That's me front/center with my Nordic Walking (and sometimes running) class

Today I took my Nordic Walking class to the beach at low tide.  In addition to training private clients, and doing Physical Therapy, I teach a class Nordic walking class at the Santa Barbara YMCA. Our class met this morning to Arroyo Burro Beach – to take advantage of the low tide. Weather was fantastic!  Ran into the SBAA Vieja Valley Sunday morning bunch – perfect day to get some sand running in – with or without poles!

Hal came along (he took the picture above) – and was able to get in an hour of Nordic Sand Running himself.

I like to use poles to vary my solo running, especially while out with the dogs at More Mesa or Ellwood. The poles become an extension of your arms – you can use them to unweight your spine and lower extremities while propelling you forward – and running becomes a full body experience. It took me a long time to learn how to use the poles like this - hours of trial and error/practice. Hal, who is by nature or genetics more coordinated than I, figured out how right away how to smoothly incorporate the poles while running.

I watched my husband disappear down the beach with his poles. A couple of women in my class commented on how strong, manly, sexy he looked.

The sand and poles  were kind to Hal. He got in a good run today – his back and hamstring didn’t bother him at all. And I was able to “Nordic run” without any knee or toe pain.

Can we do a marathon with poles at the beach?