Not really, but kind of. It was a very low tide day today, and the waterline was very far from where it is usually. I've been running along the beach as much as possible for my daily runs, because I'm one of the few runners in Canada who has access to a ocean, and I want to take advantage of it. I run along three different beach areas, and they have different names. There's Jericho Beach, the Spanish Banks, and Lacarno Beach.
Today as I was running, I saw the tide was way out. I took off my shoes and put them on a log, and ran out on the intertidal sand with everyone else. The lifeguards, who usually sit at the traditional waterline, were out at the low-tide waterline too.
There were lots of people enjoying the low tide. People with skimboards like to take advantage of the tidal pools (a skimboard is a very small and lightweight surfboard that you toss in the water, run after it, and then skim along the shallows), people with dogs love it, and families with kids like to run out there.
It was a great experience, running out there on the packed sand. It felt nice on my feet, and I enjoyed running in the great expanse. No trail, just sand. It made me appreciate living where I do. I bet tourist runners would have a run like that be the highlight of their vacation. But I can do it anytime!
Below is a screenshot of my run. I bought a GPS running watch, and I'm enjoying tracking my runs. It's a little bit off though, especially when dealing with curves and turns. If I use it on the track, it thinks a lap is 430m instead of 400. But a track isn't the intented application for a GPS watch anyway. Also, I have an older model that I bought on Craigslist. Maybe the newer models preform better, but I don't mind.
Here's my run! You can see where the beach is normally, and by my track, you can get an idea where the waterline was today. The numbers indicate my kilometers. Today was a 13km run.
Below is the elevation of my run. The first 5K are pretty regular. It's a very slight downhill from my house to the beach, and then along the beach it's flat. But as soon as I stepped out onto the sand, my watch got confused! It suddenly thought I increased my elevation by 300m.
That was today's run. I'll run the same route tomorrow, but continue west until I get to work. I'm very fortunate that I can run to work, and extra fortunate that my running route is primarily along the ocean. Tomorrow morning I won't head out to the sand either.
I'm heading into week four of running six times a week. It's been a great process, and I've only missed two days so far. It's been fun getting up early to run, and I feel really accomplished when I get to run to work.
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