The competitive element of Strava can help you try that little bit harder, says Robbie
A 2:32min/mile? Uphill? How on earth did that chump do that? Where is that flag button? They must have used a map and a piece of string to measure that one.
Why is this annoying me so much when it’s not even my course record that has been stolen? Because, friends, I have become a Strava w*nker.
It’s been six months since I took the plunge and signed up to the ubiquitous online running log. My main concern at the time was that my slightly (read: massively) competitive nature might turn all my training into obsessive hunts for Strava course records and no run would ever be easy again. Fortunately this has not happened, and the fact that people now follow my running on the internet doesn’t actually make me worry.
But has it made me run faster? Maybe a little. Sometimes I do run with a segment in mind and push just that little bit harder, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when done at the right time, like in an interval session. The extra incentive might get a couple of percent more from tired legs and a weary mind.
But Strava is not without it’s pitfalls.
One thing I have learned is not to invite faster friends on runs where you have course records. My mate Ben Riddell floats uphill and has been pinching my records all over the Chamonix valley so now I purposefully keep him away from certain trails. They’re my trails, Ben. Leave off.
The data is something that fascinates me and I do love looking over people’s running. I find their times, splits, weekly mileage and where they stop for poos (you have to correlate the GPS, pacing and heart rate to figure that one out) strangely fascinating.
The missus thinks I’m addicted to Strava, but I like to thing I’m just rather fond of it. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should give it a go. Just don’t be too worried about what people think about your running. And create Strava segments in your back garden if you want a course record Ben can’t take.
