Running, like many participant sports, is a sport that can be quantified and measured. Runners are able to track their progress over time. However, in order to give context and understanding to their progress, runners need to consistently collect information about their workouts and to capture the key information that will help tell a story about those runs when the information is reviewed and analyzed later.
Keep a Log of Your Workouts
The first simple thing to do is start a running log. A log doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective. Capturing some basic information on a piece of paper can do the trick. What is important is that the log is used with some consistency and that it captures similar information for each workout. This allows the runner, or a coach, to look across these workouts and see patterns in the information.
Painting a complete picture of what really happened during the workout should be the intent of a good log. Runners should think about factors that impact their performance during a run and make sure to note those items so that it is clear why a particular run might seem faster or slower than other comparable runs.
Write Down the Important Details
Reading a training log without more details, it would be hard to tell the differences between two four mile runs. But adding a bit more information such as whether the courses run were hilly or flat or whether the temperature was hot or cold, can help determine whether those two four mile runs bear much in common at all.
Here are some key pieces of information that runners might want to capture, in order to truly be able to compare their runs.
Create a table with the items below as the rows going down the side of page and then jot down some notes after each run:
- Total distance
- Total time spent running
- Total workout time from beginning of warm-up to the end of cool-down
- Mile splits or at least partial splits (such as the time to complete the first half and second half of the run)
- Average pace per mile (figured as the total distance divided by the total time)
- Course description (e.g. hilly, flat, road, trail)
- Temperature (Be sure to note hot or cold weather)
- Wind conditions (head-winds and tail-winds can significantly impact pace)
- Amount of fluid consumed before, during and after the run
- Foods eaten and number of calories before, during and after the run
- Mood and physical feeling before, during and after the run
Runners should keep a focus on being consistent about using their logs and capturing those important details that will help them understand what went on during the workout when the read the data later.
Joe English - Joe English is a professional running and triathlon coach and a journalist who follows the sport of marathon running and triathlon. Joe ...
