At first, I planned to be running on the soft wet sand near the water. When I got there, I was quickly reminded that hole in the fence doesn't have sandy beaches. Mostly pebbles and rock. So, I ran in the soft dry sand closer to the road. There were tire tracks from the lifeguards and I stuck to that mostly in an effort to minimize the chances of impalement of any kind.
My first barefoot run last week left my feet tingling, which I was greatly looking forward to this time. But that didn't happen. During the run however, I noticed a couple of things that caught my attention. First-- the splaying of my toes in the sand. I was landing on the ball of my foot and my toes happily spread apart helping my legs propel me forward. It seemed like I was using more of my entire upper leg instead of just my calves and quads, which felt all together more of an efficient stride. The next thing I noticed was I was keeping my torso upright. This is a big deal for me as I have always leaned forward while running. That's how I was taught! Recently, I have put a lot of work into strengthening my core and it makes running a whole bunch easier and more enjoyable. My feet and legs wanted to keep going, but since I haven't run since Long Beach 1/2, my cardio didn't want to keep up. I also remembered that my posture has to be right and if I can't maintain it, I need to stop and reset. At this point, I have to get my cardio back up so I can even reach that point with my muscles. I ran by "time" today because my watch is low on battery so it won't properly measure distance. I ran for 20 minutes up and back. Tomorrow I shoot for 25 after my core workout at the Y.
