Training Logs

I started using a training log in 2006, after one came with my new subscription to Runner's World. Around that time, I also started calculating the mileage of my routes using the g-map pedometer. Sometime around the end of 2006, I started using Sanoodi.com to map my routes, since that site would save my routes. The advantages are that sanoodi will calculate your pace, and calculate your mileage for the week (this feature sometimes doesn't work properly). If you run with a friend who also uses sanoodi, only one of you needs to map it--the other one can just take that route and his/her own. If I had a GPS, I'd be able to upload information about my runs from it. I like sanoodi, especially the friends function, but the site tends to be pretty slow about fixing any problems it has, so I've been wondering if there are better sites.

Do other people on this blog use on-line training logs like this? Which ones do you use? Why do you like them?

Quote of the day

"Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points." - Knute Rockne, legendary Notre Dame football coach

Kenyan outbacks

I tried to do a workout today I heard of called Kenyan outbacks. It's relatively simple. Run an out and back course, running the back part of the course faster than you ran the out part. It's helps the body get used to running negative splits, running faster when you're tired.

I added my own little wrinkle. The out part of my course had a significant downhill so I'd be running back uphill.

I suppose it went OK for the first time I tried this particular workout. I threw a little curve into my route and I'm not sure I had an exact course to measure myself by. Plus, I think the second two miles were slower than the first two miles. So when I got back to my starting point I jumped on a treadmill and ran two miles at a pace definitely faster than the previous four.


The most frustrating part is that I know I could have run a bit harder but I didn't feel very loose. All in all though, six hard miles.

Happy trails.

Today's Tempo Run

I sometimes struggle with running as hard as I want to. Today was supposed to be a tempo run, running so hard that my body adjusts to the pain that it should feel in a race. Initally I planned to go about six miles total including four miles on minimally trafficked stretches of Holland. But part of that plan would have involved crossing Sunshine at rush hour, a feat not for the faint of heart. Crossing Grand was a nightmare today. So I ran four miles total on the roads and got back to the Y, wonderfully positioned right next to my house and ran the final mile at my 5K pace or slightly faster, a little faster than an 8 minute mile. (Is it really my 5K pace or is my 5K pace faster than that?) Also, it was supposed to be my final two miles but I felt like I should get to work sooner rather than later. Why I thought that, I don't know, but that's what was on my mind.
Anyways, what I learned is the treadmill offers a great way to push the pace at the end of a run. Just when you think you're tired, the treadmill offers a way to make sure that you don't slow down and slack off at the crucial last moments of a workout.
All in all, it was a good run, a good start to a good day.