ATHLETICS AND CYCLING.

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 November 1929, Page 7

ATHLETICS AND CYCLING.

BUILDING THE ORGANS.

Writing in the Morning Post (London), G. M. Butler, public school champion at 100 yards, 440 yards and long jump in 1917, who was in the British teams of 1920, 1924, 1928; who in 1919 won the 440 yards amateur championship and the 220 yards in 1926 and in a special handicap at Stanford Bridge in 1926 equalled the world’s record of 30 2-5 sec, for 300 yards, gives some interesting advice on training for athletics. “Fitness —absolutely perfect physical health is the first requirement of anyone who would succeed in any athletic event,” says Butler. “Now this will depend very largely on the conditions of the heart and lung muscles—for muscles they are just as much as the biceps. The aim of the athlete who knows his business is to tune these muscles up. Football and like games help, but are not enough. The real training for running is running—only very slowly over fairly long distances. It consists of a jog-trot very little quicker than a fast walk, i.e., about 2or 21 minutes to every quarter' mile. Start with 11 miles on off days from football and increase the distance but not the speed, by half a mile each time you go out, up to a maximum of four miles. Keep a diary of your times and distances. Guess the pace at which you are moving and check it up with a watch if you can. Half-a-dozen runs on these lines will work wonders in building a solid foundation of heart and lung stamina on which you may rely when you are doing the harder work, both in training and racing later on.

“Perhaps the most important uimg to remember in training is that you should always feel an hour after you have finished like doing it again. “It is absolutely wrong to train in such a way that exhaustion persists. In this case more harm-than good has been done, and rest is the only cure. The whole point of this slow trotting is that it does not cause exhaustion; it builds up without pulling down the stamina which every athlete needs, whether he be a high jumper or crosscountry runner. “Plain everyday food and plenty of it is ideal for those in training. Overeating and the consumption of a great many sweets is to be deprecated. Starving to get weight down is equally unwise. “Hot baths are bad for training, because they cause colds and also take the elasticity out of the muscles. “Cold baths are good for those who can take them; 'any shivering afterwards means that the person in question cannot. ,

“Smoking in training is decidedly bad for boys or men. Though its effects are not yet fully understood by medical men, their opinion on this point is practically unanimous. “In conclusion I must give a warning against the most insidious foe of those in training—staleness. This might almost be called boredom. The best way to prevent it is to have a definite purpose each time you go out for a run, keep a record of all you do and, in fact, tackle the problem intelligently. If you go the right way about it and do not overdo things you are not likely to be troubled by staleness. If you are, the only way of coping with the situation is to take a complete rest from athletics and from all thoughts of athletics.” HUBERT OPPERMAN When Hubert Opperman knocked 8 hr 4 min 20 sec off the Sydney-Mel-bourne cycling record, bringing it down to 39hr 42min, he was accompanied, in an official motor car, by George M’Leod, holder of the previous record. A few days before, M’Leod had broken the 22-year-old record from Adelaide to Melbourne (571 miles), bringing it down to 4hrs 16min —a reduction. of lOhr 32min 24sec. He was then ordered to take a week’s rest, but he insisted on accompanying Opperman to give the latter all possible advice and assistance. “I am sure that ‘Oppy’ will better my figures,” he said, “but while he is on- the job I want him to have a decent crack at it and make good time.”

Opperman is to appear in Christchurch on three evenings (says the Sun). He will take part in tandempaced races with Phil O’Shea and Harry Watson. Opperman will also be matched against the winner of a mo-tor-paced race which is to take place on the first two evenings. The final of the motor-paced race will be held over three distances —one of five miles, one of seven miles, and, if necessary, a deciding distance of five miles. The series of meeting will finish up with a five-mile invitation scratch race. Arrangements have also been made for a pursuit race over three miles, in which the contestants will be Opperman, O’Shea, Watson, and another rider to be selected.

Those selected to take part in the trials for the motor-paced match race against Opperman'tare W. J. Weir, C. Austin, L. Pither, A. C. Ritchie, and N. L. White. On the opening evening the handicap events will be a half-mile open handicap and a three-quarter-mlle open handicap.

The visit of Opperman is creating a great amount of interest in cycling circles, and arrangements are in hand to handle a record crowd for the meetings.