. There is little or no pleasure in it, and the injury
it may do you quite counter-balances the satisfaction you may feel
in having accomplished it. I wouldn't give a pin to be able to do my
three miles in 21 min. 28 secs. like Webster, because I know perfectly
well that my mind would gain nothing, or my body either from such an
achievement. Every day of the year, unless specially hindered, I walk
between eight and ten miles, and I am always discontented if anything
stands in the way of my walk. From my own experience, I feel sure that
boys, whether training for football, or school examinations, cannot
do better for themselves than walk whenever they have the chance. You
never know what call may suddenly be put upon the muscles of your
legs. A life may depend upon your ability to sprint seven or eight
miles in the hour. And if you can walk as many miles straight off and
enjoy every yard of it, you may rely on being able to walk and run the
distance in the time.
A few words may be said on style in walking. It is simply wonderful
how people differ in this respect. Hardly two persons walk alike. They
either carry their heads, or bodies, or arms differently, or there is
a distinct difference in the way they use their legs or feet. However,
there is nothing very sad about this. Variety is charming, even in
pedestrianism, though in professional walkers this variety is apt
to show itself in a walk that is almost twin brother to a trot. The
following words of the once celebrated Westhall are valuable for boys
and men who walk for health and pleasure, as well as professionals who
walk for pots or purses:--"To be a good and fair walker the attitude
should be upright, or nearly so, with the shoulders well back, though
not stiffly so, and the arms, when in motion, held well up in a bent
position, and at every stride swinging with the movement of the legs
well across the chest, which should be well thrown out. The loins
should be slack, to give plenty of freedom to the hips, and the leg
_perfectly straight_, thrown out from the hip bodily and directly
in front of the body, and allowed to reach the ground with the heel
being decidedly the first portion of the foot to meet it." Some people
insist on the toes being turned out in a most unmistakable way when
walking. It is not at all a pretty sight, and much more suggestive
of a duck waddling out of a pond than a well-trained human being.
Besides, it throws an undesirable and harmful amount of strain upon the
smaller toes. Better to point the toes downwards and forwards, _never_
outwards; spring sharply towards the tiptoe, straightening the knee.
Learn also to hold the ground with the great toe at the beginning and
at the end of each step. We cannot grasp the ground; good foothold is
only to be obtained by pressure of the toes against it. This may, at
first reading, seem rather strange counsel; but if we have any physical
relationship with monkeys, the strangeness of it is at once removed.
Mark how the monkey holds with his feet. Perhaps a million years ago we
also (or rather our prototypes) held the ground with our feet in like
manner.
One thing is certain, that bad walkers (bad in style, I mean) are very
ugly to see, whereas there is something majestic about the carriage of
a good walker.
$Sprinting.$--Not many athletes can excel in all kinds of running, and
the champion sprinter is not generally a winner of long-distance races.
Moreover, it is necessary for each runner to decide which he will be,
for the training for each is different. Train gradually. At first
take sharp walks of three or four miles. This will make the muscles
begin to harden. Then run steadily for a quarter of a mile at a time,
not troubling much about the speed. Cultivate the use of the toes and
stride straight forward. Towards the end of the run the speed may be
increased, for the muscles will then be in working order. Even now,
however, the young sprinter should not tire himself. A week should be
employed in this way before the more severe training is undertaken.
Never begin to run violently at first, and this rule should be observed
particularly in cold weather, for until the muscles have warmed to
their work they are liable to strain, or even to suffer more severe
injury. Practise starting. If you have a friend ask him to act as
starter, and start over and over again, going to the mark and putting
yourself in position time after time. In a short race like this a good
start often makes all the difference, for it means sometimes a gain of
a yard.
$Middle Distance Races.$--Speed wins short-distance races; endurance
wins long-distance races, but a combination of each is needed in the
medium distance contests.
$Long Distances.$--The training for long-distance races needs patience
and endurance, for the tax upon the runner is great. Boys should not
compete in long distances. No one under eighteen years of age should
run a mile. The method of training is to run a quarter, or half a mile,
according to the strength of the runner, and then each day to increase
the distance or to run the same distance at a greater speed. Gradually
by this process the lungs, the heart, and the muscles are strengthened
until feats hitherto impossible become easy. In a long-distance race
judgment must be exercised whether to go the distance rapidly and trust
to endurance or to run warily and win by a spurt at the end, when it
may be that your opponent is exhausted.
$The Long Jump.$--Speed is an important element in this feat, more
important indeed than the spring. Experts take a run of from a hundred
to two hundred feet as though they were running a sprint race and are
going at their highest speed when they rise from the ground. When they
are coming to the ground again they thrust their legs forward as far
as they can, and so gain a foot or even more. This needs practice,
however, for if the leaper loses his balance and falls backward his
jump does not count. To start from the mark also needs practice, and
one of the methods of mastering this feat is to run slowly to a point
about nine paces short of the starting place. In training this point
may be marked by a piece of paper. Then sprint from the paper to the
starting place. Experts are able to jump twenty-four feet, and a leap
of twenty-two is excellent, but not many can hope to reach these
lengths.
$The High Jump.$--Here the athlete begins his run to the centre of
the bar slowly, then he increases his speed a little, finishing with
a quick run and a bound. The spring is taken in something like a
crouching position with the head drawn in, but in the air the shoulders
are lifted and the arms and legs jerked upwards. As the jumper crosses
the bar he shoots out his legs, raises his shoulders still higher,
and twists his body until he faces downwards. In fact he is then
nearly horizontal, and an amateur champion of the world has likened
his position at this stage to that of an arrow crossing a bow. When
he comes to the ground he faces the bar. Some jumpers rise from the
right foot, some from the left. The young athlete should find for
himself which method suits him best. It is usual to take the leap as
far in front of the bar as the bar is from the ground. Thus, if the
bar is four feet high the leap would begin four feet from a point on
the ground directly under the bar. The run usually begins twelve good
paces from the bar, and consists of one bound after another, concluding
with three short energetic ones. Then comes the spring from a crouching
position. If the start is from the right foot, this foot should be
almost parallel to the bar, and the heel of this foot should be the
last to leave the ground. A run would carry you far, but in this feat
it is the vigorous spring which carries you high. There are those who
can jump more than six-feet high in this way, but they are among the
champions.