Runners

HEADING TO THE BEACH THIS SUMMER?Between sunning yourself anddrinking cocktails, head for a runon the beach. There’s a reasonelite coaches such as Australianlegend Percy Cerutty trainedhis runners on sand dunes: newresearch^1 shows that running onsand requires 1.6 times more energythan running on hard surfaces.Beach running is like running withweights on your ankles. With orwithout shoes, it’s tougher to getyour foot planted into the ground,and tougher to get it of the ground.If you’re new to beach running, headfor the packed sand close to thewater’s edge. If you’re looking fora real workout, head for the softerstuf further in. Also, wear plenty ofsun cream and carry a water bottle.SAND ONTHE RUNThis summer, hit the beachto pick up some speedRUN LESS,RUN FASTERGO WITHTHE GRAINSRunning on sandis tough but it’s agreat way to train14.The percentage ofpeople in Englandwho volunteered atleast twice in thelast year to supportphysical activity.^3``````The key to quick runningmay be in the bones inyour forefoot. A recentJapanese study looked at45 trained endurancerunners and 45 untrainedsubjects, measuring thelength of their forefootbones using an MRI. Theyfound that the trainedgroup had longer bonesin the big toe and secondtoe (by 1 per cent and0.5 per cent, respectively)than their untrainedcounterparts, relative tothe size of their feet. Inanother study, endurancerunners who reportedfaster 5K times werefound to have longerbig-toe forefoot bones,whereas sprinters whoreported faster 100mtimes had longer second-toe forefoot bones.``````Looking to improveyour 10K time? The keycould lie in 30-secondeforts of all-out running,according to a studyby Danish physiologists.^2 The 40-day studyfollowed 20 trained runners engaged insessions of speed-endurance training butthere was also a 36 per cent reduction in theirusual running volume. The speed sessionscomprised ive to 10 × 30-second maximalrunning eforts. Before the study began, the``````participants undertook a series of tests,including a 10K time trial – in both normal andglycogen-depleted states, so as to measurethe diference in speed. After the 10 weeksof training, these tests were repeated. Inthe normal state, there was a 3.2 per centimprovement in 10K time, down from anaverage of 45.2 minutes to 43.7 minutes.In the glycogen-depleted state, there was a3.9 per cent improvement, from 47.7 minutesto 45.8 minutes. So when it comes to 10Ktraining sessions, go for quality, not quantity.RUNNING IS INYOUR BONESWORDS: RICK PEARSON. PHOTOGRAPH: GETTY IMAGES. 1 THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY 2. PHYSIOLOGICAL REPORTS 3. SPORT ENGLANDWARM-UPS FITNESSJULY 2018 RUNNERSWORLD.CO.UK 013