Product: Believe Logbook
Authors: Lauren Fleshman and Roisin Mcgettigan-Dumas
I love that every day is an opportunity to start over, reassess, set new goals and aim for continual improvement. We’re all a work in progress and I’m even more so than the average Joe, so I jumped at the opportunity to get a little help in the self-development area. I’ve admired Lauren Fleshman for years, encouraging women to be strong and confident from her candid articles and heart-felt blog posts. She keeps it real as a woman, mom and wife. She’s married to another person I admire, Jesse Thomas, a triathlete and contributor to the magazine Triathlete. He always has good advice, a great sense of humor and he’s a pretty amazing athlete as well. Laruen teamed up with Roisin Mcgettigan-Dumas, an Irish record holder, Olympic finalist and European medalist to provide some tools for anyone looking to improve. And who doesn’t need to improve?
Believe is a compact logbook that easily fits into a purse, gym bag or glove compartment. It’s slim and lightweight, making it convenient to carry along and use. I’ve admired Lauren Fleshman for years because she’s a hard worker, sets the bar high and is no nonsense. The Believe Logbook is all that too. It’s designed for a specific goal, as in a season or 3-6 months in duration. Pick an event, set your goal and then work your way back. The 6-month overview gives you just enough of a nudge to keep you accountable, without the daunting task of ‘journaling’ or setting up your own system. The work is done for you, you just need to plug in the effort and start working towards your goal.
It starts with monthly calendars and moves into weekly calendars. In between each week, there are a couple of pages for reflections, a chance to note what’s working, what isn’t and possibly tweak your training. It provides just enough space to include quantitative measures, what the conditions were like, how you felt about the run as well as your health in general, possible cross training, what you’re doing to recover, etc. It has motivational quotes sprinkled throughout, which is one of my favorite parts, but just enough to keep you excited for the next one.
Several pages in the back are dedicated to race plans and there’s even a pace chart included. The Believe Logbook is as close to journaling as I’m going to get and it’s like a race souvenir. There’s a spot for reflections in the back, as well, for you to take notes about the event itself, training highs and lows or anything you want to reflect on in the years ahead. It’s a great tool to get you started, an easy way to stay motivated and a race memory book all in one.
The Believe Logbook would make a great holiday gift, since so many of us set goals in January. It would also be a perfect birthday present since, regardless of the distance, we all have races to run and goals to set. I think it’s also an excellent gift for yourself- pick a run that challenges you and use the training log to get there. It’s pretty much an ideal training companion and memory log all in one. It’s sturdy enough to last, but lightweight enough to travel everywhere. We all need a little help getting motivated sometimes and I think the Believe Logbook is just the motivation I need.
