June 28, 2008
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My workout log is a book called “The Running Log”. I’ve used this for two years, and am almost at the end of my second book.

Here’s a page I scanned a while back for a post about swimming:

journal.jpg

Even though I like the format of this book, it is hard to find old data. There’s no “Search” function, or a way to graph out your progress. I do take key workouts and add them to an excel spreadsheet, but I want something that does it all!

So, I am looking for a new workout logging tool. Please give me your recommendations by commenting on this post. Thanks!

Update: I have tried a couple of online tools:

ontri.com – Free. very simple and user friendly. no graphing. Does let you put in HR, but doesn’t tell you anything about your zones. gives a nice report with calories burned. Still, I want graphs. Lets you set up favorite routes and gives you PR’s for those routes.

trifuel.com – Free. cumbersome. Does have some graphs, but again, cumbersome.

beginnertriathelete.com – Basic tool is free. if you want graphs and hr zone reports, you have to pay about $50 a year. might be worth the money to get the graphs. looks like they do have a ‘time spent in zone’ graph. lets you set up your favorite routes by actually mapping it out. kind of a pain initially, but you get exact miles and even elevations. their site is just way too ‘busy’ and hard to navigate tho.

workoutlog.com – costs about $50 a year if you want graphs. graphs look limited to distance and time. i’d like pace and hr zones. They have a way to input your trianing zones which is really cool. They even have a way to calculate cycling zones based on an 8 mile cycling time trial. However, I don’t see any way to view graphs such as time spent in hr zones. that’s something I want. maybe I just am missing it. What’s the point of them letting you input hr zones, if they aren’t going to give you some kind of workout report about that??? I peeked at the web page coding of their hr zone calculator page. They are calculating cycling LT based on the 8 mile time trial like this: “at_bike = Math.round(tt_bike/1.03);” So, if my cycling time trial avg HR was 168bpm, than my cycling LT = 168/1.03 = 163bpm. I’ve been wanting to know that formula!!!

mapmyride.com and mapmytri.com – don’t like these at all.

maybe what I really need is to bite the bullet and buy a garmin. does that let you upload data to your computer and view workout data? anybody know?