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Credit: Meredith Dietz
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There’s something deeply satisfying about tracking your running progress in a spreadsheet you built yourself. No algorithm showing off other people’s workouts, no concerns about what happens to your data if the company pivots or shuts down. Just you, your numbers, and a system designed exactly the way you want it. And when I wrote about this earlier this year, I received some truly heartwarming messages from runners who…
Add as a preferred source on Google
Credit: Meredith Dietz
Table of Contents
There’s something deeply satisfying about tracking your running progress in a spreadsheet you built yourself. No algorithm showing off other people’s workouts, no concerns about what happens to your data if the company pivots or shuts down. Just you, your numbers, and a system designed exactly the way you want it. And when I wrote about this earlier this year, I received some truly heartwarming messages from runners who’d been thinking the same thing. So many of us runners are tired of relying on apps, and we’re instead drawn to a simple, customizable spreadsheet.
Why build your own spreadsheet?
Sure, there’s no shortage of fitness tracking apps out there. Strava, Garmin Connect, Nike Run Club—they all have their strengths. But owning your own spreadsheet offers something different: complete control. You can design your system to match your specific training needs. I also appreciate the intentionality that gets introduced when you have to design your own tracking system.
There’s also the simple economics. Spreadsheets are free. They don’t have premium tiers, they don’t expire when you stop paying, and they don’t suddenly lock features you’ve been using for months. Plus, creating custom charts and graphs to visualize your progress becomes a matter of a few clicks rather than hoping the app updates to include the exact view you’re looking for.
This is not the first spreadsheet I’ve shared with my Lifehacker community, but this might be my magnum opus: a running tracker that logs every workout, calculates weekly mileage automatically, visualizes training load over time, and helps me plan toward specific race goals. It’s evolved over months of use, shaped by what actually matters when I lace up my shoes each morning.
Here she is. If the idea of a spreadsheet appeals to you, but you hate my spreadsheet, that’s fine! I’m not even crying about it! Let’s take a look at how you can perfect your own DIY running tracker.
What to track (and what to skip)
The key to a sustainable running spreadsheet is tracking what actually helps you without drowning in data entry. Here’s what I’ve found worth logging:
The essentials: Date, distance, time, and pace. These four fields form the backbone of any useful running log. They let you calculate weekly mileage, monitor whether you’re getting faster, and spot trends over time.
The context: Route or location, weather conditions, and how you felt during the run. These qualitative details help you understand the story behind the numbers. That slower pace might make sense when you remember it was 95 degrees, or you were running hills, or you resolved to run slower now in order to run faster later.
The training details: Type of run (easy, tempo, intervals, long run), elevation gain if relevant to your training, and any specific workout structure. This helps you ensure you’re balancing different types of training rather than just logging junk miles.
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What I don’t track: Every single calorie burned (those estimates are notoriously unreliable anyway).
Setting up your system
Start simple. Create columns for your essential data and add a few basic formulas: total weekly mileage, average pace for the week, maybe a running total for the month. Google Sheets and Excel both make this straightforward, and you can always add complexity later.
What do you think so far?
Consider organizing with separate tabs for different purposes. I keep one tab as my main running log where each row represents a workout, another tab for monthly summaries that automatically calculate totals and averages, and a third for goal tracking where I can see my progress toward specific races or mileage targets.
The beauty of building your own system is that you can iterate. After a month of tracking, you’ll notice what information you actually reference and what just clutters the spreadsheet. Maybe you thought you’d care about cadence but never look at that column, or perhaps you wish you’d been tracking which shoes you wore to monitor when they need replacing. Adjust accordingly.
Making it visual
Numbers in rows tell one story, but charts and graphs reveal patterns you might otherwise miss. Create a simple line graph showing your weekly mileage over time and you’ll instantly see when you’re ramping up training, when you backed off for recovery, and whether your current volume is sustainable.
I like having a few standard visualizations: a line chart of weekly mileage, a bar graph comparing monthly totals across the year, and a scatter plot showing the relationship between distance and pace to spot my comfortable running ranges. None of this requires advanced spreadsheet skills—most programs will generate decent charts automatically once you select your data.
The bottom line
The point here isn’t to use *my *exact system, but to recognize that you can build something better suited to your needs than any one-size-fits-all app. Your training is unique to you—your goals, your schedule, your body, your definition of progress. Why not track it in a way that reflects that? Keep what works, discard what doesn’t, and enjoy this life upgrade.