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Running in sand?

J.Michael's picture
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started by J.Michael on January 10, 2009

Lately, I've been doing most of my running on the beach. 4 Tri's I did last year were beach runs and boy did I suck......

I tried running in the heat of the day to acclimatize myself. I did hill repeats to make sure I wasn't ill prepared for the 2 tris with much modulation. (Tallahassee) But the beach runs (on 5k one 10k) just kicked my butt.

I've found that my HR, Time/Mile, and Perceived Effort are a bit higher (ok, quite a bit higher) than the same distance run on pavement or even grass.

My main goal is to finish the 2010 IMFL and I can comfortably run a 1/2 marathon without tons of soreness the next few days, but I can maybe get 4-6 mi on the sand before I'm beat. The sand on the beach out my door is usually very soft, as it's part of the dune preservation and cars are not allowed on the beach (unlike some of the hard pack in Daytona and St Pete where you can stub your toes)

Anyone else do this?
Are there any benefits to running sand miles barefoot? (strengthening muscles to aid solid surface running?)

Any ideas for how to keep the sand from rubbing the bottom of your ankle bone raw?

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
— Winston Churchill

CadenceGuy's picture
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CadenceGuy posted 45 weeks ago.

Ive never trained in the sand nor do I want too. I did a race in Benton Harlem this passed summer (5/3 Firecracker) and the last 200 meters are in the sand and that was enough to do me in, I couldnt imagine wanting to train on that nonsense.

advobwhite's picture
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advobwhite posted 44 weeks ago.

i've done it before, quite a few times. it's really relaxing to run along the beach for me, unfortunately i don't see any logic in regularly driving 30 minutes one way to run.....if i lived on the beach like you i'd do it all the time tho.

Gsal's picture
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Gsal posted 44 weeks ago.

i dont live anywhere near a beach but whenever i go to a beach ill run there. It is true that it's much harder to run on sand than other surfaces such as pavement or even grass. I'll take my shoes off when i run on hard packed sand because it just feels good and i dont have the privelege of doing that on pavement. I'm not sure if there are many benefits from doing it, but I do it anyways. If you're willing to, take off your shoes and run right where the water comes up because it may be softer and a little bit easier to run than on very soft sand. As long as the sand isnt slanted, i say keep running on sand as you please.

"You can never be too rich or too skinny."
-My doctor

J.Michael's picture
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J.Michael posted 44 weeks ago.

GsalIf you're willing to, take off your shoes and run right where the water comes up because it may be softer and a little bit easier to run than on very soft sand. As long as the sand isnt slanted, i say keep running on sand as you please.[/quote wrote:

That's the way I roll. I leave the shoes at the house, walk across the street and take off near the water line. The sand is actually a bit firmer there than anywhere else. I live in a dune preservation area just north of daytona in ormond by the sea. It's sometimes quite a bit slanted, but I just try to even it out by doing an out an back. I doubt I could make it more than 2 miles in the super soft stuff up the beach. It's like running in wet concrete.

It's really cool in the summer during sea turtle mating season. They rope off all the nests so you don't get to close and put covers on the street lights so they don't shine on the beach and cause the little baby turtles to get lost on the way back to the ocean.

/FYI baby sea turtles follow the moon to guide them safely to the ocean and will follow any light other than red. Now you know......."and knowing is half the battle. Go Joe!"

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
— Winston Churchill

advobwhite's picture
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advobwhite posted 44 weeks ago.

Gsal wrote:
I'm not sure if there are many benefits from doing it, but I do it anyways.

i've heard it both ways. i've heard that it'll trash your knees because of the stress it puts on your ligaments. i've heard that it's good for the ankles and knees because it does strengthen the ligaments and tendons more than running on regular ground. I think running on a hard pavement is much more damaging in the long run than running on sand. i've also heard that its okay if you run on the water's edge, even if its slanted as long as you go back the same way that you came to make it an even workout. i personally wouldn't do this, as you might not be able to keep the same intensity on the way back. i also prefer running on unpacked soft sand.

IthinkIcan's picture
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IthinkIcan posted 44 weeks ago.

I would love to be running in the sand along a beach. I felt like I was doing that today while running 15 miles in the snow. No one really shoveled or cleared the streets/sidewalks. Made for a grueling, slow run. Very fun though!