About 25 years ago I was running alongside Mike G. during a lunch break. Mike was the star of a group who ran 6 miles daily, and I was laboring to keep up with him.

Between heavy breaths I commented that he was running easily. Mike replied, "I'm not really pushing."  That's my vivid memory of him, the picture of fitness.

Fast forward to a present-day conversation with his sister. "Mike's knees are ruined," she mentioned.  What happened? To illustrate, she raised her hands in the air. "He can't jump off the ground any more."

This news shocked me, because I have probably covered 10,000 miles in my own plodding way since then. In fact, during long distance hikes, I averaged more than a marathon distance daily for a month. Not once, but twice.

I don't know what happened with Mike, though I guess some "overdoing" was involved.  That's certainly the case with a marathon winner I know who trained too hard on an injured hip.

I never ran more than a half-marathon, so my interest is mainly about health.  In that context, I recall two signifcant developments in my "training style" that came about fortuitously.

1)  A friend once told me, "Walking is just as good as running the same distance,"  His advice puzzled me but it sure stuck in my mind.  Walking seemed like valid exercise after that, especially when feeling run-down.

2)  Walking our family dog Stella. At first she ran with me, but she gradually convinced me to slow down, observe the surroundings, and greet others.  By forgetting about exercise I learned to walk naturally.

Interestingly, by walking three miles twice a day with Stella, we sometimes covered 40 miles a week - at least double what I could run.

The term "long slow distance" has been used for years to describe preparation for endurance events. Alternately running and walking effectively builds up the training miles for running a marathon.

These methods work, provided you listen to your body and give yourself time to recover from injuries when they happen. Walking not only helps you recover from injuries - it helps you warm up before exercise and cool down afterward.

Walking allows you to go farther.