Here’s how a training log will make you a better runner

Whether you’re a new runner or have many marathons under your belt, tracking your progress in a training log or diary can boost motivation, help you troubleshoot your training, and is fun to look back on as time passes. Here’s the rundown on how and what you should be noting each run.

Running apps like Strava can be a great place to start tracking data, but writing down quick specific notes on each training session in a log is invaluable. You can add notes to a running app you’re already familiar with using, but also consider jotting down notes in a traditional running diary–it can be as cathartic as journaling, and will provide you with a tool to reflect on for years to come.

Why you should consider a training diary

Endurance sports coach and author Matt Fitzgerald shared in PodiumRunner that making the effort to log our training “increases our mind-body awareness as well as mental and emotional investment in the sport in ways that may positively affect our performance.” It also has immense practical value, helping you determine what’s working and what isn’t, and adding an accountability factory to your routine.

Your training diary can be a great confidence booster. “It is a rich record of how much hard work you’ve accomplished and how much progress you’ve made,” Fitzgerald says. “It is the nearest thing you have to proof that you can achieve your goals before you actually achieve them.”

Here’s what you should be logging

Training apps like Strava (or one you may use with your watch) will do some of the hard work for you, noting your data and mileage. Here’s what you should consider adding notes on.

• Feelings This doesn’t have to take long or be complicated. Very simple notes about whether you felt fantastic or sluggish can help you figure out what is working and what isn’t in your training (and your life). If you’re under a lot of mental stress, note it: our bodies keep track of stress (mental and physical) rather than mileage, so a high-stress week can correlate to finding your regular workouts more challenging than usual.
• Conditions Noting what the weather was like and what terrain you were running on can put a training session in perspective–if you were running through deep snow or on an unusually warm day, make sure to note that, because it may help to account for feeling the way you do during a run.
• Sleep If you slept terribly the night before a workout, you will be less recovered than you need to be; sleep impacts training, and a period of poor sleep can also be an indicator of other health issues.
• Niggling aches and pains Keep track of sore spots, even if they seem minor. This can be useful in preventing injuries, and can also help you identify which workouts are pushing your limits.

If your workout included intervals or varying intensities, you may want to add notes to clarify that–something as simple as “15 min warmup, 3 x 800m” will help jog your memory when you look back at the data.

Training over the long-term can have low points, and your log will be a source of motivation. It’s impossible to be consistently stoked about the daily grind, and looking over your log will remind you of how much time you have already put in, and how far you have come. “It’s a source of accountability to the standards you have set for yourself as a runner,” says Fitzgerald.