Record-keeping and planning

gracieabem

Inspired by a thread in the Fitness/Exercise section, I've been thinking about one aspect of my running that I am seriously slack in...

Record-keeping!!

My planning consists of 'I'll run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday' and then when the day comes I pick a route and run it. There is no real system in place although I have lately been doing a 'longer' run on Thursday. Except for this week, I've done different days altogether because of scheduling issues.

I am very slack at recording times and distances...
I'll come home thinking I've done a basic 30 minute run and I'll have been out for much longer. I tend to pick a route and just run it and sometimes I just keep running because it feels good and revise my finishing point. Once I pick my finish line it is almost impossible for me to stop before it. Occasionally I'll go to google maps and figure out a rough estimate of the distance. I have a few routes now that I roughly know the distance of but other than that I'm running blind. I've worked out my speeds based on these estimates and time a couple of times, but I certainly don't know my pace on every run.

I would like to be able to track my progress better. I'm going to start training in a fortnight for an 8k run in August, so I'd like to be a bit more systematical in my approach. After that I think I may either look at increasing my distance to 10k and also mix it up with some speed work (I really want to get my 5k time down to sub 30 min). I am looking at getting a Garmin of some description soon (110 perhaps?) so that will help immensely.

So, do you have any tips on how to be more organised? How do you record keep and plan?

brookepenni

I am in owe of people like you! Those that can just step out and run, and keep up the motivation!!!

Personally, if it wasn't for my Garmin way back months ago, I'm not sure I would have kept up the running. I need a goal - whether thats time or distance, and I need to know if I've achieved it. I also like to know my pace and the distance covered. I love that I can see that out on the track and I love when I come home the Garmin software shows a map and let's me analyise my run by showing the elevation and my splits for each km. I love that it keeps a record of every run I've done (yep, every run, cos once I made the decision to start running I went and bought this - so literally every run is on my screen!) and I can see my improvements over time. The watch doesn't actually make me run faster of course, but there are times where I look down and see how close I am to breaking a km under 5mins and yes, I will push to make sure I do! Same goes for when I'm out walking my dogs - if I can get a km under 8.30 oh I'll try!!! The other thing it does is help me not to quit. You know those runs where you feel like every step is a battle...? You're hating it and it hurts to keep going. A quick glance down at my watch will usually tell me I'm going much faster than I though, no wonder it hurts!!! Slow down, pick a steady pace and keep going.

I started out with the 110 and have just upgraded to the 610 (touch screen, bells and whistles!) in hindsight I didn't really need the extra, but I love my toy. I seriously love my Garmin and can't rate them high enough. I think it is my favourite fitness toy, and my number one must have!!

gracieabem

Wonderful! I think I'd really, really enjoy the Garmin and I'd just be so excited to find out my pace, distance etc for every run! Right now, it's very hit and miss and I barely get any information from my runs other then whether it felt good or not and rough estimates. If I had a Garmin or similar, all this info would be at my fingertips.

I'll be seriously looking into these, I have proven that running is something that I will stick at, so I'm happy to spend the money. Which I think is very reasonable considering the features that are available. For all the reasons you say, it'll be very motivating for me and will give me much more direction.

Thank you, I'm very excited now!