Training for running is not only composed of running and the various types of training which need to be knitted together into a good training schedule suited to your needs. I have introduced some training types to you in the past, but majored on ancillary aspects of training for running, and here again I do the same.
The commitment of time to all these ancillary aspects of running make it not only a sport, but a lifestyle too.
Why keep a training diary?
On balance, serious effort should be made to keep a daily training diary. Keeping a training diary stimulates you to think about and analyse your running, not only on a day to day, week by week basis, but also analysing your running by re-reading your diary can show you trends and why these trends have come about, and thinking about how the next few months might be improved.
It helps you analyse the bad patches you go through, and see the positives you have gained. It acts as a motivator. By adding another entry you're one step further towards your goal.
You can use it to motivate yourself to put your shoes on and get out on your training run as you will feel bad in a few days time if you look back in the log and see a gap for no good reason.
A diary will become a permanent document of a significant life accomplishment, along with your photographs and any trophies, plaques and medals you may win.
Reasons for not keeping a training diary
One problem is that keeping a diary can make the runner compulsive and obsessed about the sport to the unhealthy point where people go running when they shouldn't, such as when they've an injury or when they're unwell, just so they don't miss an entry in the log.
Furthermore, comparing training plans from years before in a training log can be misleading, as conditions and personal circumstances could have been different.
What type of information you need in a training diary?
Daily entries should include a detailed account of the mileage and type of training for the current day, your times, and weather conditions. It also helps a great deal to briefly account for the way the day's training affects your body and emotions i.e. how you reacted to the training. In other words, how did the training for that day "feel"?
You also need to record your weight and pulse, plus your blood pressure if you can.
