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T
HIS MORNING 1
was readiog on the
sports page how a Swedi!h univer–
sity psycbology group had rated the
relativo rigors of various sports
ac-
tivities.
·
In many
spons
a roan or woman i!
"old" in the early or mid-tlurties- The
thought carne 10 mind
thal
11 níight he
intrig~ing
10
compare tbe rigors of sorne
of these sports to my own present activi–
ties, especiaUy since in a preeeding issue
of
Plain
~rutll
1
wrote of my own
"youtb" and vigor at83.
1
was
surprised 10
see
that these Swed–
ish psychologists rated American pro
footbaU no higher in exertion required
Iban 8th. Thcy rated European profes–
SIOnal soccer the most debilitating.
Motocross (motorcycle cross-<:Ounlly
racing) was second, English rugby third,
professional hockey founh, and com–
petitive swimming
61th.
That lef't bas–
ketbaU,
boX~D&o
uack and field cvents,
bandbaU, voUeybaU, tcnni! and table
tennis aU less exhausting. The spons col–
umnist observed that they probably had
no concept of the mental strain on a
golfer attempting
a
S-foot putt "With a
SSO.OOO
first priz.e depending on it or the
nerve-wracking frustration of trying to
think of an interest-arousing headline
af'ter a late-Septemher baseball game
hetween two fif'th-place teams.
lt' s yery hard, he conlinued, for
people
10
reatize that anytbmg ooe
can
do sitting down could be grueling.
When 1 was in bigh scbool 1 found
that running the mile was quite cxhaust–
ID& -
so mucb
so
that when
1
rana 'mi!e
10
S
minutes llat on the Drake Univer–
sity track.
1
passed out at the tape - and
that was not even good enough to make
the high scbool track team. But tbat
bnd of cxhaustion doesn'tlast.
lt
aUows
quick reeovery.
.
Dr. Aoyd Lochner of the Ambassador
College faculty was a distance runner at
Oklahoma U. He broke tbe worlcf'record
in the 2-m1le Steeplechase: And of
course tbat record has heen broken a
few times
since.
Dr. Lochner explained
to me wby such reeords are continuaUy
being heuered.
1t
is not
so
much that
men are constantly becoming physieaUy
hetter developed. They are learning
10
become mentally more detennined and
self-confident.
Sorne time before he set a new world
record,
Flo~d
Lochner told me, he was
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WEEK ENDINO
AUGUST 2),
t97S
entered in another
track
meet. Glenn
Cunninghám, then America's greatest
miler, sat down on
a
hench bestde bim.
"WeU, Lochner," said Cunningham,
"1
suppose you're
a
U
set to come in sec–
ond again today." That
was
supposed to
oettle
him.
1t
did!
1t
made bim deter–
mined to Wln that day, at a.ny
cost.
He
didl Wben
it
seemed he was nt the very
limit ofhis endurance, on sheer determi–
nat.ion he forced himself to drive on at
1naeasing
speed.
Not long
~er
that he
seta new world record.
lt
all gets
back
10
that saying of Orison Sweu Marden,
"He
CAN
who
thlnks
he can."
There are times when
1
feel a sense or
exhaustion, and
1
will
think
10
mysclf,
"Why doo't 1 realiz.e that here
1
am, at
83. Why doo't 1just Jet up, take it easy,
and realize my work is done?" Then
1
become almost frightened, and l reatiz.e
tbat if
1
did that,
1
probably would not
live another
Sil<
montbs - and
WHAT
WOULD liAPPEN TO
THE
WOit.K?
The
WORK
is not flnished yet. l
MUST
finish
the great commission to whiéh God
called me. So
1
simply get more deter–
mined and keep driving myself on.
Also
1 remind myself again ofGod's
PROw.tsE
in the last four verses of lsaiah
40.
And
on and on
1
cootinue.
But suppose one o( the professional
soecer players had the knowledge
10
give
out what
1
have been blessed witb - ora
professional hockey player, or an NBA
basketball superstar. How would one
of
them stand up under the grueling trips
thatl take?
The spons wruer whose column
1
read
this moming talked about mental ex–
ertion and exhaustioo
in
sorne kinds of
writ.ing.
1
write creative writing. Do you
reatiz.e that to malee it interesting
10
you,
10
make it
l'LAIN,
understandable and
INTERESTING, (
must be as
KEYEO UP
in
mind as any athlete in bis sport?
All right, how would some sports su–
perstar, age 32, stand up under this gru–
eting experience? How would
vou
stand
up under this experience?
Up
at
4 a.m. to pack for the trip; leave
for the airpl1rt at 7:45; take off in my
plane al8:30. Fourteen hours later,
in–
cluding a balf-hour fue! stop at Cold
Bay, Alaska., we touch down at Tolcyo
lntcrnational Airport. l have spent
much of tbat fourteen hours writing a
Plain Truth
atticle on my typewriter, at
an altitude of
41 ,000
feet in a pressur-
Personal from.. .
ARE THE MDST RIGDROUS SPORTS
MORE GRUIUNG
THAN MY -PRESENT ACTIVITIES?
iz.ed cabin that gave me
an
in-cabin alti–
tude equal to approximately
8,000
feeL
lt
is
3 p.m. in Tokyo, but my wati:b.,
unchanged from Pasadena, says it is 10
p.m. for me. My eyelids are heavy.
1
slcpt sorne 30 or 45 minutes on the
plane, but 1 am fatigued, tired, and
sleepy.
We clear unmigration and customs,
get luggage loaded, and drive to the
Im–
perial Hotel: In my hotel suite it is about
4 p.m. Tokyo time, but now ll p.m. for
me. 1 must stay awake, unless 1 a m able
to get in a two-hour nap. untd 8 p.m.
Tokyo time.
1
must change dolhes and
dress for a banquet wbich begins at
8 -
3 a.m. for me. An hour and a half Iater,
4:30a.m. for me. but 9:30p.m. Tokyo.
1
must speak hefore the guests.
1
am
groggy, but
1
pray silently for strehglh
and get it - Mr. Rader says. encour–
agingly, "lt was just fine." and in ao–
other 30 minutes
1
am in my hedroom
dtopping into an exhausted sleep -
S
a.m. forme.
There has heen a seven-bour time lag.
1
had been up since
4
a.m.. and now it's
2S bours later. My mind and body or–
gans had bcen adjUsted to a body
rhythm of going to
bed
about9 or 10, up
by
5
or 6 a.m. Now 1 aro tbtown off, and
my body clock must adjust to a scven–
hour cbaogc.
BuT
J've got another ar–
ticle written for eigbt or nine
MILUON
Plaln Tn.ttll
readers to read a.nd another
Volume XL No. 14
important dinner beb.ind me, nttended
by some twenty to thiny very unportant
people.
Probably many ofmy readers have no
idea of wbat crossing time :tones at jet
speed does to the human body and
mind.
1
know mil110ns of people think of this
bnd of jet travel and
wi!h
they could
travel\ike that - probably thinking of it
ns an exciling, enjoyable,
RESTFUL
and
RELAXING VACATION.
Oo the contrary it is one of the most
Olt.UEUNG
ac:uvities - especia.lly when it
IS
a
series of such long llights, all the
way arouod the world.
1
seriously doubt
if any of the sports activities listed by
the Swedi!b psychologists would even
remotcly compare.
My wife of 6f'ty happily marned years
died over eight years ago. Had she lived,
1 would not be doing this most impor–
tant aclivjty today. She was allergic to
flying. and besides, at bcr age. she ncver
could have endured the rigors of tbe jet
travel
1
now must drive myself to do.
And
1
never would have len her, thc
three fourths of the tíme
1
now must_be
away.
1 have hefore me,
as
1
write,
two
books. One i! titled :
Your Body Clock,
the other,
Body
Time,
Phystologicar
Rhythms and Social Stress.
l
al~o
have
severa! clipped magazine and newspa-
'
(Contimu:d
on
pag~
IJ)
Cireulation;
3,722.552
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