#TBT: 14 Years of Running Logs

I used to joke that, if we had a house fire, the one possession I’d grab to save was my box of running logs. Who needs baby albums, wedding pictures, and family memorabilia?

All kidding aside, my running logs were a very important part of my life for many years. Being a paper-oriented girl, I wrote them down (especially in those pre-Internet days, when online logs just weren’t an option). I sternly resisted Garmin tracking programs in favor of jotting down the day’s run details in my book.

My stressful job over the last four years derailed both my training and my record keeping. Since I’ve been running for fun and not training the last two years, I haven’t kept a record. But that doesn’t mean I won’t pick it back up one day, and it certainly doesn’t diminish the joy I get from looking back at past entries.

As a lark, I’ve decided to go all One Day here and pick the same date from each year to see what was going on. Who knows? It could be interesting.

Log Entries

Sept. 6, 1998: My foot became too sore to walk on. A big bruise appeared on the outside top. NO RUNNING TODAY. Week Total: 12 miles

Sept. 6, 1999: Townlake Trail with Steph at 7:30 a.m. Very nice, pleasant run with Stephanie. It was her first 4-mile run, and her longest time running! It’s really nice to be with someone new who’s all happy because it’s a first. Some intestinal troubles after I got home and ate 1/2 a bagel. Week Total: 20.5 miles

Sept. 6, 2000: Speed work at Austin High. 7 x 1000; goal=5.05. Ran to track, then 4 laps warm-up. Last three 1000s were in the dark for me. I felt pretty good. Stacy, Diana, Jason, and Andreas waited for me to finish, which was nice. Ran with Suzy mostly. 1=5.02, 2=5.04, 3=5.03, 4=5.01, 5=5.07, 6=5.08, 7=5.11 Week Total: 44 miles

Sept. 6, 2001: Speed work. 2 mile warm-up, 1.5 mile cool-down. Hard but good. Often wanted to quit. Carolyn waited for me and we did cool down on track together. Goals were 2:15/2:15/2:00/2:00. I did Mile 1 in 2.06/2.12/2.05/2.02 (8.26), Mile 2 in 2.15/2.12/2.08/2.04 (8.39), and Mile 3 in 2.15/2.12/2.08/2.04 (8.51). In the 90s temps. Week Total: 25 miles

Sept. 6, 2002: Rest day. Tomorrow is 21 miler, same as last week’s route. Going to try Carboom on the run. Week Total: 32 miles

Sept. 6, 2003: 10 miler. 3 mile loop=32.08, Scenic loop=1:06.59 (average 9:55 pace). Felt good. I think I run so slow on the trail because it’s so dark. I was running A LOT faster on Scenic. Ran with a guy named Ron or Rob who’s a friend of Jennifer’s–nice pacing partner. I finished after Amy but ahead of Stephanie (Mike was running with her, so I think she was running his pace). These are good runs, because I just get faster as the run gets longer. Hit the 1,000-mile mark for the year! Week Total: 33

Sept. 6, 2005: 7-mile marathon-goal-pace run (5 miles at pace). Well, I STILL hurt [after Saturday’s “Run from Hell” 20 miler]; Austin Runners Club stuff had me pissed off; left late; HOT; could only do 3 miles at Camp Mabry. MAD. Disappointed. Yuck. Stuffy and hot. Hit 1,000-mile mark for the year! Week Total: 42 miles

Sept. 6, 2005: Did I run? [Actual entry] Week Total: 22 miles

Sept. 6, 2006: First day of Running 101 [course I wrote and coached for Rogue Training Systems]! Did about 3 miles on Town Lake Trail before coaching marathon group, then ran not quite 2 miles with them. I ran here and there with the Running 101 people in the evening. Week Total: 25.4 miles

Sept. 6, 2007: Went to Veloway for bike ride. Just rode very easy for as long as I could. VERY heavy period, so didn’t run afterward. Saw Desiree there, who said so many nice things about me to her friend. 7 laps at 11.52, 11.56, 11.59, 12.33, 11.52, 11.45, 10.51(total 1:22.00) Week Total: 7 hours, 13 minutes of running (I was triathlon training, and had switched to time vs. miles)

Sept. 6, 2008: Long run 18 miles. First loop=1:02 (Zilker, Congress loop and back to car), 4.28 was getting from car to trail and getting stuff. To cleaners=48.47/total time of 1 hour 56. Had 4.43 rest at cleaners, getting water, etc. To convenience store on 45th and Lamar=31.35/total time 2 hours 32 minutes. Rest and bottle filling time was 4.31. 5th and Lamar back to Zilker was 1:24 (stopped at stadium). Total distance was 19 miles and time was 4:01. Week total: 19 miles

Sept. 6, 2009: St. Ed’s trail run by myself. Class was doing 10 on schedule but I couldn’t swing it time-wise. Went to St. Ed’s at 1p.m. and fit in what I could. I was tired–even walked some of the last downhill and back into the parking lot. Lot to gate=16.02, Gate to Fence=8.58 (25.00), Fence to Rock=11.36 (36.37 total out); Rock to Fence=12.23, Fence to Gate=9.25, Gate to Lot=15.49 Week Total: 4 hours and 26 minutes [had switched to time vs. miles for trail running]

Sept. 6, 2010: 10-mile pace run (Shoal Creek loop by myself). Muggy day. Started late. Didn’t eat breakfast. Was raining at the start then the sun came out. I was trying for a 10:30 MGP; first loop was slightly ahead (35.22). Took a bathroom break of 2.24, then second loop was feeling good for about a mile and a half, then felt sick to my stomach. Ran out of water. Quit at mile 6 and walked back to the car. Total was 7 miles in 1:25. Week Total: 25 miles

Sept. 6, 2011: no entry [I was recovering from my broken ankle and surgery in Feb. 2011–there’s a break in the journal from Aug. 29–“Graduated from physical therapy!”–to Oct. 11, when I walked three times around Quarry Lake]

Sept. 6, 2012: Ran/walked the 3-mile loop around Lady Bird Lake with Stephanie (46.22).

Sept. 6, 2013: [In August, 2013, I’d made the decision to drop any serious training because of stress and health issues that related from it. With that went keeping a log or keeping any kind of time. So I don’t have a Sept. 6, 2013 entry…though I know that, on Sept. 11, I ran an easy 3 miles out at McKinney Falls after a photo shoot.]

Sept. 6, 2014: Well, on Sept. 11, I took my boxing tier test and got my mitts!

Maybe it’s time I pick my log up again–there’s too much good work out stuff going on to forget. Reading entries makes it all come back.