Advanced – brainstorming help, post type UI for subscriber

Looking for ideas on how to tackle this. I’m building a member site and would like to allow members to post daily updates. Say for example a runner….

#########################
Today I ran –
5 Miles
Uphill
In the rain
Duration: 55 minutes.
#########################

Since I like to use WP core functionality as much as possible My thoughts are;

Use role capabilities for a stripped down author role, example sub-author.(I will only allow them to see and edit their own content.)

These “daily updates” made by Members can be seen on the front end by displaying “author’s posts”.

I will use custom fields for the actual content input. “More Fields” is a killer plugin for this BTW.

Now, here’s the trick, I will most likely use a stripped down vs. of buddypress on this site, How can I best allow a Member to input this “daily update info” with a FRONT END GUI.

side note – I can program, write custom sql if needed, so I’m looking for advanced ideas on where to start on allowing a Member to make a post with a Front-end GUI, and edit from the front end as well.

Is there a plugin that I may have missed that already points in this direction?

Any Ideas would be hugely appreciated.