Pleasant Side Effect of Logging Miles Online

So as I noted in my “Does It Work” series last month, I’ve been using BeginnerTriathlete.com to log my workouts since September. (Click here to see my “review” of a few different free sites where you can log your workouts.)

February just wrapped up. Here’s how that looks on my Beginner Triathlete calendar:

13,350 yards of swimming? (Most since IM training!) Thanks Julia!

Right now, this is what my March calendar looks like:

All it shows right now is that I’ve been gaining weight... [sarcastic] yay.
And it shows my 2 upcoming “birthday weekend” races!

Here’s what kind of goes on inside my head:

At the beginning of any given month, I want to start putting numbers up there so I don’t look like a slacker!

Near the middle of any given month, I want to keep going strong.

At the end of any given month, I want to add to my numbers to “pad” my monthly totals before having to start over with another clean slate.

Repeat month after month.

So the “pleasant side effect” I speak of is some sub-conscious desire to workout so my training log doesn’t look so empty. Maybe it’s an issue with my pride. (It probably is.) I expect this issue won’t last forever. But as long as it sticks around, I’ll keep pushing myself to have solid months of workouts!

(Many of you know this, but some of you probably don’t. So I’ll just lay it out there: I don’t follow any sort of training plan. I just make it up as I go. I sometimes train with friends who have more “rigid” training plans [thanks Julia!], but for the most part, I just try to balance everything out on my own. It’s not the smartest idea, I know. But I’m not training to break any land-speed records - I’m just out to have a good time and not get burnt out training TOO hard. So this “side effect” helps my style of training, but it might not work the same way if I were following a pretty rigid training plan. Just thought I’d note that.)