Past Book Review (November 28, 2020): "Running with Joy"

New book review for Running with Joy: My Daily Journey to the Marathon, by Ryan Hall, Harvest House Publishers, 2011:

This memoir by Ryan Hall (American half-marathon record holder, fastest American-born marathoner, and fastest Boston Marathon runner as of 2011) provides a fascinating, daily running log that as a lifelong runner I consider my favorite (and I've read a lot). Contrary to some of the other reviews here, I do not consider the content of this book to be preachy at all, because he relates everything that he says to himself rather than pushing his worldview on the reader. Every memoir that I've read, whether about running or not, always delves deeply into the personalities and worldviews of the protagonist, and this one is no exception. While I agree that Ryan shares his worldview throughout, I disagree with another reviewer here that "God is on pretty much every page", as this is a gross exaggeration: the vast majority of what he has to share here is a daily running log that might be better described as a running journal because he relates his daily training in context with the rest of his daily life, which includes joy but also includes personal struggle, challenge, and doubt.

For many of us, I think the fact that he shares these things with the reader is invaluable, bringing realism to running. While I've never been a world-class runner, I did compete in school for 10 years and continue to hit the trail every morning to run many years later, and I can personally relate to much of what Ryan writes about in his introduction and his notes from 14 weeks of training for the 2010 Boston marathon. From the very first page in his introduction, you will notice the difference relative to other books of this genre. In thinking back to his training for this marathon, he comments that he "had certainly experienced moments of joy before this and throughout my career, but they were almost always based on accomplishments, such as drastically improving my times, winning races, and setting records. All of these were tremendous experiences, but the problem was this: To experience joy, I had to win or set a record. If I didn't, joy was hard to find. I have been blessed with a very successful career, but I have also been a slave to performance. In fact, most of my athletic career at Stanford was a long, joyless dry spell."

The introduction to this book could likely be spun off and expanded into an entirely separate book, and in some sense I consider Ryan's later book "Run the Mile You're In: Finding God in Every Step" a fulfillment of this possibility because it does not end up revolving around a specific running competition. In his introduction, Ryan discusses his training with the elite, 18-member Mammoth Track Club which includes his wife Sara, two coaches, an assistant coach and physiologist, and Scott Bauhs, Josh Cox, Alistair Cragg, Amy Hastings, Deena Kastor, Meb Keflezighi, Rita Klabacha, Dennis Kline, Bob Larsen, Terrence Mahon, Michael McKeeman, Anna Pierce, Jonathan Pierce, Jen Rhines, Patrick Smythe, and Morgan Uceny. For the remainder of his introduction, he discusses life as a runner ("repeat, repeat, and repeat"), how a little extra weight goes a long way, the "nitty-gritty" of training, finding joy, and the Hall Steps Foundation he founded with Sara which is intended to take small steps toward the marathon goal of ending global poverty.

Arguably, it is the last section of his introduction that carries the most weight. "The journal entries that follow record my day-to-day journey to running with joy in any circumstances, including both victory and in defeat. The words of the apostle Paul have taken on new meaning for me: 'I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.' Paul's secret is not that God can take him out of difficult situations, but rather that he can be content in the middle of them. People often ask me about the message I want to bring to the running community and the world. My message is not that if you dream, live a focused life, and completely devout yourself to becoming the best runner in the world, it will happen. That message is simply not true. Or rather, it can only be true for one person at a time – the best runner in the world. "

"Let me assure you, I would never want to discourage you from going after your goals with all your heart. I am all about going after whatever God has called you to do with everything in you. But my heart broke when I looked down the starting line at the Olympic games and realized that nearly all of us would be disappointed with our performance, because only three guys could make it on the podium. But all of us, fast and slow alike, can experience something that is just as sweet as winning. My message is that even if you don't land on the podium or run a personal best, even if you have a bad workout or are struggling with an injury, you can experience joy to the fullest. I have been a slave for 14 years – a slave to my running times and race results. On April 19, 2010, I found freedom in the truth that joy is always available to us. The question is, will we let it in?"

Alongside notes on his daily workouts which stretch for 14 weeks, his advice to other runners, and his serious self reflection, I've delightfully found quite a bit of humor here. I personally find his use of scientific terms such as "gnarly", "jacked up", "Jell-O", and "gummed up" throughout to be refreshingly funny, for example. He also provides quite a few sidebars on such subjects as heart rate monitors and aerobic threshold, alternating fast and slow days, hills and flats, short and long runs, training at altitude, trails, tracks, and pavement, training in all seasons, weekly mileage, rest, tapering training into races, recovering after races, stretching, cross training, injuries, blisters, shoes, clothing, energy food, electrolyte replacement drinks, hydration systems, equipment, running in groups and running alone, running logs, inspiring running books and movies, and favorite runners and inspiring heroes.

Yes, Ryan shares dozens of his daily workouts en route to Boston, but I think much of the value that he provides here is in-between his descriptions of these. For example, in "Week Four: Eleven Weeks to Boston", he shares his unnerving thoughts watching other men run a fast 5k. "Again, this just shows that I get too much of my self-worth from my performances. I still let the clock tell me how good I am. I still let the splits determine how hopeful I am for the future. I still compare myself to others. But I am getting closer. This is not what running should be all about at its fullest. Running should be a pure flood of joy. Comparing myself to someone else is empty and vain. I rob myself of the goodness and joy of running every time I do it." And in "Week Eight: Seven Weeks to Boston", he shares over 9 pages a great email interview that he did for Running Times. It's very challenging to review a book like this, but it was especially great to read Ryan's play-by-play of his marathon run in the final pages, which overlaps with Meb's coverage of this same race in his "26 Marathons: What I Learned about Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career".