A Sprint Training Log Template That Gets Used

Most training logs die of ambition. They start as a spreadsheet with twenty columns, survive three weeks, and end as a notes app with entries like "speed, felt ok." A sprint training log template survives when every field answers a question you will actually ask later, and nothing else. Here is the template, the reason for each field, and a filled-in week.

The question test

Before a field goes in the template it has to survive one question: in three months, what decision does this help me make? For a sprinter the decisions are few:

Am I faster than I was? (needs comparable reps under known conditions)
What did training look like before my best races? (needs sessions, not summaries)
Where does form break? (needs rep-by-rep times, not session averages)
What conditions am I fast in? (needs wind, surface, shoes)
Am I recovering? (needs a consistent feel score and rest)

Everything below traces back to one of those.

Per session

Field	Example	Why
Date	2026-09-16	Obvious, and the axis of every later chart.
Session type	Speed / Speed endurance / Tempo / Acceleration / Strength	Lets you compare like with like. Five categories, no more.
Surface	Mondo / grass / indoor / road	Times are not comparable across surfaces.
Shoes	Spikes / flats	Same reason. A flying 30 in flats is a different rep.
Wind	+1.2 / -0.8 / calm	Any hand reading beats none. Sign it.
Warm-up done	Standard / short / cut	Explains an oddly slow first rep later.
Feel	1 to 5	One scale, used the same way all year. Not a paragraph.
Notes	One line	The thing the numbers do not capture. Optional.

Per rep

Field	Example	Why
Distance	60m
Time	6.91	Hand or electronic; say which in the session notes.
Intensity	98%	Prescribed, not felt.
Start	Blocks / 3-point / rolling / flying	A 60m from blocks and a flying 60 are different reps.
Rest before next	3'	Rest is part of the rep. `6×150 @ 95% with 4' rest` is a session; `6×150` is a list.
Split	30m: 3.94	Optional; gold when you have it.

That is it. Eight session fields, six rep fields, and the rep fields are mostly the same six numbers copied down the column.

What is deliberately missing

Heart rate. Useful for a distance runner, close to noise for a 100m sprinter. Log it if a coach asks; do not build the template on it.
Weight, sleep, mood as separate fields. They matter and they belong in the feel score or the notes line, not in columns that stay empty.
Session RPE as a decimal. Nobody rates a session 6.5 consistently. Five levels, whole numbers.
GPS distance. For track sprint work the number is wrong often enough to mislead. Why is covered here.

A filled-in week

Mon, Speed endurance, mondo, spikes, wind -0.6, feel 4 3×(150m + 150m) @ 95%, 30" / 8' 17.9 / 18.4, 18.0 / 18.6, 18.2 / 19.0. Third set second rep: hips dropped at 120m.

Tue, Strength, indoor, flats, feel 3 Squat 4×4, hip thrust 3×6, hurdle mobility 10'. 6×30m block starts, no times, cue: push angle.

Wed, Tempo, grass, flats, calm, feel 4 2×(6×100m) @ 70%, walk back / 5'. No times taken; tempo is by feel.

Thu, Speed, mondo, spikes, wind +0.4, feel 5 4×flying 30m with 30m build-in, 5' rest: 3.02, 2.98, 2.97, 3.01. 2×60m from blocks, 6' rest: 6.91 (30m 3.94), 6.88 (30m 3.91). Hand timed.

Fri, rest.

Sat, Acceleration + speed endurance, mondo, spikes, wind -1.5, feel 3 4×30m blocks @ 100%, 3': 4.02, 3.98, 4.05, 4.01. 2×120m @ 95%, 8': 13.1, 13.4. Headwind; do not compare with Monday.

Sun, rest.

Notice what the week gives you three months later. Thursday's flying 30s are a max velocity series under near-neutral wind in spikes on mondo. Next month's flying 30s under the same conditions are directly comparable. The 150 + 150 pairs show where fatigue bites (the second rep of the third set), which is the specific thing the next block should attack. Saturday's times are flagged as headwind so nobody panics about a slow 120.

Making it stick

Log at the track, not at home. Rep times evaporate on the drive back. Thirty seconds between sets is enough for four numbers.
Same abbreviations every time. SE for speed endurance is fine as long as it is always SE.
Coaches enter for athletes. In a club group the coach with the stopwatch is the one with the data. The template works better when the person holding the watch is the one typing.
Keep the notes line honest. "Legs heavy" on three consecutive Mondays is a pattern worth acting on. "Great session!!" is not information.

Paper, spreadsheet, or app

Paper works if it travels to the track and never gets lost. A spreadsheet works if the tabs stay disciplined and someone builds the charts. An app works if it asks for exactly these fields and not forty others; that is the design brief behind Trackbuddy's logging, including the per-rep context and the coach-enters-for-athlete flow (logging, coaches). Whichever you choose, the template above is the contract. The broader habit of keeping a log, across all events, is covered in how to log track workouts.