I haven’t exactly been rushing into the subject of fitness here, so you’d probably never guess that The Armchair Environmentalist is a sports enthusiast (and even the coeditor of the huge new Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport, out in April 2005). While I don’t have anywhere near enough time in an armchair, I haven’t been outdoors and exercising as much as I’d like because I’ve had an injury, something called plantar fasciitis since July. For a while I could barely walk, and actually – confession time! – had to have someone drive me to and from work, even though it’s only five minutes’ walk down the hill. What a lesson in patience, and in all kinds of techniques I would never have thought of, from a night splint to hot soaks and massage.

I’ve started going to yoga classes again (you’d be amazed by how much an injured foot can ache doing plain old triangle, so I had to stop for a while). I happened to go to a new teacher, Ann Greene, who turns out to be something of a specialist in hand and foot care. She was disapproving about the tape I had used to strap my instep before class: in her view, I need to get my own muscles to give me that support! I now have a set of exercises to do daily. Finally, after all these months, I’m thinking about strenthening my foot instead of just protecting it.

Tomorrow, thoughts on how this relates to the environment.