Log Those Runs

To know if you are making progress towards your goal, you need to monitor what you are doing. Monitor is the 2^nd M in the DREAMS Cycle ™.

The purpose of monitoring is to know if you are on the right track and getting closer to your goal. It will help to determine what needs to be adjusted if you have difficulty reaching your dreams. You can also use it to celebrate small wins. Tracking their workouts is something most runners do. When you monitor your progress, you can track more than just your training. You can obviously track your races and race time. You can also track the actions you do, a bit like checking off items on your TO DO list. Tracking your training can take many forms.

The original tracking mechanism was most likely a calendar. When I started running, I used some simple lined-paper that I inserted in a three-hole binder. I then moved on to a compact log book. Obviously, both are quite passé, but they still work admirably. My spouse still captures her training in a paper copy of Plan on Running Your best, a running manual I pulled together many years ago which contains a running log section. I have a few copies left at home from an earlier printing run. You can also simply print a page from the running log section.

With the advent of computers and spreadsheets, for a while, I created my own templates. You can find a variety of templates on the web by googling “running log template”. For a couple of years, I bought a downloadable program, the Runner’s Studio, which worked quite well but does not seem to be available anymore. Today, there are multiple platforms where you can keep track of your running. For those with the right running technology, the tool will capture your running automatically, be it your iPhone, or GPS watch. These watch manufacturers, e.g. Garmin, TomTom, and Polar, have their own activity log that you can find online. The one I use with my Garmin watch is Garmin Connect. A popular platform these days is Strava where you can share your workouts and running routes.

Today most people are using a GPS watch to capture their time and distance. I used a Garmin 610 when I was getting ready to attempt my Boston Qualifier. My spouse bought it for me on our anniversary about eight years ago. The issue in the old days before GPS was estimating the distances you ran. Often your distances were based on your known pace and time. Sometimes you chose a course that was measured by others.

Today, the issue with the GPS is the error. This can be as high as 3%. For a 10 km distance, this represents 300m. Over the course of a marathon, we are talking of over one kilometer off. This is what happened to me during the 2012 Toronto Marathon. By the end of the marathon, my Garmin GPS watch was at 43 km. In another race, the Road for the Toad 50 K in Paris, Ontario, the course had so many twists and turns that by the finish, it was telling me that I was at 48.7 km, again more than 1 km off.

One glitch that I encountered with my otherwise trustee Garmin, was that at one point, after months of not downloading the data to the Garmin Connect, I could no longer access or download the data. I attempted everything I could think of, but in the end, I had to reset the watch and lost three months of data, from October 2018 to February 2019. The lesson I learned was to download regularly, every week if possible. You should also back up your data from any system that you use, lest it gets deleted.

Below is the data I was able to recover from my Garmin Connect account for the month of March leading to my spring marathon goal race of the Ottawa Race Weekend.

Date	Distance (KM)	Time (hh:mm:ss)	Avg Pace (min/km)
February 28, 2019	10	0:58:44	5:52
March 2, 2019	10	1:03:12	6:19
March 3, 2019	25	2:11:00	5:14
March 5, 2019	5	0:33:25	6:41
March 6, 2019	8	0:50:10	6:16
March 7, 2019	12	1:10:30	5:53
March 10, 2019	10	0:59:55	6:00
March 11, 2019	8	0:50:20	6:17
March 13, 2019	12	1:12:30	6:03
March 14, 2019	10	1:00:00	6:00
March 17, 2019	35	3:17:26	5:38
March 20, 2019	12	1:09:14	5:46
March 22, 2019	8	0:47:22	5:55
March 23, 2019	7.49	0:50:41	6:46
March 24, 2019	25.62	2:37:37	6:09
March 26, 2019	10	0:59:31	5:57
March 27, 2019	12	1:12:19	6:02
March 28, 2019	5	0:32:17	6:27
March 30, 2019	7.33	0:47:52	6:32
March 31, 2019	15	1:29:41	5:59

By looking at the month of March, which was two months before the race, I can see that by having done a 35 km run, I should not have too much difficulty with the marathon distance. Having done only one run above 25 km, however, might be a problem as it is not what my plan prescribed (see the previous post on my action plan). I should have done two runs of 30 km and above. I also see that the fastest pace was a 5:14 for a 25 km run. Quite acceptable, but there was only one of those in March. One can wonder if I am running fast enough in my runs.

As you can see, by keeping track of your training, you can compare your activities to your action plan and adjust accordingly. So no matter what tool you use, go ahead and track those runs.

I Dream of Boston

I started running in 1987. Although initially my training was to compete in triathlons, I immediately started considering Boston as a marathon to run in the future. It took me 10 years and 10 attempts before I succeeded, as you can read in my running memoir, Take 10 and Reach the Boston Marathon.

Over the last 20 years, my focus has been on running, although not so much on racing. I have only been competing in one or two races per year. As my wife has re-invigorated her running lately, it was time for me to be more serious with my own running. This is where I decided to use the DREAMS Cycle ™ to help me. The start of the DREAMS Cycle ™ is D for “Dreams and Desires” as mentioned in a previous blog. This step allows you to determine what are your dreams and desires, what you really want, what makes you happy.

The difference between dreams and desires is that dreams are the things you would really like to achieve if you had all the money, time, energy, talent, opportunity and support you needed. For example, a dream for me is to win the Boston Marathon. Desires, on the other hand, are more concrete and immediate. For example, I wish I could run in the Boston Marathon. The difference is subtle, and in the end, it does not matter that much as long as you identify what will make you happy.

The beginning of the year is often a great time to start dreaming. To identify your Dreams and Desires, you need to be in the right frame of mind and in the right setting. A calm soothing environment is more conducive to letting your mind wander and to dream. This could be lying on a hammock by the sea. It could be in a quiet reclining chair in a family room. For me, the kitchen table at the cottage creates a great atmosphere.

While pondering your dreams, the distractions of everyday life must be kept to a minimum. Your mind must be free of work concerns; family obligations must be put aside; paying bills must be postponed. Early mornings or late night can often work better for people. You will need to find about 30 minutes, two or three times over the course of a week. In my case, obligations are lessened at the cottage once the children have gone to bed. I pour myself a soothing drink: sometimes a soft drink, sometimes a sparkling juice, on the rare occasions, a cooler.

Not only do you need to think of your dreams and desires, but you also need to record them as you will need to reflect on them further on. Any piece of paper would do, but I prefer a notepad. If you have the right technology, you could use a computer or a tablet with an app. For example, you could use OneNote or Evernote.

Once you have your ideal location and some quiet time, simply close your eyes or stare into space and let your mind wander. Ask yourself: what do I really want out of running? What would really make me happy? What would excite me so much that I would dance spontaneously? There are no bad dreams or desires. Dreams can be as outlandish as you want; there are no dreams too silly to consider. Dreams don’t have to be realistic; reality will come later when you set your goals. Remember, these are your dreams and you most likely will never share these with another human soul, lest you be put away or laughed out of this world. Capture every idea that pops into your head, even if it repeats itself in a different shape. This is brainstorming at its crudest. Don’t analyze and determine if your dreams are feasible or not; just write them down.

As I have been running for so long, and have made these dreams lists so often, I have a good idea of what I want to achieve with my running so I can go directly to my desire which is to qualify for the Boston Marathon again.

In the next post, we will explore the dreams and desires so as to determine the reasons you want to run, or in my case to qualify for Boston.