On May 11th, 2013, I ran my fastest half-marathon in Ashdown, Arkansas, with a time of 1:29:17.
Years later, I completed another half marathon. I ran 1:35:01, the fastest time I’ve run since 2013. After finishing the half, I wondered what I did differently in 2013 that made me run my personal best.
So, I got on my computer and pulled up my 2013 training log. I looked back through the months of my running plan leading up to my PB in May. I could see the different interval and tempo running workouts I had used that led to my 1:29 half.
I was then able to incorporate some of these training principles into my current training to hopefully improve my time for upcoming races.
Looking back on a runner’s training log gives us the opportunity to grow and improve.
In this guide, I will explain why it is useful and important to keep a running log and track your workouts and how it can ultimately make you a better runner.
Why Are Running Logs Useful?
Running logs are snapshots of what you did on a particular day, week, or year. They are a treasure trove of information that can help you become a faster, healthier runner.
With running training logs, you can:
- Look at past training, how you felt, and if you improved or not during that training period
- Track mileage so you can safely increase volume and intensity
- Track workouts so you can see progress and make adjustments to your training plan when necessary
- Look back and pinpoint training and/or injuries for future reference
- Help set and achieve fitness goals whether it’s a PR, weight loss, or simply increasing your daily running in terms of mileage
Whether you are an Olympian trying to win a gold medal or a new runner trying to finish your first 5K, you should have a running log.
Let’s take a deep dive into the benefits of a workout log:
What Are The Benefits of Running Logs?
#1: Allow you to track improvement
What was your last 5K time trial time?
What was the longest run you did before your last half marathon?
What pace did you run that tempo at?
If you have a running log, you could answer any of these questions at the turn of a page or the swipe of a screen.
Comparing your current training to your past training allows you to see improvement. This is important for the mental aspect of training.
There have been times when I felt my training was not going well, but when I would look back at past running logs I would see that my paces in workouts were faster than they were a few months prior.
Having a running log allows you to track your improvements as you progress in your training.
#2: Allow you to avoid injury or discover how you became injured
In 2012, I decided I wanted to run my first 50-mile race. I was routinely doing 10-12 mile runs but decided to start increasing my long runs.
Over the course of 6-8 weeks, I jumped to 15 miles, then 20 miles, then a marathon on some trails. Suddenly, it hurt to raise my right leg. My hip flexor was killing me, and I had to take a month off.
At the time, I didn’t understand what had happened. But when I looked back through my running log, I could see I had made a jump in my long run mileage too quickly, which led to an overuse injury.
Your running log can help you plan your weekly mileage to build up gradually and appropriately and avoid injury.
Leave comments on days when you have aches and pains, feel fatigued, or had an amazing run. Having information on how you felt, in addition to the daily log running metrics, is an excellent way to truly know what’s working and what isn’t.
Seeing the same niggle pop up several days in a row indicates that you may have an injury forming and allows you to take it easy or do preventative work so it doesn’t get worse.
The best way to improve as a runner is to be consistent. Injuries prevent that. So, having the ability to prevent injuries or learn from your past mistakes can help keep you healthy and running.
#3: Plan future training
To plan your future training, you have to know what you’ve done in the past. Having a runners log allows you to plan your training based on the distances and paces you ran in the most recent training cycle.
Looking at your running for the past few months will allow you to plan your mileage so that it builds gradually. It will also help you see what paces you should aim for in workouts. Finally, it will let you plan down weeks or off days when you need them.
If you don’t have a running journal to look back at, there’s a real chance you’ll increase your training too much too quickly, which can lead to plateauing or injury.
What Should I Record In My Running Log?
In your running log, you should track what makes the most sense to you. The log is for you (or your coach) and, therefore, should include metrics that you would like to keep track of and review.
The three things every training log should keep track of are distance, time, and pace.
Distance/Time
Distance and time are the two most common ways of tracking your training. Most plans you find online or will be given by a coach will consist of works defined by one or the other.
Run 3 miles at an easy pace
Run for 20 mins at a moderate pace
Tracking distance or time will be important to ensure you train properly for your race. For any race distance, you will want to gradually increase the distance or time you run each week.
Tracking your training each week allows you to ensure that you are increasing it appropriately. Big jumps in training can lead to injury.
Pace
It’s important to run at a variety of paces. You want to stress your aerobic and anaerobic systems, which means you need easy days and hard days. Recording your pace is the best way to keep track of this.
If you have an anaerobic workout or hard day scheduled, you will want to make sure your effort and pace are fast enough to stress your muscles and produce the desired effect.
If an easy day is scheduled, you want to ensure you are running at a pace that will allow your body to recover and be ready for the next hard effort.
One of the biggest mistakes new runners make is running their easy days too hard and their hard days too easy. Tracking your pace in your training log can help ensure each run is achieving its desired outcome.
Things like mileage, time, and pace are the big three that make the most sense.
But what else can we track?
The beauty of a fitness journal is that it’s yours to customize as you please. You can track metrics that are important to you and leave off things that you don’t feel necessary.
Here are a few other things you might want to add to your running log:
Comments
- Snow/ice on the run. Slipped a few times. Pace lagged.
- I wasn’t feeling well, so I cut the workout short.
- The trail had a lot of verticle gain and was somewhat technical.
- 8×400 w/ 200 rec (90,95,91,91,91,87,89,92), 7×200 w/ 200 rec (41,43,41,41,43,43,40). Lower.
These are all comments pulled from my running log.
Comments can help you understand what happened on a particular day if you or a coach are reviewing your running log.
Why was your pace so slow? Maybe it was because you were running on steep trails, which affected your pace.
Want data on how you are improving? Look back at splits from a previous workout and see how you did so you can compare how you are coming along.
Workouts
As we mentioned in the comments section, recording workouts can help you see how you are improving.
Noting specific run types and splits can allow you or your coach to plan future workouts and monitor for improvement or overtraining.
If you ran a set of mile repeats last month at a 7:00 pace and then ran at a 6:45 pace this month, that’s evidence that you are improving.
Weather Conditions
Weather can significantly affect your run. Heat, wind, cold, and snow can slow your pace more than intended. Keeping that information in your running log can be helpful, particularly when the weather severely affects your training.
Shoe Mileage
Most running shoes are designed to last between 300 and 500 miles. I like to keep track of my shoes’ mileage so I know when to replace them and get a new pair.
Running in worn shoes can contribute to injury, so you may want to consider this in your training log.
Cross-Training
It’s a good idea to keep track of time spent on the bike, elliptical, or in the pool to supplement your running.
You can note the time or distance you did and the cross-training in your running log.
Effort Level
If you are using a training method that is not based on pace, you should also log that data. It could be your heart rate, power, or rate of perceived exertion.
What Should I Use To Keep A Running Log?
There are plenty of options for keeping a running log. None of them are inherently right or wrong. It depends on what works best for you.
Below are various ways to keep a running log. I’ve included some pros and cons for each.
Hardcopy
A hard copy of a running log is a great way to track training. These can be calendars, notebooks, or even premade running log books purchased from bookstores or online (a great runner gift by the way!).
The main downside to hard copy logs is that they can be damaged, and there isn’t a backup.
I saw a recent story on Instagram about a pro ultra runner’s apartment being caught on fire. He lost almost all of his belongings, and one of the specific things he mentioned was years of exercise logs.
I would be devastated if I lost the logs of all the training I did!
Calendar
A calendar can make a great training log. It could be an actual calendar bought from a store or a month-by-month calendar printed from the Internet.
I’ve used this method myself in the past. You simply fill in each square with the mileage for the day. You can also make small notations such as workouts and races.
The pros of a calendar are that it allows you to plan out days, weeks, and months in advance and compare them with your work or personal commitments.
The downside is that you don’t have much room for comments about your runs or workouts, which can be helpful when you look back.
Notebook
Notebooks are another way to keep your running log.
Notebooks are great because they are cheap and infinitely customizable. You can include whatever you are interested in tracking in your notebook.
You could dedicate each page to a day, week, or month of training. A notebook allows you plenty of space to include workouts, weather, comments, or anything else you want to remember.
The cons of notebooks are that you will have to figure out how you want to record the information. They can also be lost or destroyed relatively easily.
Store-bought
While I’ve never used them personally, I’ve had friends and teammates use store-bought training logs. These pre-formatted logs typically allow you to record a year of training.
Store-bought running logs are nice because they are set up and ready to go. All you have to do is fill in the information.
The cons of store-bought logs are that they are not customizable and, like other hard-copy logs, they can be lost or destroyed. They are also more expensive than other hard copy options, like a printable running log.
Digital
The main pro of digital over hard copy is that you should always have a backup of your logs. A spilled drink, dropped notebook, or fire will not claim your running log.
As someone who has coached clients digitally, it’s also much easier for you and your coach to share information back and forth about how runs are going.
Also, with the prevalence of computers and the Internet, these methods are likely cheap and/or free for keeping a running log. A spreadsheet or Google Doc is the way to go as you can access it from any device such as an Iphone, computer, tablet, etc.
The cons of digital logs are that you would need technology and/or internet access to use and update them. This could be problematic if you are traveling to remote areas.
Spreadsheet
I’ve kept my running log on an Excel spreadsheet since 2011. It took me a bit to set it up and get the formulas how I wanted them. I also have to update it yearly to reflect days shifting during the week.
However, other than some initial setup, an Excel sheet makes it easy to plug in my distance and time and let the formula calculate pace for me. I also added comments to runs so I can go back later and see how they went.
Here is an example month from my log:
While a spreadsheet requires some knowledge of spreadsheet software and some initial time to set it up, it’s a quick way to input data from runs and easy to look back at afterward.
Calendar
A calendar can be created digitally or physically. I’ve used sites with free templates for Word or Docs. I type in each block and save the calendar to update or refer to later.
When I coached runners, I typically used a digital calendar to plan out their training blocks and then had them record information on the log as well.
App
Apps are the newest form of running logs and offer a lot of pros.
Apps like Strava, Training Peaks, and Garmin Connect allow you to upload runs instantaneously and examine data from the past weeks, months, or even years.
Apps can keep track of metrics you would have difficulty tracking on your own.
The downside of apps is that you typically need to either carry a smartphone or have a smartwatch/GPS device to record your runs and use the apps.
Furthermore, while a lot of apps are free for basic features, you have to pay a subscription to use more advanced features.
Strava
Strava may be one of runners and cyclists’ most popular training apps.
Having an account is free, but you must upgrade to a subscription to access certain features.
I use the free Strava version and think it is a great way to keep a digital running log.
You will need a smartphone, smartwatch, or GPS watch to record runs and obtain metrics.
Strava syncs with many GPS apps (more on those below), so uploading to the app is a breeze. You can use the app or website to edit runs and look back at your training. However, I’ve found that the free versions aren’t as helpful for planning future training.
Training Peaks
Training Peaks is similar to Strava.
They are both free with paid upgrades, and both can sync data from your GPS watch or app.
I recently downloaded and played around with Training Peaks a bit on my own. Much like Strava, it can be used as a digital running log. It is also an excellent app between a coach and a runner to schedule training and give feedback.
Garmin/Coros/Suunto/Etc.
If you have a GPS watch, it likely comes with an app that tracks your training for you.
I’m currently using a Coros GPS watch to track my runs. Coros has an app that allows you to upload your runs from your watch to the app and track miles, pace, fatigue, etc.
This can be a great digital running log. The benefit of these apps is that they upload without any work from you. There is nothing that you need to create and update.
Whether trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon or running your first 5K, having a running log is crucial for improving and staying healthy.
Whether you pick a digital or hardcopy log, the important thing is to decide what you want to record and stick with it.
If you are looking for a training plan to get you started logging miles, check out our database of marathon training plans:
