It’s coming up on the last month of this year, so it seems like a good time to discuss training logs and goals. VOCC paddlers were indoctrinated to maintain a training log by Bill Bragg. The act of writing things down makes the chance of achievement far greater, so much so that I think you would be highly unlikely to find an Olympian who doesn’t write down her or his goals.
The skill of setting goals is likely a post in and of itself, but for now let’s keep it simple. For goals to be successful, one must make them actionable, quantitative (measurable), and not tied to another person’s success or failure. In order to achieve a goal, one must track the efforts being made and measure the success or failure of these efforts. Thus, the need for a training log.
Training logs can be simple calendars, custom work books or digital in format. Here’s Jim Terrell’s great video showing his training logs from the 1980s and 90s:
To be a successful paddler, you need to log your efforts. Make your goals in January, but make one of them to keep a training log if you aren’t doing so already.
