View Full Version : Running on Sand
borus96
10-11-2007, 10:40 PM
How much harder is running on sand compared to running on grass/dirt/off road. I run as little as I can on asphalt. Is the sand soft? or hard? or what? I would imagine that it is complete hell and wish there was a beach around here I could train on. What should my 4 mile be to be able to put up a fight on the sand? Thanks guys
ktmracing144
10-11-2007, 10:44 PM
Running on the sand always depends ... if the tide is out a little bit then the sand is packed because the water packs it but the BUD/s instructors understand tides and make this happen very few times
running close to that line is a little better
but the deep stuff like the beach in coronado sucks ... it is deep it moves around and transfers that forward energy you are trying to create into moving the sand around instead of moving you foward .... a solid 7 min per mile would be a great start and then just keep traning up to see if you could do better because a 28 min - 4 mile surpases most if not all of the BUD/s running check points
snow85
10-11-2007, 10:45 PM
borus-- you're near dallas. head out to a lake one weekend and try it out for yourself.
borus96
10-12-2007, 07:40 PM
borus-- you're near dallas. head out to a lake one weekend and try it out for yourself.
Yea I think I may do that. Right now I can run 8 min miles all day long. I want to get down to 7 30 before I hit the lake I'm thinking. Unless you think I should just do it now snow.
snow85
10-12-2007, 10:17 PM
it's up to you. running on sand is different, and you'll be slower until your body adjusts. you may come away from it with sore ankles, knees, hips/it band issues, but that's because of the way your body has to compensate to keep you upright on the soft surface, as opposed to the pavement.
you'll definitely want to get down from 8 (on sand) before you ship to BUD/S, but for now, just get used to the sand. when do sand training, i run out on the sand and back on the pavement-- to start. once i acclimate to the sand, i'll do the whole run there, alternating between soft sand, and the sand that's packed harder (down by the water).
just depends on what you want to do. in between sand days, make sure to do your normal runs, and take one full day off from everything, per week.