About six months ago I bought this training journal that is supposed to motivate me to write down the time, distance, pace, etc of when and how I run. I'm a little bothered by the graphic of the runners on the cover -- I can confidently say that the image was snapped about twenty-five years ago because the running clothes are so ridiculously out of style and the woman has her hair in a french braid tied with a scrunchy and she's wearing a Swatch (I was sad to see those go out of fashion -- they were awesome -- I had a whole bunch of different bands that I could interchange with the face: what genius! How did the Swatch company lose their touch?). The little journal boasts on the cover that over 200,000 copies have been sold, so you'd think the publishers could afford to update the cover with a depiction of some more modern day runners.

I blame the campy picture on the cover for not keeping me motivated to record my running within its pages. Plus, I think the woman in the picture might be a man; she has huge calves and meaty arms and there's a certain squareness to her jaw. She can't fool me with that gold necklace: I know the truth.

However, recording your running is supposed to be one of those tried and true methods for improving your running and for motivating you to stick with it. Just like diets always encourage you to keep track of the food you eat in a food journal, but honestly, how does this help? On days when I know I ate too much I can tell because I lay on the couch with my distended belly groaning in misery. That's usually a good indication that I overate. And as far as my running goes, I also know when I have run and how far I have run in a week -- it's called a long term memory. It's this amazing aspect of my brain chemistry that enables me to recall events from days, weeks, months and even years ago: fascinating.

So part of me thinks I should just pitch the runner's journal and swallow the fact that I shelled out $9.95 for it, but another part of me is reluctant to let go of something that should help me improve. Perhaps I will use it to start filling in ludicrous entries about my running; oh wait, that's what I do in this blog. Sonofabitch, it's going in the trash.