The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1882-02-18
HOW to Run.
Very few boys know how to run.

Very few boys know how to run.
'tHo! hoI' say dozen boys. .tJust
bring out the boy that can run faster
than canT
But stop moment. don't mean that
most boys can't run fast-I mean they
I can't run far. don't believe there is
one boy in fifty Of those who may read
| this who can run quarter of mile at a
good smart pace without having to blow
| like porpoise by the time he has made
his distance. And how many boys are
there who can run, fast or slow, full
mile without stopping?
It hardly speaks we'll for our race does
it, that almost any animal in creation
! that pretepds to run at all can outrun
any of US?
| Take the smallest terrier-dog you can
| find, that is sound and not puppy, and
| try race with him. He'll beat you
badly. He'll run third faster than you
can, and ten times as far, and this with
legs not more than six inches long. l
have hound so active that he always
runs at least seventy-fve miles when I
staya day in the woods with him; for he
certainly runs more than seven miles an
hour, and if am gone ten hours, you
|
miles of distance And then, good
two days and nights without stopping,
| going more than three hundred and fifty
miles, and he will do it without eating
or sleeping
Then you may have heard how some of
the runners in the South African tribes
will run for long istances-hundreds of
| lac Il oto1,n lriy
very few stops.
l make these comparisons to show that
our boys who can not run mile with
out being badly winded are very poor
runners.
But believe can tell the boys some
thing that will help them to run better.
/ was pretty old boy when first found
it out, but the first time / tried it I ran a
mile and quarter at one dash, and 1
was not weary nor blown. And now I'm
going to give you the secret:
Breathe through your nose
| had been thinking what poor runners
we are, and wondering why the animals
can run SO far, and it came to me that
perhaps this might account for the diff
ference, that they always take air through
the nose, while we usually begin to puff
through our mouths before we have gone
many rods. Some animals, such as the
dog and fox, do open their MOUTHS and
pant while running, but they do this to
cool themselves, and not because they
can not get air enough Though their
noses.
found once, through sad experience
with pet dog, that dogs must die if
their noses become stopped. They will
breathe through the mouth only while it
is forcibly held open, if left to them
selves they always breathe through the
nose.
So, possibly, we are intended to take
all our breath through our nose unless
necessity drives us to breathe through
the mouth.
There are many other reasons why we
ought to make our noses furnish all the
air to our lungs. One is, the nose is
filled with little forest of hair, which is
always kept moist, like all the inner sur
faces of the nose, and particles of dust
that would otherwise rush into the lungs
and make trouble, are caught and kept
out by this little hairy network. Then
the passages of the nose are longer, and
smaller, and more crooked than that of
the mouth, so that as it passes through
them the air becomes warm. But the e
are only few reasons why the nose
ought not to be switched off and left
idle, many noses are, while their
owners go putting through their mouths.
All trainers for men for racing and
rowing. and ali other athletic contests,
understand this, and teach their pupils
accordingly. Ii the boys will try this
plan. they will soon see what difference
it will make IN their endurance. After
you have run few rods holding your
mouth tightly closed, there will come q
time when it will seem as though you
could not get air enough through the
nose; put don't give up; keep right on,
and in few minutes you will overcome
this. A little practice of this method
will go far to make you the best runner
in the neighborhood.