The beach isn’t the Verrazano Bridge nor the Panathinaiko Stadium, but it still has its own place in the sentimental iconography of running enthusiasts and those who voraciously chase kilometers. You know, Pamela Anderson in slow motion or the stars of Chariots of Fire dancing as the music sends chills down the spine. That gives it an interesting angle: training at sunrise or sunset (doing it amid the surfwear and sandcastles tends to be less glamorous), moving with the sea at your side, letting the breeze pamper you… But is it beneficial for our aspirations as runners? It probably isn’t.
Following the old maxim of Les Luthiers (“the important thing isn’t knowing, but having the number of the person who knows”), we queried Juan del Campo, National Athletics Coach (Senior Technician in Athletics, according to the new nomenclature imposed by the law change), who is adamant from the outset: “As far as what you can do, you can run on the beach, but I would never advise doing it continuously or logging a lot of kilometers.”
The reason for his reluctance is fairly logical. “We aren’t accustomed to the environment, and the risks are obvious, as the usual outcome is a joint overload since the sand is very soft,” explains the Professor of the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), not shying away from acknowledging that there are benefits too: “Of course we’ll strengthen the architecture of the foot by working on a soft, often unstable surface, but that factor, if we push beyond a certain point, becomes negative; that’s why continuous running on the beach isn’t the best option. There are other types of sessions that are far more interesting.”
THE LEAST POSSIBLE ON THE SAND
He keeps it concise: which ones? “I’d use the beach for short intervals that help us increase speed, or for targeted strengthening on both hard and soft sand. In no case should the volume be very high. For example 10 x 100 m on hard sand, which we can run well, or 10 x 40 or 10 x 50 m on soft sand that forces more pushing. If you add up the reps, you won’t exceed a kilometer even in the longest effort, which greatly minimizes injury risk.”
It is advisable to seek the most compact sand after the tide goes out.
The fact that this Doctor of Physical Activity and Sports Science (like many colleagues in the field with whom we’ve debated this topic) isn’t thrilled with the idea of piling on miles on the sand has reasons, let’s say… even geographic ones: “Generally speaking, Spanish beaches—with the exception of the north—have a very steep entry into the water, a kind of small lip. The classic example is La Concha in San Sebastián; the tide comes in high and then recedes, making the water entry very gentle, nothing like what happens on most beaches in the Levante or Andalusia.” With that in mind, he advises: “Look for the most compact sand after the tide goes out, which means you must know well the moments when that happens… which may not coincide with the hottest hours… another factor to consider during the traditionally vacation months.”
This doesn’t look like a good idea… | iStock
And what if the beach has a steep fall? The classic back-and-forth to compensate. It turns out this old practice, far from clever, is ridiculous: “If the beach has a brusque entry to the sea and you run along the shore, leant to one side, you’ll create a very large asymmetry in the supporting forces. Changing sides to compensate doesn’t help; what you’re doing is creating two overloads: one on one side and another on the other.” In that scenario of a sloped beach, Juan doesn’t hesitate: “I would not run. Never.”
If the beach is well suited, it becomes much more flexible: “Yes, I would run, but I wouldn’t exceed 10 kilometers in continuous training. And I would reach that distance gradually, giving the body a progressive adaptation period. When we can run without the barrage of overloads we’ll obtain the benefits of being at sea level, the best possible aerobic situation, since we’ll make the most of the oxygen.” That said, he makes an exception, even if the beach is ‘good’: “I would never advise people suffering from plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendinopathy to run here, as they would be overtraining that fascia and that tendon.”
In those cases, and for those who are healthy but want to strengthen their feet, he recommends “a controlled program of exercises to strengthen the plantar muscles. We would use a stretch of soft sand about 12 m long, as if it were a long jump pit (editor’s note: Juan works a lot like this with his group of athletes at the Madrid High-Performance Center), to perform foot-specific exercises: walking on tiptoes, heel-to-toe, toe-out, toe-in, skipping… And we would do it barefoot.” Not like continuous running: “If you’re going to roll, wear the same shoes you would normally wear,” sums up the man who, together with Luis Miguel Martín Berlanas, coaches some of the most prominent distance and middle-distance runners in our country: Tariku Novales (Spain’s half-marathon champion 2020), Yago Rojo (international on track and cross-country) or Celia Antón (in 2019 she won bronze in the 5,000 meters at the European Under-23 Championships with the national record for the category included).
BE CAREFUL WITH FLIP-FLOPS
Another delicate topic that directly affects the two areas we’re covering (running and the beach) is the use of flip-flops, the holiday footwear par excellence if your leisure time is spent by the sea. Juan, who was a cook before becoming a coach (1:51.00 in the 800 meters in his youth) reminds us that “podiatrists advise against wearing flip-flops continuously. When summer arrives, the best approach is to introduce their use gradually; the same as we must get used to running on the beach, wearing flip-flops also requires an adaptation. Each day you can wear them a bit longer, letting the musculature get used to a footwear that lacks reinforcement and cushioning, and is very flat. What drives many people to the physiotherapist in the early days of September is flip-flop overuse.” He clarifies: “I’m talking about the beach flip-flop, the toe-post one, worn by most people, not those stronger models that expose more of the top of the foot and that feel cooler, but are much more like a conventional shoe, with reinforcements, cushioning, and a drop…
To finish, a question that surely most of you who, driven by your unwavering passion for strides, cannot imagine resting on days when you’re in the beach bar and horchata world (since it’s useless we’ve not even suggested it) are asking: what to do if the beach you vacation on isn’t suitable for running? With this we bid farewell to Juan, aware that there aren’t many compact earth paths near mass tourist spots (if that isn’t your case, go for them): “Better asphalt than a seaside promenade. Especially if you’re dealing with a minor discomfort. It’s preferable to press well on asphalt than poorly on uneven grass or a tile. Still, I wouldn’t overuse asphalt and I’d be very careful with sudden changes from the terrain we’re used to running on. If you always train on dirt and on vacation you switch, be prudent because your body will feel it; it’s like switching from one pair of shoes to another.”
Walking, yes—that’s a good option | iStock