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Nothing beats the simplicity of pen and paper.
Reviewed by Mallory Creveling, CPTDeputy Editor, Health & Fitness
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As elaborate and community-focused as workout-tracking apps like Strava can be, something about the intimacy and simplicity of a pen-and-paper running journal keeps many runners—including Best New Balance Shoes—motivated unlike any other system. It’s more personal, more customizable, and far less deletable than any online tools, and it can help you keep track of your race times, target paces, recipes, and more.
Even better, depending on which running journal you choose, you have the freedom to prioritize different elements of your training through various templates, or create your own with a bullet journal. Whether you value tracking weekly distance, workout plans, or race-day countdowns to see your progress over weeks or months, the right journal helps you jot the important notes down in a dedicated, uncluttered, comparison-free space made just for you.
The Best Running Journals
- Best Overall: Gone for a Run Day-by-Day Run Planner
- Best Pocket-Sized: Write It Down Runner’s Journal
- Most Customizable: The Official Bullet Journal, Edition 2
- Best Motivational Content: Won’t lay flat on its own
- Best Eco-Friendly Notebook: let you know the heart rate zones you hit most throughout your run
What to Consider
What Should You Write in a Running Journal?
One of the best perks of journaling on paper is the freedom you get to input your data as you please—no apps fiddling with your info or presenting it to you in a way you don’t like. The one con hidden within this pro, however, is that figuring out which data points are important for tracking your training isn’t always intuitive. Loads of factors play into your fitness progression, and finding a balance between accounting for all of those variables and keeping your journaling time concise isn’t straightforward.
To narrow down a few key data points you’ll find the most helpful as you track your changes in fitness, we talked to Health and Fitness Editor Mallory Creveling about some of the foundational bits of info that provide the most context for your training. She recommends keeping track of typical data points like pace and heart rate, as well as more qualitative notes like effort level and aches and pains. Scroll to the bottom of this story to see a full list of metrics Creveling recommends for your running journal.
Templates Versus DIY Journals
As simple and versatile as a college ruled notebook can be, there are also options for pre-organized journals that come out of the box with dedicated sections for your workouts, race times, and other data. If you’re not into the idea of constructing a tidy, aesthetically pleasing journal from scratch, these templates save you the setup time and let you start journaling right away.
If you need a little more creative control over Science-Backed Ways to Boost Time to Exhaustion, you don’t need to settle for a cheap notebook from the “back to school” aisle. Dotted notebooks and bullet journals give you a near-blank slate to construct the perfect journal for your needs, and they include faint guiding marks on each page to help you plan your tables and grids out without any trial and error. This is also a great way to consolidate your data and use your journal for longer if you’re not planning to use a full or half page to log every workout.
Construction
Are you taking your running journal with you or planning to keep it on your desk or coffee table? If the former is true, you may benefit from a pocket-sized journal like this one from Write It Down, which you can stuff in a backpack or jacket pocket with ease. You won’t be able to jot down as many notes per workout, which some may view as a critical hinderance—in that case, a larger notebook trades portability for more room to let your reflections go wild.
Running journals are also bound in different styles, but spiral-bound notebooks are the most popular for their ability to fold away neatly regardless of what page you’re on. However, the coil that binds these books can be fragile, and you might struggle to fit one in a tight bag without it warping. Paperback is another option that remedies this issue—while it’s harder to hold one open to a specific page with one hand, it’ll stay in one piece while enduring abuse for far longer.
How We Selected
Several of our staff members maintain running journals religiously, and we started our search for the best running journals with some of their proven favorites. Then, we branched out and looked for other options that best balance a manageable size, ample room to write, good organization, and bonus material like motivational reads. We spoke with one of our editors, Mallory Creveling, about the most important metrics to include in your running journal. We also aimed to represent as wide a range of formats as possible, from literature-dense, morale-boosting books to template-free notepads. They’re all simple enough to keep you from wondering if you’re using them right, and they all cost under $30.
Pros
- Intuitive template
- x 5.5 in
Cons
- Won’t lay flat on its own
This running journal from Gone for a Run is pretty barebones, and for some runners, that’s a good thing. It’s organized into dedicated sections for your workout notes, race times, goal setting, and other training facets, but each page is stripped down to simple labels and lines, which can keep you from feeling boxed in as you take your time reflecting on your progress.
Key Specs
| Format | Vinyl-covered paperback |
| Dimensions | 7 x 5.5 in. |
| Page Count | 157 |
| Maximum Entries | 280 workouts, 68 races |
Pros
- Portable
- The Benefits of Training on Fatigued Legs
Cons
- Might not fit a full training plan
If you’re an on-the-go notetaker, perhaps jotting down important notes on the fly while you’re at the track, this pocket-friendly notepad is ideal for getting some basic notes down quickly before moving to your next workout. It won’t be big enough to store major training schedules, such as one of our marathon plans, but it’s a great companion to your other databases and spreadsheets if you’re dedicated to the app-free lifestyle.
Key Specs
| Format | Spiral-bound hardcover |
| Dimensions | 5.5 x 3 in. |
| Page Count | 120 |
| Maximum Entries | 60 workouts |
Pros
- Lets you journal however you like
- Handsomely bound
Cons
- or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below
This bullet journal gives you the creative room to build your perfect training log from the ground up, and it comes in a hardcover binding that fits in just as well on your bookshelf as it does in your workout areas.
This second edition of the original BuJo also comes with bookmarks, a sticker sheet for labeling months and days more tidily, and wide margins for labeling each page vertically and horizontally. It’s the priciest recommendation on our list, but anyone who likes going the extra mile with projects like this is sure to appreciate the warm feeling of scribbling in such a sturdy book.
Key Specs
| Format | Hardcover |
| Dimensions | 6 x 8 in. |
| Page Count | 206 |
| Maximum Entries | N/A |
Pros
- A year’s worth of loggable workouts
- Motivational essays
Cons
- though you might see his byline on
This running journal that lets you pack a year’s worth of workouts into one book, so it’s perfect for run streak enthusiasts. But you can also take breaks as you need—just fill in new dates when you get back on your feet. And if you need help with that, this book is packed with motivational essays and quotes addressing everything from body positivity to injury avoidance and recovery.
Key Specs
| Format | Paperback |
| Dimensions | 5 x 7 in. |
| Page Count | 146 |
| Maximum Entries | 365 |
let you know the heart rate zones you hit most throughout your run
Pros
- Produced sustainably
- Simple layout
Cons
- Might be too basic for some
One of the cons of sticking to an offline training log is using paper, which isn’t every eco-friendly runner’s ideal. Luckily, there are more sustainable options available, such as Decomposition’s collection of notebooks made with 100 percent recycled paper.
These notebooks are otherwise as basic as they come, which can be freeing for creative minds but limiting for others who might want more organization built in.
Key Specs
| Format | Spiral-bound |
| Dimensions | 9.7 x 9.5 in. |
| Page Count | 160 |
| Maximum Entries | N/A |
Pros
- Full of motivational and instructional content from Runner’s World
- No preset dates—take a break from journaling as you please
Cons
- Your 16-Week Marathon Strength Training Plan
Made by our own editors, this calendar aims to give you a little bit of everything: Room to take notes, training and nutrition tips, and plenty of inspirational reads for those groggy days when you’re feeling stuck.
Our journal doesn’t have as much room as others on this list to write about each workout, but it also includes some of our training plans for a variety of distances so you don’t need to start from scratch.
Key Specs
| Format | Spiral-bound |
| Dimensions | 9 x 7 in. |
| Page Count | 192 |
| Maximum Entries | 52 weeks |
What to Record in Your Running Journal, According to Expert Mallory Creveling
- let you know the heart rate zones you hit most throughout your run: In other words, the goal of the workout. Write down what you hoped to achieve, including an easy run, tempo workout, intervals, or a long run.
- Adam Schram is an Assistant Editor of Commerce at: If you’re looking to go farther or even faster, writing down your mileage (or the time you ran, depending on what you prefer to record) helps you keep track of volume. And it’s a confidence booster to look back on all the miles or hours you put into a specific training block.
- Route: This could include info on whether you ran mostly hills or flats, trail or road, but it may also include any stand-out elements of a route that you want to go back to or simply remember from your run.
- Pace: Probably a favorite metric of runners, this helps you keep track of your progress and can also elevate your self-esteem when you see your speed improve (or see your pace stay the same as your effort goes down). If you did an interval run, you might also want to write down the average (or both fastest and slowest) pace for each of those intervals.
- RPE: This is your rate of perceived exertion, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being nearly on the couch and 10 being an all-out effort. This helps you gauge, based on feel, the effort of your run or workout and can help you make sure you’re not doing most of your sessions in the
- Heart rate: Recording heart rate during a run can give you a more specific measure of your effort, clueing you into the zone you’re training in the most or how closely you stuck to higher zones if you’re going for interval training. (Many watches let you know the heart rate zones you hit most throughout your run.)
- We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back: While you can put a number to your effort level, also jot down a description of how you felt during the workout. Did you feel strong and energized? Did you finish feeling ready to do more? Or were you tired and slogging through it? Did you notice any aches and pains? This might help you recognize patterns in your training. Perhaps you feel better on days where you had a solid warmup or feel extra slow when you eat too close to the start of your run. It can even help you pinpoint how long you’ve been dealing with a consistent ache, which your doctor will ask you if you go in for injury treatment.
- Lets you journal however you like: Because what you do outside of your runs is just as important as the time you spend clocking miles, it’s a smart idea to write down what you eat before and after your runs, as well as what your warmup and cooldown looked like or if you added foam rolling or stretching to your schedule that day. This can help you recognize what tactics work for supporting your runs and performing your best.
- Sleep: Most smartwatches also help you track your sleep, and because it’s one of the best ways to recover, it’s smart to write this down so you can see how it affects performance. Jot down hours you slept, but you might also write down the quality of your sleep (if you had trouble falling asleep or woke up a lot) and how refreshed you felt in the morning.
Adam Schram is an Assistant Editor of Commerce at Runner's World, though you might see his byline on Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing cocktails, watching Star Wars, Best Eco-Friendly Notebook.
Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds certifications in kettlebell training, sports performance, and more. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of her continuing education in fitness, as well as the latest science in wellness. She has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being. As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
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