RunningLog vs TrainingPeaks: Which Platform Do Competitive Runners Need?

TrainingPeaks is the gold standard for athletes working with coaches and tracking detailed training metrics. For serious runners following structured training plans, it offers unparalleled depth in workout analysis, periodization planning, and performance tracking. But when it comes to organizing and celebrating your race history specifically, RunningLog serves a fundamentally different purpose.

Understanding the distinction between training analytics and race achievement tracking helps you choose the right tools for your running journey—and for many runners, the answer is using both for their respective strengths.

What TrainingPeaks Does Best

Before discussing alternatives, it’s important to recognize where TrainingPeaks excels. The platform was built for athletes and coaches who take training seriously:

Structured Training Plans

TrainingPeaks allows coaches to create detailed, periodized training plans with specific workouts, intensity zones, and progression built in. Athletes can follow these plans day-by-day, receiving guidance on exactly what workout to do and at what intensity.

Advanced Workout Analysis

Upload data from your GPS watch or cycling computer, and TrainingPeaks provides deep analysis:

• Training Stress Score (TSS) and Performance Management Chart (PMC)
• Power and pace zone analysis
• Heart rate variability tracking
• Detailed workout-by-workout metrics
• Fatigue and form indicators

Coach-Athlete Communication

The platform facilitates seamless collaboration between athletes and coaches. Coaches can view athlete workouts in real-time, leave comments, adjust training plans, and monitor progress remotely. For runners working with coaches, this integration is invaluable.

Training Load Management

TrainingPeaks excels at helping you balance training stress with recovery. The PMC chart shows your fitness, fatigue, and form, helping you avoid overtraining while building toward peak performance.

Where TrainingPeaks Falls Short for Race Tracking

Despite its strengths in training management, TrainingPeaks wasn’t designed with race history organization as a primary focus:

Races Are Just Another Workout

In TrainingPeaks, your marathon appears in the calendar as a workout—similar to your Tuesday tempo run or Saturday long run. There’s no special distinction or celebration of race achievements. The platform treats races as data points in your training cycle rather than accomplishments worth highlighting.

Limited Race-Specific Fields

While you can log a race in TrainingPeaks, the data fields are workout-oriented, not race-oriented:

• No dedicated field for official finish time (separate from GPS time)
• No age group or overall placement tracking
• No race-specific notes about conditions, strategy, or experience
• No easy way to mark races as “planned” versus “completed”

No Historical Race Organization

TrainingPeaks organizes data chronologically by training cycles. If you want to see all your marathons over the past five years, or compare your times at the same race across multiple years, there’s no easy way to do this. Races are buried in calendar views organized around training blocks, not race achievements.

Complexity for Casual Users

TrainingPeaks is powerful but complex. The learning curve is steep, and many features (TSS, PMC, etc.) require understanding training science concepts. For runners who simply want to track race results without diving into training analytics, it’s overwhelming and unnecessarily complicated.

Cost Structure

TrainingPeaks premium features come at a significant cost—around $129/year for basic premium or $199/year for premium with coaching features. For runners who don’t need detailed training analytics or coach collaboration, this is expensive for what amounts to race tracking.

RunningLog: Purpose-Built for Race Tracking

RunningLog takes a fundamentally different approach from TrainingPeaks, treating races as achievements worth celebrating rather than workouts to analyze:

1. Race-First Organization

Everything centers around races as distinct events. Your race log displays:

• Race name and location prominently
• Official finish time (not just GPS data)
• Overall placement among finishers
• Age group and gender rankings
• Distance and race category
• Status (completed, planned, DNF, DNS)

This structure makes it obvious what you’ve accomplished and easy to find any race from your history.

2. Simplified User Experience

No training science knowledge required. Add a race, enter the details, and you’re done. The interface is intuitive because it’s focused on one thing: organizing your race history. There’s no complexity to navigate, no metrics to interpret, no zones to configure.

3. Historical and Future Planning

Easily add races from any point in your running history—even races from before you used GPS tracking. Also log planned future races, creating a complete view of your racing timeline from past achievements to future goals.

4. Easy Filtering and Comparison

Want to see all your marathons? All races in 2024? Every race where you set a PR? Races sorted by distance, date, or location? Purpose-built filtering makes these queries instant. Compare your performance at the same race across multiple years with a few clicks.

5. Affordable and Accessible

RunningLog costs significantly less than TrainingPeaks because it focuses on a simpler, more specific use case. You get exactly what you need without paying for advanced training features you might not use.

The Complementary Approach: Using Both

For many serious runners, the ideal solution isn’t choosing one platform over the other—it’s using each for what it does best:

Use TrainingPeaks For:

• Following structured training plans from a coach
• Analyzing workout data and training metrics
• Managing training load and recovery
• Communication with your coach
• Planning and periodizing training cycles
• Detailed performance analysis of key workouts

Use RunningLog For:

• Organizing your complete race history
• Tracking official race results and placements
• Planning your race calendar
• Comparing performances across similar races
• Celebrating achievements in a focused way
• Quick reference to past race times and PRs

The Workflow

This complementary approach works seamlessly:

1. Train using TrainingPeaks, following your coach’s plan and analyzing workouts
2. When race day comes, the race appears in your TrainingPeaks calendar as a workout
3. After the race, upload GPS data to TrainingPeaks for workout analysis
4. Separately, log the official race result in RunningLog with placement, official time, and race notes
5. Continue training in TrainingPeaks while your race achievement lives permanently in RunningLog

This gives you the best of both worlds: sophisticated training management and organized race achievement tracking.

Who Should Use TrainingPeaks?

TrainingPeaks makes the most sense for:

Athletes with Coaches

If you work with a coach, TrainingPeaks provides essential infrastructure for the coach-athlete relationship. The ability for coaches to write plans, monitor compliance, and adjust training based on workout data is unmatched.

Data-Driven Runners

Runners who want deep analysis of their training—TSS, CTL, ATL, power metrics, heart rate zones—will appreciate TrainingPeaks’ analytical capabilities. If you make training decisions based on specific metrics, the platform provides those tools.

Structured Training Plan Followers

Even without a personal coach, runners following purchased training plans benefit from TrainingPeaks’ ability to organize and execute structured programs with built-in progression and recovery.

Multi-Sport Athletes

Triathletes and athletes training across multiple disciplines appreciate TrainingPeaks’ ability to track swimming, cycling, running, and strength training in one platform with sport-specific metrics.

Who Should Use RunningLog?

RunningLog makes more sense for:

Race-Focused Runners

If racing is your primary motivation for running—whether that’s 5Ks every weekend or marathons twice a year—having your race achievements organized and accessible in RunningLog matters more than detailed training analytics.

Self-Coached Runners

Runners who train intuitively or follow simple training plans without a coach don’t need TrainingPeaks’ complexity. RunningLog gives them a way to track what matters (race results) without paying for features they don’t use.

Veteran Runners with Long Histories

Runners with 10, 20, or 30+ years of race history deserve a system that captures their complete journey. RunningLog lets you enter historical results from before GPS tracking existed, creating a full record of your running career.

Casual Competitive Runners

Runners who race occasionally but don’t follow structured training plans—they run consistently but train by feel—benefit from RunningLog’s focused race tracking without needing training analytics.

Budget-Conscious Runners

If $129-199/year for TrainingPeaks feels expensive for what you’d actually use, RunningLog gives you what you need at a more affordable price without the cost of features you won’t use.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Training Plan Management

TrainingPeaks: Excellent—structured plans with daily workouts, progression, and periodization
RunningLog: Not applicable—focuses on race results, not training

Workout Analysis

TrainingPeaks: Excellent—deep metrics, TSS, power data, heart rate analysis
RunningLog: Not applicable—focuses on race results, not workout data

Race History Organization

TrainingPeaks: Limited—races appear in calendar but no dedicated race organization
RunningLog: Excellent—dedicated race views, filtering, and comparison

Official Race Results Tracking

TrainingPeaks: Limited—can add notes but not designed for placement, rankings, etc.
RunningLog: Excellent—fields specifically for official time, rankings, placements

Historical Race Entry

TrainingPeaks: Possible but awkward—requires backdating in calendar
RunningLog: Easy—designed for entering races from any point in history

Future Race Planning

TrainingPeaks: Limited—can mark calendar events but not race-specific planning
RunningLog: Good—dedicated “planned” race status and organization

User Interface Simplicity

TrainingPeaks: Complex—steep learning curve, many features to understand
RunningLog: Simple—intuitive interface focused on one clear purpose

Cost

TrainingPeaks: $129-199/year for premium features
RunningLog: Free to start with affordable premium options

Coach Collaboration

TrainingPeaks: Excellent—built for coach-athlete communication
RunningLog: Not applicable—focuses on personal race tracking

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Marathon Training with a Coach

Best Solution: TrainingPeaks for training + RunningLog for achievements
You need TrainingPeaks for your coach relationship and training management. Add RunningLog to organize your marathon history and track official results across races.

Scenario 2: Recreational Racer, Self-Coached

Best Solution: RunningLog only
You don’t need TrainingPeaks’ complexity or cost. RunningLog gives you everything you need to track your racing journey without features you won’t use.

Scenario 3: Serious Runner, No Coach

Best Solution: Depends on your training approach
If you follow structured plans and analyze training data, TrainingPeaks + RunningLog. If you train intuitively, just RunningLog may suffice.

Scenario 4: Veteran Runner with Long History

Best Solution: RunningLog
Your 20+ years of race results deserve organized display. TrainingPeaks can’t easily capture historical races, making RunningLog more suitable.

Making the Decision

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I work with a coach? If yes, you probably need TrainingPeaks.
2. Do I analyze training metrics regularly? If yes, TrainingPeaks makes sense.
3. Is my primary goal tracking race achievements? If yes, start with RunningLog.
4. Do I have historical races to enter? If yes, RunningLog is more suitable.
5. What’s my budget? If cost is a concern, RunningLog is more affordable.

The Bottom Line

TrainingPeaks and RunningLog serve fundamentally different purposes. TrainingPeaks excels at training management, workout analysis, and coach collaboration—it’s the professional-grade tool for serious training. RunningLog excels at organizing race achievements, tracking results, and celebrating your racing journey—it’s the scrapbook for your competitive running.

Neither is inherently “better”—they’re designed for different aspects of running. The question isn’t which to choose, but rather which aspects of your running life you want to track and manage:

• If training analytics and structured planning are your priority, TrainingPeaks delivers
• If organizing race achievements and tracking results is your focus, RunningLog is the answer
• If you’re a serious competitive runner who values both, using both tools for their respective strengths makes perfect sense

Your races represent months of training, personal challenges overcome, and achievements worth celebrating. Whether you track them alongside your TrainingPeaks workouts or in RunningLog’s race-focused platform, make sure your racing accomplishments are organized, accessible, and properly honored. Every finish line you cross is a story worth preserving.

Ready to organize your race history without the complexity of full training management platforms? Start using RunningLog today and build a complete record of your journey from 5Ks to marathons and everything in between.