What to Write, When to Write

The more often you write in your training log, the more it can help you. Writing in your log within an hour of every run is ideal, because that’s when the run is freshest in your mind. Another good time is soon before you go to bed, because you can put the run in perspective with the rest of the day. If you have a decent memory, it’s OK not to write in your log after every run, but try to write in your log at least twice a week so that you don’t forget to include relevant information.
What information should you include in your training log? It depends on what factors are significant to you in determining your progress. Here are just some of the things that runners record in their logs:

• Distance run
• How long the run took
• How the run felt subjectively
• What the course was like
• What the weather was like
• Any ache or pain during the run
• Whether the run was a solo effort or with others
• Weight
• Morning heart rate
• Number of hours slept
• Any other exercise for the day
• Significant nonrunning events that might make running harder or easier that day, such as a late night at work
• Mileage for the week and month
• Goal for the coming week and month
• Assessment of progress toward goals

All of this information is more than most people want to write down a few times a week. At the minimum, I think you should include distance or time run, anything significant about the course or weather, anything significant about how you felt during the day or on the run, and, at least twice a month, how you’re progressing toward your goals.

What you write in your training log might not seem important to anyone else in the world. No matter. One of the things I love most about running is that I do it solely for myself, and my success is determined solely by me. That kind of control is hard to achieve in most other areas of life. In running, there’s no such thing as office politics, racial or gender discrimination, or other arbitrary things that can impede your progress. You can’t schmooze your way into becoming a better runner. Your training log is a great place to turn to take refuge from these kinds of standards, because you can look in it and see the work you’ve done and the progress you’ve made. This clear reward for effort is hard to come by in most parts of our lives, even things that we’re very passionate about, such as being a parent.