Run-Down Forums

[Paul]

After reading Micah's comment on the Tracking Training Performance thread, I want to ask if any of you like any of the online training logs that are offered on so many sites.

Paul

[Dan]

I haven't tried any of them, but I've also never kept a training log before...

Dan

[Paul]

Wow, Dan. You've never kept a training log. This is going to elicit some comments from the peanut gallery!

Paul

[Micah Ward]

I use a regular training log because I don't trust computers yet. I'm still a cyberneanderthal.

Dan, I'm surprised you don't use a log since you are as meticulous as you are with the website. But I also remember reading that Joan Samuelson has never kept a log either. She didn't do so bad.

[Dan]

I've just never seen much value in keeping a log. I always know my mileage total for the week, and I could probably recite my weekly total at the end of each season. I was always the one remembering other people's race times for them, and I'm infamous for remembering workout splits to the hundreth. Of course, my memory has slipped rather dramatically the past couple of years (one thing I was really hoping I wouldn't inherit from my dad!), so I may soon be talking of the error of my ways...

I also have been a sparse note taker for the most part, being of the opinion that the more I write down, the less likely I am to actually look at it.

Dan

[Tuck]

Actually, I find that keeping a log is really useful for tracking my mileage (I guess my memory's not quite as good as Dan's) and for making sure that I stick to the mileage goals I set. My favorite online running log is:

www.runorgy.com

It's got a wacky name, but it's pretty easy to use. It has a calendar to record goals and actual mileage, as well as graphs showing your mileage over time. You can also keep track of race results and even form groups of runners and post messages to them.

Just my two cents.

[Distance_Guru]

I've been big into keeping logs since my high school days, at least when I was really training as opposed to just running. Probably one of the reasons I generally equate training to mileage as much as I do. I tried breifly to keep a log on my computer, although not online. It didn't workout so well. With a computer at my office (where I live) and at home (where I sleep), it seemed like I was always ending my run at the wrong place. I always like to write my mileage down right after I'm done running and I didn't want to sweat on the key board. So I'd put it off and before you know it, it's friday and I haven't entered any of the weeks workouts. With my good old black three ring binder I never had that problem.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Tuck]

Well, it's definitely a bit of a hassle to get on the computer right after a run, but with a running log on the web you can access it from any computer with an internet connection. So if I forget to do it at home, I can just log on at work the next day and record my run. Also, if I'm on vacation and still running, I can log my runs then too.

[Micah Ward]

This may sound a little goofy (so what else is new coming from me) but one of the reasons I like the written log is that I occasionally write about more than just running stuff in it. If something is significant about the run, like scenery or who I ran with or a special location, etc, I record that. I have also recorded significant things that might be going on in my life that have nothing to do with running but that I want to remember. So I guess I use it as a mini-diary too.
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[Paul]

You make a real good point, Micah. The online log I was using was at Road Runner Sports because I do so much shopping there. There is a limited amount of space where you can put in your daily entry. If you ended up with a particulary good interval day and wanted to write down all the times and something about each run, you didn't have the space. If one has been keeping logs for many years, why change now. Also, how long can one keep a log online before it gets deleted because of memory space. So you log your run online and then print it out and put it in a 3 ring binder anyway!!!!!

I went to the runorgy site and signed in for the heck of it just to see what it would be like. At the online log I was using, you were forced to enter certain things. If you just worked out with weights that session, you still had to record a mileage amount. I used to put in .01 !!

I have weight lifting logs that go clear back into the early 70's. I did manage to finally get rid of my high school workouts and those are over 35+ years.

And you don't need any fancy notebook for $5-$15 either. During school supplies sales in Aug you can get some high quality wire-bound notebooks with 150 pages in them for well under a buck!!

I found that I was starting to put in too many junk miles just so my log would look good. You can spend time doing drills or stairmaster or some other cross training activity (especially for those of us injured) but how do you record the mileage??


As Tuck pointed out, runorgy has the ability to give you a graphical representation of your workouts. They also allow you to pick a particular start day of the week. You are not confined to Sun-Sat. At this point, I would be inclined to keep a regular log and a bare bones online log with just mileage so I could look at my training graphically. In fact, I think I may transfer my significant workouts from last year into a binder and start deleting my online workouts.

And finally...thanks everyone for your posts, since I started this topic to begin with!!!!!!

Paul

[Distance_Guru]

[Paul]

Stairmaster and bike riding are easier to convert and I found I could do that. Drills, jumping rope, and strength training were more difficult. Which leads me to believe that the amount of time spent training during the week could be a positive indicator of one's training level, but it won't replace mileage.

Paul

[graeme]

I use the online training log at coolrunning.com... You can put in the distance, time, heart rate, route etc. (You can also make a list of routes and say how long they are so that you don't have to type the distance every time). You can also say which pair of shoes you used and it keeps track of how many miles you have on each pair. If I do an interval workout, I just put in the total mileage for the distance and I write down the workout in the notes section. That way I have a record of exactly what I did and it keeps track of how many miles I've done for me. If I was just using a notebook I would have to waste 45 precious seconds adding them up

The only problem is that at any time the owner of the database could decide to delete everything.

[Distance_Guru]

Your right about certain things not replaceing mileage. Drills and strength training are hard to record in terms of mileage. I usually just put a * in my log when ever I do things like that. With a note like, plyos, or wieghts- Hamstrings, biceps, shoulders and abs. Or something along those lines. Although I have used jump roping like riding a bike, or stairmaster. On occassions when I was waiting for a phone call, watching a big game on TV or some other excuse poor excuse for not running I would grab a jump rope and a heart rate monitor and just start going. I tried to keep my heart rate in the same range as on an aerobic run and I'd go for as long as 90 minutes. Then I'd sub it into my log as 7 minutes a miles worth of running. In hind site I should have realized the two constants of the mid to late 90's. She isn't going to call and the Bull's are going to win, so I might as well not miss a run.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Tuck]

I swim, do weight training, and sometimes use a stairmaster, all hard to convert into miles. But runorgy.com let's me define my own activities and record them in my own units, laps, reps, minutes, or whatever. I even record the number of pages I read/write each day!