It’s often said that all you really need to run is shoes, shorts, and a shirt (even that is optional). True, but for those of us who want to combine running with data tracking, a little introspection, and the #analoguelife, there are running journals.
I reviewed the Believe Training Journal here. It’s a robust journal that includes training tips, articles, mini-essays (!) and more. Although much of it is guided, there’s plenty of blank space to just write down the runs you did.
GoneForaRun.com makes a series of running journals that are simpler. Here’s their description of the features:
- 160 Pages with 280 daily Training log entries
- Convenient 7.5″ x 5″ size with protective cover
- Over 140 unique motivational + inspirational quotes
- Includes pages for goals, weekly & monthly mileage summary, my race log, PR’s, bucket list + race registration log
So all the essentials are there, especially if the Believe journal is too much for you.
GoneForaRun was kind to send me a review copy of one of their journals, so I could write about it here (and write in it). They sent the 13.1 Math Miles journal.
The cover is a great-looking yellow and blue.
The cover brings makes me think of the old Langenscheid dictionary covers, a pleasant memory:
Each page has room for you to log two runs, so that a full spread with the journal open shows you four runs at a time. A downside to this is if you run more than four times a week, you can’t see an entire week’s workouts on a two-page spread. There are 70 front-and-back sheets in the journal for a total of 280 runs you can log. This number also is funny to me, since you’d have to run 5.3846 times a week to fill up this journal in a year. More serious runners (who run or work out six times a week) will need another journal before a year is up. There are two pages of weekly and monthly summary, which is enough for two years, but even for a more casual 3x/week runner, the total number of pages won’t be enough for two years.
At any rate, the layout is clean and simple:
There are places for goals, tracking PRs, and a bucket list:
There is lots of room (four pages!) for tracking your races separately, too:
I’m a sucker for sewn binding, and this journal has it! That combined with the plastic slip case will prolong the life of the journal.
My favorite part is the weekly and monthly summary, where you can track just mileage.
There are also six notes pages in the back, where you could do longer-range planning or perhaps sketch out your training plan.
The simplicity of this journal is great. The amount of runs it records (280) is odd; I would have rather seen seven spaces for runs spread out over two pages, like most weekly planners have. But everything else you need in a training log is here, so if you want a journal without the extras, take a look.
The 13.1 Math Miles journal is here (in four different colors). All the other GoneForaRun journals are here.
Words on the Word 