Using a Training Journal (Sort Of)

One of the best training tools I have is my daily journal.  Well, it’s not really a journal – at least not in the conventional sense.  Let me explain.

In researching endurance bike training, I found out that many riders record how they feel, how they trained, their vital stats, and the like in a daily journal. So I decided to give it a try.  I hated it.  I really didn’t have much to say and writing in the journal felt like a note to Dear Abby that I was forced to compose every day. 

So I changed to a spreadsheet “journal”.  Instead of writing my thoughts, feelings, etc., I put them in an Excel spreadsheet.  Every day I record the miles I rode, the speed I rode them at, my heartrate during training, and so on.  I future posts, I’ll detail what I record and how I use the information.  But for now, let’s just say I highly recommend setting up something like a journal – but not exactly a journal – to track your biking progress.  It will make a world of difference in your training.