Trail Runner’s Book Review: Ultra Running for Normal People
“I believe ultrarunning is not only possible but profoundly beneficial for most Normal People.”
Sid Garza-Hillman, author, coach, and trail race director based in Mendocino, CA, aims to “demystify” ultramarathon trail running to the general population in his fourth book: Ultra Running For Normal People. Garza-Hillman, himself a finisher of ten ultramarathons (and who began his ultrarunning career at age 46), race director of the Mendocino 50K, podcaster, nutritionist, and running coach at the Small Step Intensive, draws on his nine years of experience in the sport to publish a running guidebook that is vastly different from other books in its genre. In place of typical training schedules, workout plans, athlete tips, etc., this book shares “life lessons on and off the trail” that Garza-Hillman analyzes from the perspective of his own running career and life.
The book reads as much like a memoir as a running guide intermixed with humorous personal running anecdotes and deeper philosophical themes that go well beyond what it means to just finish a race and more about how trail running can help anyone lead fulfilling lives. In a modern, work-driven Western age where we often lack connections to nature, community, and even our own bodies, Garza-Hillman argues that trail running is one of the best ways to reestablish these connections for the betterment of our physical and mental health.
At its core, this is a book for “Normal people,” or, as Garza Hillman defines the term, “A person who has any of the following: a job, a family, or responsibilities and obligations that exist outside the world of trail ultrarunning.” The book is divided into nine life lessons that trail running has taught him, and he hopes can teach others to improve their daily lives. In the following book review, I explore these lessons and how trail running is not just a sport but a life practice that can build better communities and overcome challenges that all “Normal People” can relate to.
Born To Run goes further into the wild
In reading Ultrarunning For Normal People, I couldn’t help but draw the connection to the New York Times best-selling novel and one of the most popular running books of all time, Born To Run. In this novel, author Christopher McDougall travels to meet the “Running People,” or the Tarahumara tribe in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. Spoiler alert: McDougall comes away realizing that not just this tribe are natural-born runners, but everyone on the planet. McDougall boldly states, “If you don’t think you were born to run, you’re not only denying history, you’re denying who you are.”
Garza-Hillman builds on McDougall’s idea that we are all born to run, seeing running or movement in general as a key piece to our mental and physical health that has been lost in modern-day society. Trail running, Garza-Hillman argues, is one way we can get in touch with our natural wild side. Garza-Hillman explains, “The experience of being alone on a trail is a pretty accurate simulation of our wilder days—days when humans were forced by survival to be in a state of attention and to move.”
This state of attention, which he later refers to throughout the book as “wild attention,” allows him to “broaden the scope of my awareness, to listen, look and feel everything, all at once.” This state of “wild attention” gives Garza-Hillman the clarity of mind he needs to produce ideas for his books, podcasts, coaching, and other work projects. The clear mental states that can be gained from trail running have been so central to Garza-Hilman’s creative process that he now runs on trails carrying a digital recorder to capture all of his best ideas from the “wild.”
In addition to “wild attention” the book makes another interesting observation about a problem that trail running can solve in modern society—lack of connection to community. Next time you go out to eat or grab a cup of coffee, take note of how many groups are staring at their phones instead of talking directly to other people around them. We’re living in an age where face-to-face connections have lost value and individuals often lack the social skills to connect deeply with others. This is something all of us have likely encountered, and perhaps come to accept as a part of living in the modern world.
Garza-Hillman challenges us to consider how trail running might aid in deepening social connections. He explains that in races many runners adopt empathic attitudes with fellow participants, “I bet you feel as bad as I do, and there is comfort in that for both of us.” He argues that such connections between runners who share common challenges in their training and racing are exactly the kind of social interactions we’re missing in our daily lives. Relating the experience of going into the “pain-cave” with our fellow trail runners is ultimately a more substantial relationship building conversation than, “What was your favorite Instagram meme of the day?”.
Welcome fear with open arms
The opening lesson of the book addresses the largest hurdle for new trail/ultramarathon runners: “To Move Through Fear.” When compared to other types of running, such as shorter cross country and road 5K races, it’s no question that trail races are ultimately more intimidating. The challenge of completing a race such as the Hardrock 100 is, as the name might suggest, very difficult! Even sub-ultra races (competitions less than 26.2 miles), such as the Pikes Peak Ascent, which features nearly 8,000 feet of elevation gain, have earned reputations as challenges of a lifetime.
The majority of the American population wouldn’t even want to imagine the mental and physical states they would have to go through during trail races. Garza-Hillman, however, argues that this cultural aversion to fear and challenge is one of the main problems rooted in modern society that holds us back from actually overcoming fear, “When we learn to coexist with our fear and occasionally even invite it into our lives, we remind ourselves that we need not ever fully give ourselves over to it.” Trail running is one way we can invite fear into our lives, accept it, and overcome it.
Although Garza-Hillman portrays beautiful “zen-like” wisdom, such as the line above, he’s also not afraid to share his own journey of self-doubt and struggle. Garza-Hillman, a self-described “average runner” who rarely trains more than 50 miles per week, shares several of his personal struggles throughout the book, such as signing up for his first 50K or navigating the complex world of ultramarathon training.
He writes vivid descriptions of the negative spiral mindset that many of us go through when we’re signing up for our first ultra or moving up in distance, “How odd a species we are that we can exist in dread about something that we are choosing to do and that we are free to do and that we are free to change our minds about at any time. Nobody was forcing me to run the race. Nobody was even daring me to. I chose it yet had to grapple with a future that was injecting moments of stomach-turning fear into my present…”
Reading Garza-Hillman’s own insecurities about ultrarunning, coupled with his descriptions of the other stresses and obligations in his life that include being a father, managing his nutrition, work schedule, injuries, etc., add to the relatability of his experiences in ways that are not often achieved from other running coach authors. Garza-Hillman is not the “know-it-all” kind of running personality that other running coaches and authors are or present themselves as in their writing. Garza-Hillman shares his own success completing ultramarathons and the powerful self-transformation that others like himself with families, jobs, and other life stresses might also seek value in.
He describes the benefits of challenging yourself with ultramarathons beyond awards or fitness outcomes, “If at the moment we feel like quitting, we instead continue in spite of it, then we see a power inside of us we never knew we had—and often for the first time. This experience is, I believe, the main driver of why Normal People continue running ultramarathons beyond our first attempts;” The challenges we face in trail running can lead to personal breakthroughs and optimistic outlooks of personal transformative questioning, “If this is possible, what else is possible?” Trail running is presented less as a sport and more as an activity that can be practiced in adulthood to continue discovering meaning and building powerful character traits.
It’s all about training
I’ve described many of the unique qualities of this book that differentiate it from traditional training books, but it also does contain useful training advice. Such advice is not organized in a typical training book with chapters and subheadings dedicated to exact pacing, workouts to follow, etc., but the advice is interspersed in ways that occur naturally after personal anecdotes or tie into the book’s life-lesson themes.
One such advice is Garza-Hillman’s take on organized training routines and the pitfalls of religiously following them, “Even the best routines can reach a point where they no longer serve us, and in spite of this, many of us will continue with them because they’re what we know.” This advice comes after Garza-Hillman recounts a story of his achilles rupture resulting from him pushing through his body’s signals to rest to complete his training schedule. The lesson was hard-earned and one he hopes other runners can avoid by tapping into their body’s sensations versus just following training plans.
Another key piece of training advice is Garza-Hillman’s analysis of how to handle stress, both from running and general life stress. He states, “Normal People do not exercise or train in a vacuum. Normal People train while we live our normal lives.” All stress, not just physical running stress, must be taken into account when attempting to develop a balanced training approach. A hard workout on top of a day that is exceedingly difficult at work, for example, could become unmanageable and should be avoided. This advice, while not presented in practical coaching terms of “this is exactly how much you should run every day,” focuses more on the mental aspects of training. Garza-Hillman seeks to empower his readers with mental attitudes that allow them to succeed in the long run and make smarter training decisions that take into account all “Normal People” life factors. Such advice is ultimately more useful than static training plans, which often lack Garza-Hillman’s holistic approach to personal growth in both running and life.
Final thoughts
Garza-Hilman’s book shows us that our connections to nature, community, and our bodies are more important than most of us realize in a fast-paced, technology-driven modern world. Trail running is one of the best practices to build these connections and slow down, and it is something nearly any of us can do. Whether you’re on the fence about signing up for a race because it seems intimidating or an experienced trail runner already, this book offers insights into how trail running can be a transformative life experience and bring us back to our empowering “wild” side.
Garza-Hillman’s Book Launch Events:
Tuesday, February 6 at 6 PM: The Bookworm of Edwards (Edwards, CO)
Wednesday, February 7: Runner’s Roost (Denver, CO)
The run will start at 6 PM and then the conversation starts at 7:15 PM.
The store will have Brooks demo shoes for people.
Thursday, February 8 at 6-7:30 PM: Hotel Boulderado (Boulder, CO)
With guest speaker Hillary Allen
Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 pm: Healdsburg Running Company Book Launch! (Healdsburg, CA)
