Training logs: record the variables that change decisions

What to record

A usable log does not need to be complicated. At minimum, record the date, type of session, duration or distance, how hard it felt, the route or surface, and whether there was pain. For intensity, use the talk test (“can I speak in full sentences?”) or your own rating of perceived exertion (RPE); either says more about the day's load than pace alone.

If you want more detail, add sleep, shoes, weather, work stress and menstrual-cycle information. The point is not more fields; it is whether the fields help explain why a session felt harder or why pain appeared.

Read trends, not single sessions

One session is easy to misread. More useful is the weekly total, the balance of easy and hard sessions, how long pain takes to appear and settle, and whether sleep and fatigue are worsening over several days. A systematic review found that the evidence linking weekly distance, frequency, intensity or recent changes to running injury is inconsistent; no single “safe progression” explains everyone. The log helps you see your own pattern rather than copy someone else's formula.

When pain, fatigue or sleep worsen for several days, review load and life stress in the log before deciding whether to adjust training. Recording is not the goal; changing the next decision is.

What wearable data can and cannot say

Pace, distance, heart rate and cadence from watches and phones are estimates. GPS drifts under trees, among tall buildings and in valleys; optical heart rate lags; pace is often smoothed. These data are useful for trends and relative change, not as exact facts from one reading.

If the watch and your body disagree, trust persistent bodily signals first, and use the talk test, route and weather to explain the gap. Do not change a sensible session just to fill a metric.

Privacy and sharing

A route file can reveal home, work, regular routes and daily routines. Before sharing, remove or blur start and finish points, timestamps and device information, and check whether map screenshots contain sensitive places. The tools site's track conversion removes time, device and personal metadata, but you should still inspect a file before publishing it.

A training log can also contain health, injury and reproductive information. Record only what you are willing to keep, and do not paste a full log into a public page or issue.

What this page does not provide

This page does not diagnose pain, fatigue or sleep problems, and does not prescribe an individual training plan. A log is not a medical record. Persistent pain, chest symptoms, fainting, unusual breathlessness or marked weight change deserve medical assessment.

Sources and scope

The activity-planning and tracking idea follows the ODPHP activity planner; the limits of running-load and injury evidence follow a systematic review; intensity judgement follows the CDC talk test. This page offers a recording framework, not a guarantee that a particular plan suits everyone.