I guess with anything that you are planning seriously, you’re going to need to set some sort of goal(s) as well as be able to review what you’ve done to find out where you’ve potentially gone wrong.  Doing this will help you with the “fine-tuning” of your progress.  You can use this for more than the aspect of running or any other workout plan.  You can use this for your job, your party arrangements, your grocery list, etc.  Here’s how it works and it’s pretty straight forward.

1.  Set your primary goal (ten weeks out)
2.  Set your plan to get to that goal.  If possible work backwards from that date
3.  Keep track of daily your progress.  The more detailed it is the more fine tuned you can make your training.  If you are an experienced runner, then I recommend the more detailed version.  I also recommend that if you are just beginning you start of as detailed as you feel comfortable with but do go overboard because it can be somewhat overwhelming.  Also keep in mind that as you workout, you will find out what information you need to log and what you don’t.  You’ll be fine-tuning your data as well over the coming weeks.
4.  From your daily progress, at least once  a week, graph the following information:

A.  Date / Daily Distance (Beginner and up)
B.  Date / Weekly Distance (Beginner and up)
C.  Date / Weight (Beginner and up)
D.  Minutes / Mile Pace (Intermediate and up)

The obvious thing is to set realistic goals.  Since we are talking about running we’ll stick with that.  I recommend that you set one final goal for a race, a target pace, a target weight, etc. for at least ten weeks out.  Anything too soon may cause injury and frustration.  The hard part about this is to forecast what you want to do and how to get there.  All in all, you have to remember that you’re going to have to think about progress but also remembering to rest when you need to rest.  Even for experienced runners, you will still need to set your goals ten weeks out but your progress may not be as radical as someone who’s not as experienced.  Experienced runners are going to be “fine-tuning” their already “tuned” running agenda.

Reviewing is always the easy part.  You know if you’ve done good or not so good.  However, it’s always good to put it down on paper.  This way you can not only chart your progress but you can adjust your workouts and goals as time progresses to meet your overall goal(s).  Graphs are great and if you’re not using them, start!  Some heart-rate monitors come with software so it will chart your progress for you.  If not, then keep it simple and chart your progress on a daily basis, even if you take the day off.  There are several ways to chart your progress depending on your experience level.  Seeing your daily progress may not show very much improvement.  However, once you’ve seen your progress over a weeks and months time, you will find that you may be making more headway that you originally thought.

The key to your GS&R is that you have to do it on a daily basis.  You are committed to your goal and you will show your commitment by working out and keeping a log of your progress.  The cliche; “hindsight is 20/20″ could not be more true and it’s what’s going to help you, not only as a runner but hopefully help you in other aspects of your life.