Favorite Apps for Logging Workous

Spreadsheet
GarminConnect
Training Peaks
Smashrun
Strava



I love workout data. I love recording it and compiling it and analyzing it and if someone ever took my Garmin away from me, I'm not totally sure I'd keep running. I've used a lot of different sites and apps over the last 5 years, and I have a few 

RunKeeper

RK was the first site and app I ever used to track and log my workouts. When I started Couch to 5k in 2011, there weren't really a lot of apps for it; instead, I used this website for instructions on what my run/walk intervals were supposed to be each day, and I manually timed each one using the clock on my iPhone. I started out keeping a pen and paper lot of each workout competed, with estimated times and distances and paces. After a few weeks, I discovered RunKeeper, which gave me a digital space to record my progress. It also had an app that I could use to more accurately track my distance and pace while I ran. I also used it to track cycling workouts when I got a bike about a year after I started running and to log any walking or elliptical workouts I did while injured.

Recommended if:

NikePlus

For the first year and a half, I used RK as my primary tool for both on-the-run distance and pace tracking and for post-run logging and analysis. I got my first running watch, a Nike+ GPS watch, in October 2012 and at hat point, I switched over to Nike's software. NikePlus is available as both a web app and a mobile app. At the time, my dad was also using a Nike+ watch and my friend was using the Nike app for all his runs, so we were all able to see how the others were doing. There's a leaderboard 

Recommended if: you don't want to use a watch and want to easily and quickly track your runs. Nike also has what they call "Nike Fuel", which I'Beware that you can only use it for running, though, so if you want to keep track of any other workouts in the same place as your runs, you'd be better off with something else.
Recommended if:

GarminConnect

After 2 Nike watches in under a year. I made the switch to Garmin and have never looked back. Like Nike, Garmin has its own software but the features are far more exhaustive than Nike's. I liked that I could get reports for swimming, cycling, and running, but the date options aren't exactly (I.e. last 4 weeks, last 6 months, last 365 days) so. And the reports only show graphs, not grand totals, so say if I looked at my yearly totals, it would break it down into mileage for each month and I'd have to manually add that all together. 

Recommended if: you have a Garmin watch and you don't really care about logging or analyzing any of your workouts? Seriously, the only reason I use GarminConnect is to upload workouts from my watch, and then I export it to another site. There are so many other great sites and apps out there that are far more user-friendly and informative than Garmin's.

DailyMile

Unlike the other programs I've used, which have been more for tracking and analysis, I use DailyMile as more of a training diary. It's kind of like Twitter for fitness. It does have a graph every week that shows me my total time and distance (all workouts included, not broken up by sport). I've tried to stay pretty diligent about updating my DailyMile so that I have a lot that I can quickly and easily access if, for whatever reason, I want a short and sweet description of a past workout. It's like the readers digest version of my Sunday Sweats. Plus it's meant to be used as a social network for fitness, so friends can virtually high five me and leave me comments, and vice versa!

Recommended if: you thrive on sharing your workouts with others and are likewise motivated by your friends. 

TrainingPeaks

I started using TrainingPeaks when I started HIM training last June. I purchased a training plan from a coach, and that training plan was then loaded into the TrainingPeaks software. I've started using it again even though I'm not using a preloaded training plan, which has some limitations (e.g. I can't schedule workouts more than 2 days out), which sucks, but it's not the end of the world. TrainingPeaks is pretty much the holy grail for me, especially for multi sport training. I love the layout, find it very easy to use, and I love that each workout gets color coded after it passes: green if I completed the time/distance planned, yellow if I partially completed it, and red if I skipped it. It also pulls more metrics that can be accessed by clicking on each individual activity.
Recommended if:

Smashrun

Smashrun is a site I just recently started using in December. Since my runs were spread over 3 different platforms (RunKeeper, Nike, and Garmin), for years I've wanted a way to easily consolidate them that didn't involve me manually entering thousands of miles into a spreadsheet. Then I found Smashrun and all my dreams came true. I was able to sync my Garmin account to Smashrun, which allowed it to grab all the runs I had stored on GarminConnect. Then I was able to download all the runs I had stored in RunKeeper and Nike and import them as well. I didn't check every single run that it grabbed, but I was able to sort the data easily and quickly to identify erroneous runs. I mainly looked at pace; any that showed a pace of 3-4 minutes/mile were obviously bike rides and any that were 30+ minutes/mile were swims, and I was able to delete those quickly and easily. Outside of maybe 20 of those, after a quick glance at the remaining data, I was pretty confident every mile I've ever run was accurately imported.

*cue me doing my happy dance*

One of the things I like about Smashrun is that it gives me what I like to call, "baseball stats." I don't know if this happens in other sports because I don't follow them, but baseball announcers be like, "That's only the 3rd time during a regular season home game that a shortstop has hit a double after grounding out to 1st during his first at bat, while switch-hitting, on his 22nd birthday!!!!!" I think every player has something noteworthy happen during every play if you just look hard enough. That's what Smashrun does with every run and I think it's awesome. And it doesn't only pull out little factoids, but it does a really good job of showing where that run fell in terms of distance, pace, etc. to other runs. 

The interface is really user-friendly and, for as much data as it compiles, it's presented in a pretty straightforward way. I love how easy it is to see mileage totals and average pace for a month, a year, and all-time, just with the click of one or two buttons.
Recommended if:

Strava

Strava is the most recent addition to my lineup.

Recommended if:

The ol' spreadsheet

Recommendations:

If you want to track yourself during a run without buying a fancy watch (although, FYI, a basic Garmin will run you $50 and you can probably find a gently used one on eBay for even less): RunKeeper

If you like 

If you want a place to plan future workouts and log past ones: TrainingPeaks. I think the interface is pretty simple and, like I said, color-coded! I like that the more in-depth data (splits, heart rate, pace over time, etc.) is there if you want it, but that TP makes it simple and easy to see your whole week's distances and durations at a glance.

If you want lots of analysis and statistics in an easy-to-read and understand format: Smashrun.

If you really want in-depth analysis: from what I've read, Strava is the way to go. 

*These all have paid membership options that I have never tried, and therefore I am only speaking of the free version.