The Opelousas courier., 1882-02-25
How to Rum.
Very few boys know how to run.

AOs ~" say d uoLou OOyB just
bring on the boy that can run faster
than | can :"
But stop a moment. I don't mean
that most of the boys can't run fast-I
mean they can't run far. I don't be
lieve there is n hoy in fifty, of those
who may read this, who can rim IA
quarter of a mile at a good smart pace
without having to blow like a ~l.orpoise
by the time he has made his distance.
And how many boys are there who can
run, fast or slow, a full mile without
stopping?
1t hardly speaks well for our race.
does it, that almost any animal in crea-
ton that pretends to run at all, can
ontrun any of us.
Take the smallest terrier dog you
can find, that is sound and not IL pup
ply, aud try Il race with him. He'll
beat yen badly. He'll run u third fa~
ter than you can, and ten times rs far,
and this with legs not more than six
inches long. / have a hound 81 active
that he always run at least seventy
five miles when | stay a day in the
woods with him for he certainly runs
more than seven miles an hnur, and if
| am gone ten hours. you see he must
travel about seventy five miles of dis
ia Aud then u good hound will
follow a fox for two days and nights
without stopping, g"ing mere than $50
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 distances
hundreds of Understanding dispatches
and making few stops.
| make these comparisons to show
that our boys who can not ran IA mile
without being badly winded arr very
poor runners.
But / believe I can tell the boys
something that will help them to run
better. | was a pretty old boy when |
first found it out ; but the first time |
tried it / ran a mile and a quarter at
one. dash, and I was not weary nor
blown. And now I'm going to give
you the secret.
Breathe through your nose!
had been thinking what poor run
ners we are, aud wondering why the
animals can run 30 far, and it came to
me that perhaps this might account for
the difference, that they always take
air through the nose, while we usually
begin to puff through our mouths before
We have gone many rods. Sotne ami
mails, such as the dog aud the fox, do
open their mouths and pant while
ming. but they do this to cool them
selves and not because they can not
get air enough through their noses.
There are many other reasons why
We ought to make our noses furnish all
the ais to our lungs. One is, the nose
ia filed with a little forest of hair
which 10 always kept moist, like all the
inner ~surfaces of the nose, and PARTICLES
of dust that would otherwise rush into
the lnngs and make trouble, are caught
and kept out by this little hairy net
work. Then the passages of the nose
are longer and smaller, and more
crooked than that of the mouth, so that
it passes through them the air he
comes warm. But these are only Il few
reasons why the muse ought no to be
switched off and left idle, as 50 many
noses are, while their owners 90 puff
ing through their mouths.
All trainers of mel for racing and
aud all other athletic contests
understand this and teach their pupils
accordingly. If the boys will try this
plan, they will soon see what a differ
ence it will make in their endurance.
After you have run u few rods, holding
your mouth tightly closed, there viii
a time when it will seem as
you could not get air enough
through the nose alone but don't give
keep right on. and in a few mo
you will overcome this. A lit
tie practice of this method will go far
to make you the best runner in the
neighborh0dd.