Laura Clark reviews Trail Running: Science & Training, by Nacho Martinez, Sportraining, 2024. Laura is a trail runner, snowshoer and children’s librarian based in Saratoga Springs, NY.
This book is not a relaxing bedtime read. It takes as much mental fortitude to fully understand the scientific advice offered by Coach Nacho Martinez as it does to run a trail ultra. This is not a book you can simply read and jot down a few notes, but rather one that is best purchased and referred to often.
While Martinez states that he directs his comments to coaches and ordinary runners alike, reading his entries makes me realize how much is involved in being a coach. I have never had one, but the depth of knowledge Martinez displays makes me feel like I am missing out. In my defense, when I began running, coaches were only for school teams and elites, not for ordinary folk.
If you are one of these ordinary folk, and especially like me who managed to evade high school biology, go easy on yourself. I recommend you read the first chapter to get the lay of the land and then skim through the rest, pretending you are reading a graphic novel. For Martinez peppers his writing with cartoon figures and summary comments to help you get a feel for each chapter even if full understanding remains elusive.
Trail Running: Science & Training
Then, select one or two sections that speak to you and tackle them first. For me, that was mountain running, which I love and the section about the principles of training. These two I found to be fairly straight forward as I was familiar with many of the points made. In the mountain running section, for example, from observing hikers pass me on steep uphills, I had already figured out that at some point running becomes far less efficient. But Martinez takes this basic knowledge one step further by illustrating training techniques for all phases, including use of the treadmill cranked all the way up.
One of the points he makes in the training section, dubbed the Red Queen Hypothesis, with the drawing of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, immediately caught my attention. The illustration supplied is actually of the more familiar “off with their heads” Queen of Hearts, while the Red Queen appears later in Through the Looking Glass. But the two figures are commonly interchanged. According to the Red Queen Hypothesis, species have to run or evolve in order to stay in the same place, as the Red Queen says to Alice, “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” In other words, while some degree of repetition is beneficial, always doing the same workouts in exactly the same way will not help you to improve. Tweaks are important. I can see the necessity for a coach to take the long view in order to help you discover your potential.
If you do have a coach, share this book with her and work on it together. If you don’t have one, the suggestions Martinez shares will still set you on the road to a more enlightened approach.
Editor’s note: Read more book reviews and articles by Laura Clark here.
