I’ve started logging my workouts again on Beginner Triathlete. When I was burned out from IM training I gave up on that, but a few years of “working out at will” (vs following a training plan) have been good for me, and now I’m in the mood to track progress – such as it is – again.
I enjoy the training plan software BT has — a calender view on one side, so you can see which days you trained and which days you didn’t, and on the other side a day by day view where you can enter workouts and splits and blog random notes, etc. When I was very active on the site – think 2005-… 2010, maybe? — the community aspect of it was great for me; I had a handful of training buddies and you can swing by people’s training logs and leave notes on their workouts, a nice little locker room type feel. Some of the friends I made on this site are still good friends today, people I go out of my way to visit and see. When I ran my first marathon in 2006, 6 friends I had met on that site traveled to DC for the express purpose of running it with me. It’s a good community.
It’s easy to get obsessive about it, of course. I looked at the calender picture today, and I saw four days that were colored in, indicating that I had logged workouts for four days in a row. I remember looking at that calender view and not wanting to see a blank day, going above and beyond to make sure I did SOMETHING to qualify a workout for that day. And, for sure, when in the peak of triathlon season, there weren’t many blank days at all. It was satisfying, to see a month broken down like that, to see how much time you devote to something that’s important to you.
I don’t do triathlons anymore – erm, currently – so I don’t need to see crazy training numbers added up, but I do like to see when I’ve made time to squeeze in some kind of training. It’s a different life I have now, but I’m finding it comforting this week to be back on the site; it reminds me of a very pleasant phase in my life, and I feel like it brings me closer to the me I know.
