Quote Originally Posted by Squashed_Fly
It's just a good way of keeping a record. If you don't know what you've done, how do you know if you're improving?

Generally by how quick I recover, how far I've gone, by the length of the strides I'm taking, where I slow down and if I continue to go slow or speed up in those areas, knowing that fitness will peak and trough on a daily / weekly basis depending on what fluids and food I've had along with rest.

Good food makes you perform better than if you've had junk food and even covering short distances like 4-5 miles you can see and feel it when you're out running.

Also knowing that I have enough fuel left in reserve to do an extra half mile / couple of miles or a longer sprint / faster paced run towards the end lets me know that I'm improving too. The human body has evolved for centuries without gadgets. Just been reading up on the benefits of barefoot running (or at least using minimalist trainers) how its how we are supposed to run, mid sole instead of heal striking which trainers encourage, the top athletes are all raving about it (anyone under 30 hear of Zola Budd?) Seriously thinking about investing in a pair of Vibram trainers right now, anything that minimises injury and improves performance would be great

Considering I'm 38 and looked at as an old git by soldier standards (3 years off being a pensioner Snowy , closer to mine than you are in your 50's ) I need all the help I can get !