The field of programming is as wide as it is deep. No matter if you’ve been programming for a month, year, decade, or more, all of us have something in common: there’s a lot of information to learn and we need to continually get better at our craft. In that sense, all programmers are in “training.”
As such, many of the training habits I used as a long distance runner I now apply in my current endurance activity: programming. Here’s one of them: using a training journal.
A Training Journal
I was searching for patterns.
Each evening, before bed, I’d head to my desk, grab a legal pad and pen, and write a few notes about my running workout that day. This informal process included the number of miles I ran, how I felt, and the food I ate.
For example, “don’t eat a large seafood dinner the night before a long run.” Or “I started the race way too fast.” Or “I felt great during my run today…ate a simple dinner (chicken and pasta) last night.”
I used these notes as feedback to make tweaks for subsequent runs and races. In other words, I kept a running training journal to help me get better and reach my goals. It worked.
So I now apply the same idea to get better as a programmer. Each evening I open my navy Moleskin notebook, write the date, and jot down a few notes about my programming work from that day.

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