Tools for my Journal (Friday Five Edition)

There are several tools I use in my journal to personalize it and make it fun. 

As I stated in my post about my journal, I used a discbound notebook.  This allows me to add pages when needed, sort of like a three-ring binder.  But within this, there are several different types of paper you can use, ruled, grid, and dot are the ones most used.  I like to use the dot paper.  It gives me options I need to create my trackers as well as write with a rough strait line to follow.

I like to use colored pens when I create my pages and write my thoughts.  But I have found, not all pens work well for journaling.  I love the gel pens that I use when I color, but they do not dry quickly and smudge easily.  What I have found online is to create a pen test page.  I keep it at the back of my journal and test out new pens to make sure they do not smudge or bleed through the page.

I have a lot of stencils from when I did a lot of scrapbooking.  I have found them useful for when I create my mood tracker as well as when I want to make titles formal.

I had never heard of washi tape before I started journaling.  I use it to mark the beginnings of months at the top with the theme of the month and my race recaps on the side with the theme of the race.  I find it makes finding those pages a lot easier.  I really enjoy looking for washi tape that matches the themes. 

I have no artistic ability, so I rely on stickers to decorate my pages.  I also like to use punch-outs.  Like the stencils, I have a lot of cut outs from my scrapbooking time.  I usually use them that match the month – snowflakes or winter things for January, heart or Valentine’s for February, shamrocks or St. Patrick’s for March, etc.  For the punch-outs, I use double tape that rolls on easily.

While creating things in my journal, mistakes happen more then I like.  The OCD in me likes to have everything perfect, but I know that won't happen.  For the most part, I use stickers and punch-outs to   But when I do make mistakes that I need to fix, I use Wite-Out tape.  It's easy to use and covers very well.


I had found that my checklists rarely get done throughout the week.  So instead of copying them from week to week, I find these inserts much easier to keep track of my tasks.  With the discbound notebook it's easy to move it from week to week without re-writing everything.


To easily find the current week I use tab pages.  I have even found some that I can color when I find the urge.




Do you use anything to personalize your journal and make it fun?

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

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.