Running in sand for speedwork (Read 518 times)

I did a run by the beach last night, and it got me thinking back to HS Cross-Country. Back then, our coach used to have us run down to the beach, then do sprint drills in the sand, supposedly to make us faster. I was never anything more than a middle-to-back-of-the-pack runner, so I never had any first hand experience to tell if it really worked (plus nobody was tracking times or improvement for us back then either). The "give" of the sand also supposedly put less stress on joints and bones, even as it forced muscles to work harder for the same effort. I'm not ready to start speedwork yet, but when I do, would this be something good to try? Does ti or should it work? Your thoughts, please. (Plus it's got the cool "Rocky" aspect to it... ) MTA: spelling

Depending upon one's use of the term "speedwork", running in sand, esp. loose sand, may build strength, but it may slow your turnover. Running faster in races has at least 2 components - moving legs faster and working high-end cardio. Kinda like running in snow all winter - stronger legs in spring, but they may not move fast until they get some faster work in on terra firma.