Beach Running

Ahh, beach running.  Every morning of vacation while I’ve sipped my coffee and stared out at the ocean from our third floor balcony, I’ve seen runners heading up and down the beach.  They’re out there with their i-pods and their GPS watches, the only people in sight, while the rest of us vacationers indulge in caffeine and await sunshine before venturing out onto the sandy shoreline.

I’ve never run on the beach for even a mile.  All my beach running has been small sprints in my bathing suit chasing down a kid who reneged on his promise to “be right back” and is now halfway to the pool.

So this morning I decided to run 1.5 on the sidewalk, then find beach access and run the beach back to our resort.

Here are a few observations I made about beach running:

Beach running is hard.  The sand sinks under your feet and it requires more effort to spring off its soft surface.

Beach running is wet.  If you wear shoes, you should probably stick to the soft sand, which is even harder to run in than the hard, wet sand near the water.  I got too close to the waves and had to take off my sandy, soaking wet shoes and socks and run back with them in my hands.

Beach running is uneven.  It might be better to run some in both directions to even out the impact of having one leg on a slightly more raised surface because you’re running on a slant.

Beach running is hard on your ankles.  And your arches.  It worked my muscles in a different way than running on a harder, flatter surface.  This isn’t a bad thing, but it made me glad I decided to do the first half of my run on a surface I’m used to.  I think beach running would be more enjoyable if I worked up to it slowly.  You know, just tack on a half mile here and there to my runs until I developed my beach running muscles.  Now that I have a strategy in mind, I just need some permanent beach access and year round beach weather.

Right.

Anyway – next time, I would ditch the shoes.  It was far more enjoyable, and easier, running on the wetter, harder sand near the water, and I liked getting the occasional wave in the calves.

It’s important to remember that it’s more difficult and a different type of workout than running on a hard surface, so you’re going to run a lot slower.  If you head out with a jogging mentality, and give yourself credit for the extra effort required to get a spring in your step, then it could be really enjoyable.

I have a renewed appreciation for the beach runners I see who make it look easy!

It might not ever actually be easy, but I’m more interested in whether it’s fun or a good workout… and for short distances with the right mentality, it’s both.