One thing that the running “experts” will tell you is that you should keep a running log. Write down when you run, how far you go, how fast you go, etc. Ideally, you should track food and other notes so you can better detail what goes into a good run versus what goes into a bad run.
No matter how many times I try, I can never keep one of these incredibly detailed log books.
I do track time and distance though. Since I started running in 2006, I have tracked my running at RunningAHEAD.com. It’s impressive to see how my yearly mileage has increased. One thing I like is that I can categorize the runs by type – meaning that races have their own category. That way, I can go in and look at my PRs and also see how my race times have changed over the years. I also use this site to track the mileage on my shoes.
For a more social aspect, I use DailyMile. I always read my friends’ workouts there, but I’m not so good at commenting. Sorry about that, friends. But it’s fun to see what others are doing, and it’s also nice when you’re training for a race “with” a friend. For example, it is how I know that my sister and I are magically training at the same pace for our marathon. (Which is quite convenient – she’s slightly faster, but is running a half the day before, so we should be perfect.) It’s also nice to get motivation from friends when things aren’t going your way.
But maybe you’re more of a notebook person. Whatever works best for you.
What do you use to track your workouts?
I use Runkeeper to track time/distance. You can add friends who are on it to your “Street Team” and then comment on each other’s activities.
Also, being a spreadsheet geek, I have a detailed spreadsheet to log all workouts. I have columns for time, distance, location, shoes, clothes, what I ate, the weather and general comments. I don’t spend alot of time going back to look unless I have a particularly good or bad run and then I look to see if there is a trend.
I’m a big fan of LogYourRun.com. I know other progams interface with the Garmins, too, but it’s very easy to use and I can enter my training plan and compare my plan to my actual runs on the calendar. Keeps track of shoes, and any biking miles as well.
Jenny, that’s not one I’m familiar with at all!