I like the notes feature and the race analysis feature. The free marathon training program that comes with a subscription justified the old subscription price, probably not as much the new price.
When I opened a strava account during lockdown I thought it was amazing. I had never had a GPS watch before so to see all the data was fascinating. Then I started running new routes and visited lots of places I never went before. It was great. I had never been so active in my life. About 1 and a half years down the line I started doing workouts and races for the first time and that's when it went from being a healthy pastime to an obsession. People in my local area kept adding me and I ended up trying to do too much too soon in order to keep up with the people around my level. I also got obsessed with refreshing the app. I went from a 21 5K to a high 17 5K and still judged it as a failure. Then I got too injured to even run anymore without pain. I can't handle strava. Others can switch off from the competitive aspect but it just feels too personal to have poeple eyeballing every run and race performance. By the time I got injured I had lost all interest in running.
Jesus, sorry everyone there isn't Olympic caliber. Maybe people have things like demanding jobs and responsibilities, health issues or maybe they just suck. But they are out there doing what they can. So you go ahead and rip them so that you feel better about yourself. Only you seem to look down on anyone.
Bunch of 25 MPW people with 22min 5k prs running every easy run at 7 min pace. And they all compliment each other for how fast they are every day and probably look down on actual fast runners who take easy days slowly.
I stopped using it a few years ago and I think I'm the only one in my group who doesn't use it. I don't care to post a clever/witty title with every run and I don't want the added compulsion of another social media app that sucks me in to something that ultimately doesn't benefit me and only takes away my free time.
It has value, just not for me. I also don't care enough about my own running to keep a detailed log of it.
I stopped using it a few years ago and I think I'm the only one in my group who doesn't use it. I don't care to post a clever/witty title with every run and I don't want the added compulsion of another social media app that sucks me in to something that ultimately doesn't benefit me and only takes away my free time.
It has value, just not for me. I also don't care enough about my own running to keep a detailed log of it.
Same. It's for people who want to show off. It's basically the same as any other social media app: an amusement park for narcissists. Narcissists don't function without a willing audience of gawkers and sycophants. Based on hearing it referenced in conversation, I'm probably among the slim minority of runners in my area without an account. In fact, I have yet to hear a "me neither!" in response to mentioning that I don't have an account. Not that it comes up often, just sayin'.
2) Idea generator for workouts - appreciate the few pros/semi-pro/former-pros/those trying to be pros, who post their workouts.
3) Route finder
4) I could care less, what others think of my running - most of my friends are non-runners and have no clue anyway. Don't use it for the "social media" aspect, which is most people's complaint with Strava.
Strava is an online training log. I can see how much I've run, I can put notes in after my workouts, I can look back at how fast I did my previous workouts. I can compare one race course to another to judge how good a certain performance of mine was. I can average up all of the segments of a fartlek to make sure I was actually going the right paces. Strava is great. If it effects how you train in a negative way then that's on you.
This.
Also, as others have pointed out, if you follow a variety of good runners, you can really learn a lot about training by seeing what they actually do day in and day out. There are a lot of ways to structure your runs and workouts, and looking at the training of fast people that I also get to run with on occasion has allowed me to fine tune my own approach to training. I'm not sure I actually would have gotten to where I am without Strava.
Strava is hell on earth.
The slow runners on Strava are a bunch of posers. The runners who are good on Strava are on it to stroke their ego.
what if Strava goes down and you can’t access your data? What if they increase their prices?
There is a better technology out there that has stood the test of time that you can use that is private, that belongs to you, where you can record your runs, put notes in after your workouts, look back at how fast you ran in races…
Bunch of 25 MPW people with 22min 5k prs running every easy run at 7 min pace. And they all compliment each other for how fast they are every day and probably look down on actual fast runners who take easy days slowly.
No one with a pr slower than 19 minutes should be running 7 minute miles.
Bunch of 25 MPW people with 22min 5k prs running every easy run at 7 min pace. And they all compliment each other for how fast they are every day and probably look down on actual fast runners who take easy days slowly.
No one with a pr slower than 19 minutes should be running 7 minute miles.
If we're talking 7-flat miles on a flat, easy run, you gotta get down to like 16:30 before that starts making sense.
Bunch of 25 MPW people with 22min 5k prs running every easy run at 7 min pace. And they all compliment each other for how fast they are every day and probably look down on actual fast runners who take easy days slowly.
Registered another account this past week after avoiding strava for a while. Yep, still the same people on there running 7 minute pace for a 22 minute 5K.
Also, as others have pointed out, if you follow a variety of good runners, you can really learn a lot about training by seeing what they actually do day in and day out. There are a lot of ways to structure your runs and workouts, and looking at the training of fast people that I also get to run with on occasion has allowed me to fine tune my own approach to training. I'm not sure I actually would have gotten to where I am without Strava.
Strava is hell on earth.
The slow runners on Strava are a bunch of posers. The runners who are good on Strava are on it to stroke their ego.
what if Strava goes down and you can’t access your data? What if they increase their prices?
There is a better technology out there that has stood the test of time that you can use that is private, that belongs to you, where you can record your runs, put notes in after your workouts, look back at how fast you ran in races…
a pen and paper.
It depends. Lots of fast Cbus runners post on Strava and some of their recaps are quite entertaining...especially ex-college athletes in the area.