Keep a diary and someday it will keep you -Mae West

When I first started running I bought this book.

  

I was such a novice in the sport that a lot of the terms in the book looked like Japanese to me. What the hell was a Fartlek? Sounds like something you get after Thanksgiving dinner. Also I didn't understand why things were in kilometers and not just plain old miles. Who even used kilometers anyway?

I kind of glossed over the technical information in the book but really took advantage of the training diary. I may have been inconsistent with my runs but I made sure to log each one down.

At the time I didn't get the value in keeping up with all of these runs, especially since I wasn't doing it on a regular basis. But the more I ran the more I logged. I would often go back to a previous record and read the quick synopsis I wrote. Immediately I was transported back to that run and remembered the good and bad moments. Rainy days, crappy attitude which affected my run, new routes that were fun, new routes that sucked. All of it right there, a time capsule between the pages.


Once I got my fancy Garmin watch I could easily load up all of my runs on the website and at any time could check all of the activities that I had done. Technology made things easier and quicker but I still kept my handwritten journal and still logged my runs in it. I guess I'm a bit old fashioned. I don't even use my phone for half the stuff that it can do just because I believe in the power of the pen (and paper). 

Any running expert can tell you that keeping track of your runs, whether by hand or electronically, is a sound idea. A journal can certainly come in handy when you are training for a race and need something to refer to when it comes to routes, eating habits and overall performance.But if I could give one piece of advice about tracking your runs I would suggest to keep a hand written journal. Get a fancy one, decorate it, put pictures, magazine clippings, anything in it that will help you to remember the highs and the lows of your runs. Then years down the line you can look back and see just how far you've come and smile.