Move, but be careful | Letter

After a nasty bout of Covid in 2020, I started walking at the age of 63 to get fit again. As Stephen Emms discovered (A moment that changed me: My husband and I broke up – and I started walking 15,000 steps a day, January 17), it turned out to be exhilarating and addictive, driven by my Fitbit counter to take longer walks until I averaged 20,000 steps every day. A year later, I had developed excruciating pain in one heel (plantar fasciitis) and nauseating pain in the soles of my feet (Morton’s neuroma), which led to eye-watering steroid injections in my toes and orthopedic inserts in my shoes.

Although walking is a great therapy, it is very important to prepare well: a very good pair of walking shoes (wide enough to spread the toes), stretching the calves during the warm-up and the common sense to use the Fitbit Ignore demands by listening to our bodies and reducing training levels accordingly.
Nick Beddow
Hadfield, Derbyshire