I think I may have mentioned before that I'm not much of a runner. I have made attempts to go jogging before, using a treadmill in a gym. Up until now, however, I haven't got very far – quite literally. Even when I've managed to get up to a point where I can run (slowly) for a quarter of an hour at a time, it's always been at the expense of a very sore right knee.
Somewhere round about my third or fourth session with James, he got me jogging round one of the tennis courts in my local park. I'd only gone a couple of hundred metres when he pulled me up to ask me whether I had a problem with my left leg. It turns out that my shortened Achilles tendon (a problem I was vaguely aware of) has been making me favour my left foot as I run, never planting my heel firmly on the ground. As a result, my right leg (and knee) was taking the brunt of the impact. Hence the problems.
We've been working on the problem for the past couple of weeks, with James watching carefully to ensure I use a full range of movements when my feet hit the ground. And the jogging is starting to get easier.
I'm doing a lot of stop-start jogging, going halfway round the court, then walking a bit, then jogging some more, then turning 180 degrees before jogging a bit further in the opposite direction, then slowing down again before speeding up, then turning once more. The reason I'm doing this, rather than trying to run further and further in any one particular direction, is that interval training – or so James tells me – helps get you fitter faster than endurance work. Apparently it's something to do with not allowing the heart and muscles to get acclimatised to working at any particular pace. So, stop-start-turn is the way to go. Jog, then walk, then jog some more, then run before slowing to a brisk walk, then starting up again. Add some twists and turns to the routine for optimum effect. Even I can handle that.
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