Reflections: by Ryan K. Beck

Now that I have been running consistently for over a year, I have learned a lot about the sport. I understand terms like VO2Max  and lactate threshold , and what they suggest about my current fitness. I know that running boring, easy miles is just as important as threshold work for marathon training. I see the value in recovery through sleep, stretching, and nutrition.  Spaghetti squash casserole over pasta In fact, I have reached the point where I feel comfortable relying on my own knowledge base for training decisions rather than AI tools. In my first training block, I turned to ChatGPT constantly. I would ask: "My achilles flared up again. How should I adjust my weekly mileage and stretching routine to adapt?"  "[Import workout data] I ran this distance at this pace in training. What does this suggest about my race day potential?" While AI provided a foundation for my running routine, it fails to account for the complexity of life. How could it? Unless it knew ev...

Throughout the summer, I have been attending Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club's summer track workouts at the UMass Amherst track complex. These coach-led sessions have served as my weekly workout in my Baystate Marathon training plan. Undoubtedly, keeping pace with a group of "fast" runners has built my confidence that I could run short distances competitively. Sunrise at the UMass track Unlike many of the "fast" runners I have met, I didn't run XC or track in high school/college. I enjoyed running on the soccer field far more than running on trails or in ovals repeatedley. I didn't understand or respect the sport of running for what it was.  I have since discovered that running is one of the hardest sports both physically and mentally. There are times when my whole body is begging me to stop, to satiate my emptying glycogen reserves, and all I can do is keep going . Keep going, or I won't meet my goal. Keep going, or I will fail. The responsibility...

Vacationland I spent the past week on a family vacation in Acadia National Park. This was my third consecutive summer visiting Acadia. Nearly a decade ago, my family gathered in Acadia every summer on the same week for multiple consecutive years. This trip marked the return of an old tradition and the continuation of my own. Negotiating my marathon training with family activities proved difficult at times. On Tuesday, I ran from our rental to the Wonderland Trail tide pools to meet family who drove. We found a few sea creatures at low tide.  Sunrise on Cadillac Mountain On Wednesday, I was planning to do my mile time trial. However, many of us woke up at 2 AM to hike up Cadillac Mountain for sunrise, meaning I got less than ideal sleep. When we got back around 7:15 AM, my uncle, cousin and I cleaned up quickly and then went to play 18 holes at the Causeway Club . At this point, it was 1:30 PM, and we needed to leave at 2:30 for a family boat excursion, immediately followed by fami...

Olivia Rodrigo (Spotify) Discovering Olivia Rodrigo When Olivia Rodrigo first emerged on the pop music scene in 2021 with Sour , I was dismissive and critical of her as an artist. I'd say "She's too young to really understand relationships." or "Her lyrics are immature and harsh." Secretly, though, I would blast "good 4 u" alone in my car, placing a heavy emphasis on the "LIKE A DAMN SOCIOPATH" that I identified as harsh.  From 2021 onward, my love for pop music steadily grew. Taylor Swift was my first discovery, beginning with famous tracks like "All Too Well" and "Back to December" and progressing to her highly regarded sister albums  folklore (2020) and  evermore (2021) . In 2023, I started listening to Sabrina Carpenter's emails i can't send (2023). Then, in 2024, a friend had me listen to "all-american bitch" off of Olivia Rodrigo's second album, Guts (2023) and I was hooked. Guts (Spilled) (...

Summer of Speed This week was the end of Phase 2—Speed & Threshold—of my Baystate Marathon training plan, where I will attempt to run sub-2:48:00. This phase of the plan involved attacking Wednesday track workouts that were shorter in distance but higher in intensity than typical marathon pace workouts. The next phase will involve more marathon pace workouts: longer in distance but lesser in intensity.  Before I fully transition to Phase 3—Marathon-Specific—I will be running a mile time trial this Wednesday while on vacation. I consider it a capstone on a period of running that can best be described as "Summer of Speed." View from UMass Amherst track Since I got into running in May 2025, I have engaged with media to learn more about the sport. Specifically, I have been an active subscriber to Youtubers who document their marathon training in videos, perused blog posts to find the best running gear for me, and watched videos about lactate threshold, VO2Max, and other commo...

The Runner's Paradox A book I was reading this week "A paradox is the appearance of contradiction between two related components. Although light and darkness seem to be opposites, you can't have one without the other—the opposing elements of a paradox are inextricably linked."  - The Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown (82) This week, I sought to rediscover the joy in running. My consistent running practice has brought so much to my life, yet the monotony and demands of marathon training have grown tiresome. My pursuit of a Boston Marathon qualifier kept me highly motivated in my first training block, but now that I have realized that it may take several more training blocks to run sub 2:48:00 in the marathon, I am experiencing the challenges of delayed gratification for long-term goals.  Running, in many ways, is a paradox. The act of running itself is grueling, exhausting, and monotonous. Running at high mileage demands that you build your schedule around your trainin...