You Gotta Log Life

So up until this point, I've been using Beginner Triathlete for my training log and evaluation. And it was bearable. When I originally started, I loved their layout and format and I was blissfully happy as I struggled to run 5k and bike 10 miles! (Nobody ever misses those days!) In May, they retooled their layout and I hated it. But the log itself worked the same and so I continued to use it, I just had to push past the dislike of the decor. However, a few days ago, I attempted to add a run I did on the treadmill to the log 3 DIFFERENT TIMES AT 3 DIFFERENT TIMES! And it never worked! So therefore, I went questing for a new training log.

I found the perfect one on Ironman's website! Training Peaks is the officially endorsed training log of Ironman triathlons. And it is amazing!

First off, it's completely free to sign up for, so at least give it a try! I've been using it for 3 days and I'm already addicted. Before Training Peaks, I'd had to use DailyBurn calorie tracker to track my nutrition and the default Android app for Beginner Triathlete barely worked well enough to show me past workouts. No longer.

Training Peaks is the most effective software I've used and I'm never going back! It has more built-in functionality then any age-grouper will ever need (especially flat-broke starting ironmen!) It's true that if you want full functionality then you'll have to subscribe to unlock Premium content, but I have yet to seen a reason I'd have need too.

My favorite things about it? I can track my calories, which then show up in the calender view alongside my workouts. It auto-calculates the calories I've burned based on my profile and compares that to the calories I've taken in, making it easy to determine weight maintenance. It supports integration and downloads from dozens of HRM, power monitors, and cyclometers and has the ability to export your logs so that you don't lose your data!

Then it gets better.

The Dashboard function shows off my workouts, macro-nutrients, and pacing all in a series of graphs and charts that make it easy to determine overall fitness. You do have to subscribe to add more charts to your Dashboard but I have yet to find a need to do so.

The biggest bummer?

You have to subscribe to log future workouts. Which costs around $20 per month. That's a little steep but since it's designed for professional triathletes, it can be worth it if you have need of the added functionality. But for now, I'm perfectly content with a free account.

Need a log and don't want to use pen and paper? Go ahead and sign up for Training Peaks. You won't regret it. 

 http://home.trainingpeaks.com/