Running on the Beach

Having a summer-house makes hot, humid, sweaty summer days a lot more bearable, especially when it is located on the non-humid Western Black Sea coast. Running in İstanbul during summer is a real challenge, weather wise. But luckily I am only 2-2,5 hours away from a real paradise. To spice up my training for Dam tot Damloop, I made a new running route including a beach, a forest and well, a regular road. Voilà! All essentials are brought together. I started my way from the beach, which makes the rest of the route a lot more easier to run. If you are new to beach running, it is suggested to start out on wet sand rather than soft and dry sand. However I did not have any trouble with dry sand. It is also suggested to keep your running shoes on until you get used to it. Better give barefoot running a short start in order not to injure yourself. You can switch to full barefoot mood once you built up enough strength. Benefits of running on the beach:

• Your body will use the small muscles that are not being used normally and this will strengthen you. And you will become a stronger runner.
• More effort on the sand means more calories to be burnt. This is highly beneficial if your running goal is to lose weight.
• The view will be amazing and the air will be refreshing.
• The surface you will run on will be softer and this will reduce the stress on your lower body.
• You can always reward yourself with an after-run swim.

The forest part of the route is all about fifty shades of green and lung rewarding amount of oxygen. It is a good idea to pause the running playlist for a while and listening to birds chirping instead. The little ones has a great playlist of their own. The route is a total of 5,50K but can easily be increased by doing few circles, which is not boring at all. The last challenge of this route is a very steep hill, which makes me scream like a warrior princess after I reach top of it. I used to hate steep uphill roads but once you start to feel the difference it creates on your body, it becomes an addiction. I chose my regular running playlist for this route which you can find on Youtube. Good luck with your beach run and hope to see you on the road!