What's quicker, walking or running?

[Yesletsgo]

Yesterday we ran a reasonable 5k through the forest on a pleasant and less chilly morning than of late. It must have been all of 4 or 5 degrees. Not my fastest but not my slowest either, just a good little run.

In the afternoon we set off for the seaside. The weather had turned for the worse, wind and rain. The sea was churning but despite this lots of men in drysuits were up to their chests in the waves fishing for amber, which is blown onshore in bad weather. In the course of a short walk I picked up a respectable amount myself.

This morning it had calmed down so we went for a short recovery run. I've never really attempted to run on a beach before and I'm not sure I enjoyed it. My legs felt like lead and every step they sank further and deeper into the soft white sand. The only place it was firm underfoot was where the waves were breaking but this was, naturally, sloping down to the water so its own set of challenges. In the end I just decided this was a slow one.

You know how we like to say 'it was slower than walking pace?' Well, today's average on NRC was 12'41" over 1.81 km. Garmin says 12'08" over 2km as it includes the walk to and from the beach. So I think this shows that I actually was moving faster when I was walking 😂

Picture shows the beach, the tyre tracks are from the 4WD vehicles the amber fishers use.

[H4CS Graduate10]

Beautiful beach to run on, Yes I run on the hard sand too, I think it’s great to mix it up and keep yourself interested and your body moving and using different muscles, I like the sound of your amber picking, you could make a lucky running pendant or charm with the stones,

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to H4CS]

Hard sand was ok, but soft sand...killer!!!

[Hidden]

I remember a race I entered 7 years ago, it started just off the beach, but after like 100 meter you plunged into the soft sand to try and crawl onto the hard sand. Many people started too fast (as did I) and crashed while on the beach. It was about 3 kilometer beach and it was exhausting! It was a nice face though in total (part beach and part forest).

I tried another run on the beach last year, but it felt even more exhausting. I guess being 7 years older did not help with that. So I kinda made up my mind to leave the beach for walking, not running.

Finding amber sounds great, as long as you forget what amber actually is, haha. But it is a nice find! Are you going to do something with it, like H4CS mentions, turn it into a pendant or so?

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I think I decided that beaches are better for walking as well!I've got a little project in mind for the amber but it will have to wait until I get home...

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

It’s really hard to run on sand so I think you did very well! All movement is good but especially if you do it on such a gorgeous looking beach 😍

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Irishprincess]

I had no idea how hard it would be! Despite my snails pace my heart rate was solidly in zone 4!! Really tough!

[alpacagirl 60minGraduate]

What a beautiful beach with trees at the back. I ran on the beach for the first time yesterday after checking that the tide would be right out (it doesn’t have a very big tidal range) and the sand was just right, hard and level and I did a good 4K up and back in a faster time than usual as it was dead flat. I wouldn’t fancy it if it was soft sand or too sloping though - so you did well to try😂

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to alpacagirl]

Most of the ground round here is hard packed sand including all the forest trails I've run. Soft sand is a completely different kettle of fish.

[alpacagirl 60minGraduate]

Definitely is - it’s hard enough to walk on let alone run😅