In whining to a running friend about my injury recently (God how I love my running friends), I revealed that I was walking on the treadmill, in addition to running the miles my marathon schedule called for.

I even walked on my "rest" days -- sometimes as much as 6 or 7 miles -- because I figured it didn't count because I wasn't running and, well, I needed the calorie burn.

He asked why I was wasting time on "junk miles."

"I'm a woman, you know ... I'm concerned about keeping weight off."

His response.

"Are you trying to qualify for Boston or drop a few pounds?"

Well, both. But ... as my ever-patient and oh-so-wise (and, oh, yeah, older) running friends keep telling me -- adding mileage for the sake of burning calories is counter-productive and, when training for a marathon -- it's kind of, well, stupid (though none of them actually said it that way).

They told me that I was overtraining and that I needed to focus on my goal -- which is to qualify for Boston -- and forget about the weight stuff or I was going to get burned out (and probably face more injuries).

There's scientific research to back up that claim -- According to Runner's World Magazine, women who exercise with a "body-shape" motive work out 40 percent less. "University of Michigan researchers found that women who work out to lose weight are less committed to exercise than those who do it for social benefits, stress reduction, or enjoyment of the activity." -- Source: Runners World, August 2006.

Ask yourself -- if you could be the weight you want to be and never have to run another day in your life -- would you still run?

I'm sure I would. Only, I wouldn't do it as much.

Which is ironic -- because that's exactly what my veteran running friends are telling me I need to do.