My Journal and Running (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

Last week I went into some basics of the journal I have been keeping.  A big part of it revolves around my running.  Here are a few items that are specific to that.


I have my 2018 Race Calendar.  I list all of the races that I have done or plan to do throughout the year.  If there is a race I'm thinking about, I list it with it's date in pencil.  For next year (2019), I want to add an extra row at the bottom for the 2020 race dates that I'm interested in.  That way I'm not always looking up a specific race/date online.

My plan in the next couple weeks is to create a list of races that I want to do again, or interest me and the month that they are usually run in.  That way I can do a quick glance of races and the time of year.  And the great thing with the discbound journal is that I can slip that right in after my 2018 Race Calendar as well as put it into my 2019 journal.

Right now I am just running 2-3 times a week with nothing specific to train for.  Before, when I am training for a race, I would use different things to track my schedule.  Mostly, I would print out calendar months and put the mileage on them.  I do like having it in my journal better because I always know where it is and it's not all crumpled up cause I put it in my work bag or something like that.  I had put what I planned to do in pencil (since that seems to change every so often depending on my schedule or injury) and then came back and put the mileage in pen.  I don't think I really want to change much to it, except, maybe making it neater. :)

On a weekly basis I track two things that have to do with my running.  The first is my mileage.  When I was in training, I would put how many miles I planned for the week, but now it's just a plan to run that day.  I also list my Functional Training class that I take at the gym.  The R/S to the right is if I rolled and stretched.  I like to keep track of that because when I am sore, I can look back and see if I did my stretching and if not, that's probably why.  And it's a good reminder to do it every day.


The other thing I track on a weekly basis is my water intake.  While I'm usually really good about drinking water, there are days that I just don't get enough in.  Tracking it helps me remember to keep drinking as well as looking back from a bad run to see if I had enough.


On a weekly basis, I don't really comment on my runs.  I use a separate log for that.  I've used this log for the last few years and like the format that tracks my stats.


I have thought of just doing the list of stats somewhere in my daily journal to see if I can see fluctuations between heart rate, spm, average pace, etc.  I created a page, but never got very far with it as I'm not sure if I like the format I set up. 


The last thing that I do keep in this journal is my race recap.  A race recap is too long to keep in my running journal.  They are also too long to include on my weekly pages, so I have separate pages for them.  I like to hand write my recaps before I post them here on the blog.  Mainly because I can put all the boring facts and feelings in there that would bore most of my audience.  I want to keep my race recaps for the blog to be the fun and interesting things.  The fun part of my handwritten recaps is that I try to find fun washi tape that matches the theme of the race to mark the pages so that they can be found easily.  For the Run and Ride, I found amusement park washi tape.


For my runDisney Star Wars, I found a ton of cool Star Wars washi tape.  I also like to use themed or running stickers as well as cutouts from handouts that might be passed out during the expo/packet pickup.

If you keep a hand written journal, what do you keep track of for your running?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

My Journal (Friday Five Edition)

Over the years I've started many journals.  Most never lasted more than a week.  Mostly because in some aspects I'm a perfectionist.  I would forget to add something to my journal and it wouldn't be perfect and I would just give up.  Back in January I had started yet another one and to my great surprise, I'm continuing to use it.  For those interested in journaling I thought that I'd do a few posts on it.  This one will just be about the basics of how I chose the journal and process.


Back in January somehow I stumbled upon a post talking about Bullet Journals.  I had never heard of it and it intrigued me.  As I'm typing this out, I'm having a hard time trying to boil down what it is.  This is probably because it's an outline of what you can use to help you journal, plan, keep track of tasks, and even doodle.  Watch the 5 minute tutorial for more detail.

I love notebooks and have tons at home, but wanting something new for this lead me to a trip to one of the big office stores.  I LOVE office supplies, so I try not to go often as I always come out with something fun that I don't need.  While there I found something else that I had never heard of - a discbound notebook.  These allowed you to be able to add and remove pages as needed.  Lightning must have flashed as the combination of Bullet Journaling and discbound notebooks were the answers to what I knew lacked in me keeping up a journal.

I bought what I needed and headed home to start on my new journal that evening.  With ideas from the official Bullet Journal site and googling blogs, I had a basic setup.  I created the year calendar.


Then I created the Future Log.  When I first created it, I only did the first 6 months.  I created the last 6 months when we got closer to June.  This lists the items that I know.  Once I know something I'll add it to that list.  Sometimes it's not in date order and that bothers my OCD a little, but not enough to redo the page.  And also, the items I'm not sure about, but don't want to forget I put in pencil.


As I searched blogs for ideas, I liked the idea of tracking moods.  I have a page at the beginning of each month that is dedicated to   Over the long run, I ended up with a page that tracks my mood, sleep, and how tired I am throughout the day. Each month has it's own themed design to color in.


Then I have a monthly calendar at the beginning of the month.  Like the Future Log I add in the items I know and fill in others as I get them.  I like to decorate this page with stickers or punch-outs.


And then there is the weekly calendar.  Each week includes what exercise I plan for the week, tracking the medicine I need to take daily as well as my water intake. Then a place to journal events that will happen, tasks I need to do that day, what happened each day.


I also create pages for my running.  I have a race calendar.


When I was in training, I kept a training schedule, which includes planned miles and the miles I actually ran.


And I create pages for my race recaps.  I usually am able to get my thoughts down right after the race in the journal which helps when it takes me a few weeks to get the recap here.


It has evolved over the last 9 months, but I have come to a fairly consistent layout.  I look forward to creating each month and tweaking things as needed.  To me it feels like a cross of a journal, planner, and a place I can be artistic (in my own way since I can't draw).  I want to do a few more posts and go into detail in some of these items, like really how I use for my running, how items evolved, and the tools I use.

Do you keep a journal?  

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0