It’s been said that what you measure you can improve. While this applies to many things in life, it certainly applies to being an athlete as well.

We all have interesting, challenging, inspiring, motivating, tough and hard training sessions, races and recovery days. There’s a range of ways to describe our every move as an athlete and all those descriptions are unique to each of us as individuals. How on earth can you fit things into a measurable category? How can you track your progress to see if you’re even making progress!?!? Quite simply…keep a journal!

This may sound silly or cliché, but it works and can be highly effective for you individually as an athlete. Here are a few tips to keep track of yourself as a triathlete, trail runner, cyclist, swimmer…whatever you’re into!

KEEP IT SIMPLE – Once again this might sound obvious, but keep it simple. If you prefer to be a little more ‘old school’ then keep a pen and notepad with you or nearby for after training sessions or race days. Jot down how it went, how you felt (physically and mentally), what you hope to improve on and what you think was great. Same goes for all digital. Talk to type your race day recap or training session. There are dozens of apps for this OR a simple notepad app works well too. You can organize it later if need be as well.

STAY ACCOUNTABLE – You’re tired or sometimes downright exhausted after a hard training session or race day. Don’t skip taking notes. Of course grab water, hydrate, catch your breath and make sure you won’t fall over — but don’t skip that journal entry for days until you ‘feel’ better. Make an accurate entry as soon as possible so you can recap on how things went and how you felt.

BE KIND – This sounds nuts, but it’s critical. Be kind to yourself!! Don’t use harsh words or nasty feedback to describe your workout or race day EVEN if they were tough or you missed a goal. Be nice and use softer words. Stay inspiring and motivating – not abusive or destructive. These are entries you’ll review and look back on from time to time. Stay uplifting and positive with it!

What are your thoughts on journaling your workouts? Have you used something like this in the past to measure progress?