Walk, run, whatever.

Here's an interesting article in the New York Times about the "run-walk" method, which is basically a system of training for marathons by doing intervals of running and, yes, walking.

The human body tends to enforce its own version of this. It's called "getting tired and slowing down whether you like it or not." But the run-walk method, apparently, staves this off. It also prevents injury.

While beginners obviously benefit from easing into jogging, the article claims there are benefits for veterans as well.

One of them is Tim Deegan of Jacksonville, Fla., who had run 25 marathons when his wife, Donna Deegan, a popular local newscaster and cancer survivor, began organizing a marathon to raise money for breast cancer research. When Mr. Galloway volunteered to help with the race, Ms. Deegan asked her husband to take part in run-walk training to show support.

“The only reason I did this is because I love my wife,” said Mr. Deegan, 49. “To say I was a skeptic is to put it very nicely.”

But to his surprise, he began to enjoy running more, and he found that his body recovered more quickly from long runs. His times had been slowing — to about 3 hours 45 minutes, 15 minutes shy of qualifying for the Boston Marathon — but as he ran-walked his way through the Jacksonville Marathon, “I started thinking I might have a chance to qualify for Boston again.”

He did, posting a time of 3:28.

As much as I love exercise, this Fitness Nerd has never been much of a runner so, personally, I'm a fan of the walk-walk method. I may not win any marathons, but I'm hoping to still have functioning knees well into my 70s.