Fat Boy wrote:
I quit using a running log ages ago because it helped take the fun out of running. I felt like I was a slave to the log. My point? OK, here it is. Let's say my son is on your team and he tells you to stick your log where the sun don't shine (that would be my advice to him). He is a 4:05 miler. What are you gonna do? Kick him off the team?
Just food for thought.
Bill Bowerman would boot his ass in a flash. A running log is a mark of all serious, successful runners. Without a log, you're completely in the dark. How will you be able to reflect on your season, and how will you be able to peak properly with no reference place? As long as you don't let a piece of paper dictate your life ("I'm ONLY running 5 miles today, because if I go any further, my mileage will be up by over 10%!") you will benefit greatly from a running log.
And, to the OP:
Some coaches actually make their runners keep TWO running logs; one for themselves, and one to turn in to the coach! Tom Donnelly at Haverford has crates upon crates of running logs from all of his runners going back dozens of years. Bowerman had a little yellow sheet that his athletes turned in at the end of each week. Also, many coaches like to have their athletes record the hours of sleep they get every night and their resting pulse. An abnormally elevated morning pulse is a good indicator of overtraining or the beginning of a sickness.
My high school log had 6 columns: date, hours of sleep, AM pulse, workout, distance, time (splits for a workout, times for a run), and "comments".
I dislike commercially available logs because they put a box around each day. It's much better to have columns with no "daily boxes" because some days aren't anything special. All you need is "easy 5. felt good." But after a race, some people like to pour out every detail of the race, and can take up pages!