Loving the Logbook

It stands to reason that if one wishes to measure progress, one needs to be diligent about logging training details and any other relevant information. This should become a post-training routine. The more details – including heart-rate, wattage, or simply time taken to get from A to B – the better. Add comments about routes, weather conditions, training partners and how you felt during and after the session.

“I’m always surprised at how many people neglect to do this,” says Madsen. “Not making the time to log information is a critical mistake. It can lead to situations where you make the same mistake twice, undervalue your own fitness, or overvalue it. When you log training onto a notepad, or use online software or an Excel file, you end up painting a true picture of what you have just accomplished and where you’re at, not just some foggy memory. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back and looked over weeks and weeks of training logs before race day in order to build confidence in the work I’ve done. I’ve also used this information to figure out why I got sick or injured.”

Logging your training is the easiest thing you can do to improve performance.