Beach Running

I used to think that the best exercise location ever was on a sandy beach running, especially in Barbados and even more specifically along Carlisle Bay. It is pretty sweet there. See the funky panorama below.

But today I got to jog again at Siesta Key Beach in Florida like I did the last time I visited this blog with a post (bad, negligent blogger!). This time I took my 11-year-old daughter who seems to enjoy running.

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The sand at Siesta Beach rivals the packed, fine sand anywhere and is perfect for running on. The maps shows this. I prefer to run barefoot. This beach may have convinced me that Florida beaches are first-rate.

Photo of runner on beach is from Creative Commons-licensed Vicky & Chuck Rodgers Flickr collection. The panorama of Carlisle Bay is mine.

Running On the Beach

I am in Florida for the week. The kids are off of school and we're visiting the grandparents. I decided to give a 5K run a try and looked for one in the area of Sarasota. I found a great one on Siesta Key - the 4th Annual Siesta Key Beach 5K Run/Walk for Mental Health Awareness. It was so fun, yet so very hot! I got to about 2.5 miles and started to walk, fearing that I might pass out and totally embarrass myself. But then a woman in headphones, a good 20 years older than I, came up from behind and tapped me and waved me to keep going. She ended up getting first place in her age division.

Though I've been running at the gym at home (it's been too cold for running outside!), I got used to running outdoors on sand. All last year a sandy beach, my backyard, was my "treadmill." This race was so great because it was all sand, no pavement. If you're on the west coast of Florida around this time next year and you like running in 5Ks, go to this run.

Added April 25: I came in fourth in my age category. Who knew!

Creative Commons photos by stephthegeek.