Running in sand
Today, I ran 3 one-mile stretches on the beach. Sand is a great training tool because your feet give you instant feedback at every step. On asphalt you get feedback, but sometimes only too late, when you already got that blister. In sand you can feel how deep your feet sink in and where. That tells you at every step whether you’re “pounding” the ground or tip-toeing. I found it interesting to see – on my way back – whether the heels or the toes of my old footprints had been washed out by the water first. The only problem with sand I found is that it’s easy to get sloppy with your cadence because the ground is soft. But when you hit really soft sand you get back into a nice fast cadence, because you can feel the wasted energy from pounding into the deep sand.
Also, Sand is not boring at all. Every stretch of beach has a bit of a different character. More shells or fewer, softer sand or harder sand etc…. Avoiding the shells is an interesting exercise – you have to focus on every step. That keeps your mind busy and distracts you from any pain …