Journaling workouts: What do you record?

Hi, all,

I was on my first walking workout this morning since being diagnosed with high blood pressure and my doctor telling me to start walking/weight bearing exercises to try to get my bp under control or she'd have to put me on meds. She said she'd much rather I get it under control with diet and exercise than prescribe something because of the two long-term commitments, I'd have a much higher quality of life with the diet and exercise route.

How much do I love my new doctor? She's also a cyclist and loves that I've taken it up, but she said I need weight-bearing exercise to tackle the flab in addition to the cardio that cycling provides.

So as I was walking today, I was thinking I needed to make a journal of some kind so I can record these workouts. I was keeping an Excel spreadsheeet with my first cycling workouts, but I didn't keep up with it because I'd have to remember to do it when I got home, which wasn't always straight away, so it's not up to date.

I was thinking I needed to keep a notebook in the Rav so that when I finish packing up the bike, I could record the workout data right away - time, distance, notes on how I'm feelign that day, and so on. What I want to know, though, from those of you who may already be doing this, is what do you record? Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Date of workout
Exercise (cycling, walking, others as I get fitter)
Time elapsed
Distance traveled
Weather/other conditions (if I've got a cold or something)
Notes about how I feel upon finishing

Do you record intensity? If so, how do you gauge it?

Thanks, all!

Roxy

The only thing I have that you don't is a route. I name all my cycling routes and the running I do at the local trail, neighborhood or several other trails all have names. For example yesterday I had:

15.04 miles road cycling
rolling hills
Cannondale (I have a couple of bikes)
14.4 mph average
Dog Ride (that is my name for the route)
Notes: Bronchitis is not noticeable but legs were sore after planting Saturday. I have missed riding my Cannondale. Should not have worn long sleeves since it was 72.

I don't really put intensity but sometimes my notes will say "felt like I had great legs" or "the climbs kicked my butt and made me feel like a wimpy climber". :)

Are you using any kind of heart rate monitor? You may be able to use those figures for your intensity levels.

I don't keep a cycling log, but I do keep a running log.

I find that as much as I love geeking out on my computer with spreadsheets, etc, I am much more likely to consistently log my runs if I have a paper journal. I use a notebook with special "forms" I print out :rolleyes:.

I have:
date
route
distance
total time AND splits AND average pace
weight
shoes (mostly to keep track of mileage)
temperature/weather conditions
comments (how I felt, any injuries, etc)

Wow, thank you. This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I'm still only riding one route, and I have two walking routes - one is the short block and the other is the long block near where I live, so I will most definitely include a route column.

I hadn't considered tracking shoe mileage. That's another great tip.

I don't have a heart rate monitor yet, but I think it's a good idea for me to get one, considering. Do they have ones that track blood pressure, too, or just pulse?

Amanda, I love your notes. You've just given me a whole new insight on having great legs. <g>

How do you keep track of splits and average pace? Do you have a special computer of some kind that records it for you on the road? (And what's a split exactly? I'm thinking it's where you ramp up the effort for a short period. Is that right?)

Thank you, thank you! And yes, I'm with you, liza, in keeping the notebook log. That's exactly what I'm doing here. I'm going to make printable Excel spreadsheet pages and I'm going to put them in a folder to keep in the car.

Roxy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channlluv

How do you keep track of splits and average pace? Do you have a special computer of some kind that records it for you on the road? (And what's a split exactly? I'm thinking it's where you ramp up the effort for a short period. Is that right?)

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Splits are your time for each mile (or whatever unit you measure in). I just use a regular stopwatch (I have a Timex Ironman Triathlon, pretty cheap, comfortable, easy to use). It's useful to have the ability to store laps in the memory. My watch can tell me what my average pace was if I use the memory function, but I often figure it out by hand (it's sort of a pain, you have to convert from minutes to seconds and back a few times, but I figure it's a good way to keep my brain functioning :rolleyes:).

My bike computer can do splits and average time also -- I have never, ever used the split function before but I do occasionally peek at my average time when I ride.

I just can never be discipline to continue to jounal ANYTHING. Food, training, etc. In the past I have tried, then I fall out of it and start over again, so my old training logs have big gaps in time.
I have a friend who logs not only distance, how she felt, etc. But weather, temperature and wind. She also uses this to know when to chnage tires and other bike maintence. But she is a "data" geek and loves Excel. I am just not that dedicated.
The only saving grace now is that I have to log all my workouts now that I have a coach. So I do log time and just recently looked and can se how many hours I spent in "training" since May. I can probably get more data out of it, just have to figure out how to run the reports.
Others have great advice. To me it depends on how much detail you want to put in and will do consitently. And method...paper for portability or spreadsheet to have totals and be able to look at it over time.
Good job on starting the walking and expanding your exercise. Seems one sport/discipline is never enough or solves all our health problems/needs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channlluv

I don't have a heart rate monitor yet, but I think it's a good idea for me to get one, considering. Do they have ones that track blood pressure, too, or just pulse?

Amanda, I love your notes. You've just given me a whole new insight on having great legs. <g>

How do you keep track of splits and average pace? Do you have a special computer of some kind that records it for you on the road? (And what's a split exactly? I'm thinking it's where you ramp up the effort for a short period. Is that right?)

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I have a Polar F6 Watch/HR monitor. It wasn't overly expensive ($99) but was an investment for me. It tells me calories burned and journals my workouts. Then Monday morning at 12:01 am it sends me a little message to check my weekly workouts. I really don't know what I am using it for but it tells me a lot of stuff. :p I had several Timex Ironman Watches which will do splits and are far more reasonable. There are more expensive HR monitors, I don't know if any check BP.

Thanks on the notes- lol. I am not always a positive, person but my notes sometimes make me laugh. Somedays they say things like "Hmmmm riding after 3 margaritas last night is NOT a good idea :(", "I don't know who was riding for me today but I like her!" or "Jester ate my lunch- again but I tried". Jester is the most awful hill in my hometown. So make your notes personal but you might find it makes it fun.