beach running (Read 900 times)

In my experience there is only one thing to be concerned about when running at the beach. That is being aware of possible ITB (iliotibial Band) problems due to the slope of the beach. Try to run on the flattest part of the beach. The slope can cause some major problems if you spend too much time on one side of the slope. Try to balance it out.

Personall, I always run on the beach with running sneakers. I've stepped on shells while just going to the beach for fun and that hurt a lot (and sometimes left painful bruises), so I don't take my chances of coming down on one hard mid-stride. I also always make sure to go close to low tide, run on the flat, hard-packed sand, and do the same distance out and back to balance the slope on both legs. I do maybe a quarter to a third of all of my runs on the beach, and it's a great workout.

When I was in college we would do a beach run during preseason when we were in Daytona every year. Basically, whoever was injured and couldn't run would drop us off on Daytona Beach, drive 15 miles down the road, and wait for us all to show up. My tips: 1. If you want to run barefoot, start slow and build up. Don't just jump into a long run. You need to build the muscles up in your feet so that you don't hurt yourself. The advantage, of course, is that once you have you are less likely to hurt yourself when running on roads and such. 2. Run during low tide. We would run down where the sand had absorbed as much water as possible but the water wasn't quite up that high. It was more forgiving than pavement, but it wasn't as dangerous as running in dry sand. 3. Wear a lot of sunscreen. If possible, reapply it generously.

Perfect timing! Going to OBX after the Bar, and definitely plan on getting some beach running in

Just got back. Fantastic week. Did some beach running. Even invented a new kind of speedwork that involves sprints in ankle-to-knee-deep water whilst towing a small-to-medium-sized child on a boogie board until said child falls off into a wave. Try 15 x 150-200m of that rotating between 36, 45 and 60 lb children.

well, my calves are killing me today after running 3 miles on the beach yesterday, i guess it must be the lack of support or something?

Yeah, because your foot sinks a bit with each stride it can take a toll. The softer the sand the worse the effect. For me, I have to stretch the heck out of my achiles or I pay for it.

Beach running sounds cool and it looked great in "Chariots of Fire" but in my experience it hurts, the salt gets to you, and running with that many people watching you (and it not being a race) is just not appealing to me (Maybe I just like being alone on the road).