slave to the training log

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slave to the training log

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

slave to the training log Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:12 am

so does anyone else find themselves wanting to reach 'milestones' on thier training logs, for the week, month, year...? I remeber last year that I really wanted to get to 1000 miles and did, on December 31st. This year, as it aproaches another calendar turn I looked to find I'm sitting at just under 1700 with a month and a half to go and was actually disconcerted that I couldn't realistically reach 2000....... WHO CARES!? I tried to tell myself, but i can't help but think it would have been 'neato' to double up on last year, but i'll take the quality of my training and racing this year in a heartbeat over the shear quantity that comes with reaching some arbitrary number on a training log no one sees or cares about but me... anyone else find themselves obsessing about this kind of thing?

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: slave to the training log Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:44 am

Hmmm, I don 't think I'm obsessive about my logs. I mean, I only use two for trackign my runs. Is that enough? Actuallly, I rely more on a program I purchased through Road Runner Sports called Run Master. It covers all types of workouts (swim, bike, weight training, skiing, etc.). It allows me to track my equipment usage (i.e. milage on my shoes, bike tires...whatever) , number of calories expend in each workout plus what I normal expend just existing throughout the day (base metabolic rate?). It also tracks my splits as well as my interval workouts (run time, distance, recovery time, recovery distance, etc.). I can even use a wizard to have it help plan a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, or Marathon training program. It gives me very specific workouts (not just distance) for each day. I don't think it's supported anymore 'cause I can't find any reference to it at Road Runners or Peak Running Performance (who I think developed/published it). The manual doesn't even provide any contact information. Fortunately the program has worked flawlessly for the past 4-5 years. I've also been using the "Run Log" Excel workbook created by David Hayes and the Dead Runners Society (it's available for free on his web site). I started using this to plan my training for the NYC Marathon and to compare its use to "Run Master." It actually tracks a lot of information and has some features that "Run Master" doesn't. I've been thinking about using it as a model to develop a web based version. But I don't go a day without recording my run (time, distance, effort level, mood, temperature, weight, shoes, splits, and comments). The greatest value I get from my log is looking back at my times for my hard workouts (Tempo, Interval, Long Runs) and reading my comments. It allows me to compare my progress from year to year.

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: slave to the training log Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:06 pm

For a short time I was using 4 on-line logs to try them out. Last year I sarted using Training Peaks (then Training Bible) and continued with that into this year, when I tried Nike Running's, Cool Running's and Marathon Guide's. I liked different features of each, but none seemed to have it all. I got busy for a while and found I just didn't have the time to record all 4. I stuck with Training Peaks for it's HRM zones information and because it had all of my runs since i started the year before, but i miss some of the personalization and interface of Nike's and the run/workout 'types' of it and the others (ie tempo, interval, etc)

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: slave to the training log Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:15 pm

I know what you mean. Last year I found myself wanting to squeeze in fairly useless extra runs, just to hit some arbitrary weekly or monthly mileage total like 80 mpw or 300 miles/month. Most of the time I was able to resist the temptation, though. I did throw in a few extra runs in late December, in order to ensure that my average weekly total for 2004 would be over 50. This year, I've been running a lot less, and my drive to reach those kinds of artificial milestones has been much less.

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