How to Run, 1657

Crispijn van de Passe, Atalanta and Hippomenes, 1602-7
(Rijksmuseum)

“Swift motion, renders the body thin and compacted. Slow motion, rarifies and encreases the Flesh… Running, if it be Vehement, is good for Fat and moist bodies, but it is bad for such as are troubled with any kind of Head-ach. If Running be moderate, it excellently warms the Body, excites appetite… Backward, if it be gentle, it is good for the Head, Eyes, stomach, Loins. A Circular motion distends the flesh and belly, and very much offends the Head, uphil, tis bad for the Breast and thighs. Downhil it very much affects the head, it shakes the bowels, troubles weake hips… The body being covered, by moving sweat, it moystens and heats the flesh, but it makes the bodys il colored, because the pure air does not come at them, to clense the same. The body being naked, it draws out great plenty of sweat…”  

Joannes Johnstonus, The Idea of Practical Physick in Twelve Books

Finally, the perfect running program for everyone. Want a sweaty workout that's good for your head? Time for a naked backward jog!

How to Run, 1836

"The tread is neither with the mere balls of the toes, nor with the whole sole of the foot; and the spring is made rapidly from one foot to the other, so that they pass each other with great velocity... A mile in five minutes is good running. Two miles in ten minutes is oftener failed than accomplished. Four miles in twenty is said to puzzle the cleverest." 

Donald Walker, British Manly Exercises (1836)

It's hard to focus on division problems when you're dashing around in a top hat, but take it from The Past: if you can run four miles in twenty minutes, you are a genius.