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I have just left strava after 4 years of uploading my runs/races etc. Although I have found it a motivational tool, I was becoming increasingly obsessed with it which in turn distracted from the true essence of running and training for yourself, not other people. There are also lots of ego's which are looking to be massaged! I've phased it out by flagging runs as private but I reckon cold turkey is the way forward.
Any thoughts on strava?
JB
I'm quite good at not paying much attention to it - everything is auto-uploaded (although I do hide something if it gives away my lines!) - It's good to see what holidays people are on if nothing else!
I get a bit more involved with logging training on Attackpoint.
I have recently deactivated my Facebook account however.
Ah, the joys of being an old fart who hasn't a clue about all this modern ICT, and can just go out running for the sheer joy of it, without anyone else knowing where I am going (apart from the picnicking couple who I nearly stepped on today while I was paying attention to where I was putting my feet among the rocks on Buck Hill).
Handy for burglars then!Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
I've had a bit of a love hate relationship with it. I used to get quite hung up stats and think I probably overdid it on occasion trying to beat various segment records etc. Had a break from it and now using it again but probably due to my increasing years, don't take much notice of the stats anymore. I just use it for keeping a record of cycle rides and runs etc. and seeing what friends are up to.
The flybys are great for fell races though - seeing everyone else's lines and the chaos that can ensue when the clag comes down - great fun!
No joke - my boss had his bike nicked from home and the police suspected it was a Strava stalker.Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffB
If you have a public account you should definitely enable all the privacy settings.
turning off notifications (for any social media, messages and emails, not just strava) is a healthy thing to do generally.
but if you still get sucked into an un-healthy relationship with it then yes, why not go cold turkey.
if you upload to Garmin you'll have all your stats there anyway without the social networking side of it.
If I'm on holiday then I don't upload activities until I get back home. It's also worth setting up privacy zones around home and work. I also list my bikes as "road bike", "commuter", etc. rather than "Top of the range superduper" or "This is worth nicking".
The only notifications I get are "Your KOM was taken by ..." <sigh>
Like the OP I got a little obsessed with it early on but once I realised that the only person I was competing with was the one I saw in the mirror each morning I chilled out a bit. It's mainly for recording stuff now. But if you want geekery then check out Veloviewer!:rolleyes: All the data about your rides you never knew existed.
I love Stava! I enjoy the stats side and seeing how I'm doing. If on holiday I dont upload it till I get home. Bit of a stat nerd but I dont hurt anyone and I do it for me. I rarely get Queen of the Mountain but it's great when I get in the top 10. I never go out and target a segment as I can never remember what time I'm after when running anyway.
As for the flyby's on races they are so funny! "Bloody hell, where is he going?" or mmmmm that's a pretty good line!" Love it. It's just a bit of fun for me. Although on the Vuelta tonight there was a chap where a Strava segment was seen by a Team manager and he got offered a position as a professional bike rider . Life changed :-)
If you enjoy Strava, then carry on. If you dont then fine but dont stamp on the fun of those that do :-)
I also like Strava. It's a good way of keeping in touch with running/cycling friends who you don't see often. The flybys is great (though a wee bit stalkerish!) and have actually made a couple of good friends in other parts of the country by following them on Strava after bumping into them on runs whilst on holiday.
I don't like the way it rounds down though! If you run 9.99 miles it tells you it was 9.9, not 10! (and yes, I'm a bit OCD!)
run a bit further.Quote:
Originally Posted by stumpy
But... But... If it isn't on Strava, did it happen?! 😉
I was running with another bloke on a pennine club run one evening and I asked him if he was on strava, he quite disparagingly said something like "I prefer a purest form or running". That left me wondering how my run with him on that beautful night on Kinder was not "pure" becasue I had a watch on my wrist that is pretty much ignored until I get home.
mmm.... Strava angst. That horrible feeling when you look at your watch to check your time and realise you've forgotten to press the record button.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trails&Tribulations
or forgot to re-start it after pausing it to have a wee.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
I got my wee segment down to 23 seconds. 9th overall.Quote:
Originally Posted by benshep
I did a race once only to find at the end I had paused my watch after 7 seconds so couldn't put it on strava. Good job I could see the results online or there would have been no point doing it!
Where I find it great is getting ideas for routes from looking at other runs. I had a few hours running the high peak marathon route back in the summer after using a firefox plugin that allowed me to download a very good gpx plot from strava. Put that on my Garmin eTrex and used that as a reference for a great day out. Done similar things with the Kinder Dozen, Kinder Killer and numerous other long day outs.
I regularly do similar using memory map had some marvelous long days out on routes of my own making over terrain that I have some knowledge of from my interpretation of the map when plotting the route before downloading the GPX to gps for back up if I have any doubts with my memory and or map reading immensely satisfying.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPatrickBarry
Not really sure what strava is good for really.
Given that it was originally a road cycling based virtual competition app/website it's probably best to view it in that light. Your mate runs/cycles segment x in a particular time so you can head out when you want and try and beat him:rolleyes: My main use now is to log how much I've done. I'll do some of the monthly challenges and use them as a excuse to get out and do stuff - I'm currently being completely whupped by my wife on this month's climbing challenge though!Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnK
That's what I end up doing - bit sad to run past my own back gate for an extra bit just to satisfy my own Strava OCDness though :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by benshep
I used to record my runs.
Date, miles, time, a brief summary of the run.
Strava does that for me.
I was without strava for a couple of months recently and I started to question my own existence!
Isn't it just Facebook for runners? :pQuote:
Originally Posted by JohnK
Cold turkey is going well. I've even started to get into the Garmin stats which have been overlooked in the past. Lots more detail. I'm personally much happier without it. I agree it probably does motivate some people but if you're training for specific races then that should be motivation enough.
For proper training purposes, the Garmin/Sunnto data is better, no doubt. Strava's definitely more of a social thing for me than a training tool, though the 'matched runs' feature is useful (I'm not sure where to find that in Movescount, if it even exists).
It is. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be the same for rides unless I'm missing something?Quote:
Originally Posted by Trails&Tribulations
Can't help you there, I'm afraid; I'm a luddite, and consider bicycles to be unnatural devil machines. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteS
Just wait until you see these horseless carriages that are all the rage:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Trails&Tribulations
I've been working down Cambridge way for quite a bit of late, and Strava segments (and to a lesser extent their heat maps) - alongside perusing openstreetmap/OS maps on bing - have helped me scout out better places to run, 'hills' to rep, loops to do a session on etc.
Hey ba-ba, when I had to work down in Cambridge "ermmm..." years ago, Cambridge and Coleridge harriers were very friendly and welcoming to run with. Their Thursday night group knew some sneaky routes over fields etc I would never have found by myself (of course that was before Strava!). Ah I recall doing efforts on the bridge over the motorway because it was an incline!Quote:
Originally Posted by ba-ba
Another fun thing is to run from Cambridge to Ely along the Cam all the way then get the train back (you could probably run back!).
Burn the witch!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by bob
My best strava performances, are when I forget to press the stop button, before a drive home.
But Strava knows!Quote:
Originally Posted by sbrt
And tells you it knows..that there's not way you ran as fast as a car.
I've seen people run uphill quicker than my daughters car ;-) If it's a particularly steep hill anyone in the back would have to get out and walk up!Quote:
Originally Posted by luverlyjuberly
I wake in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.
The alarm clock goes off and I can't wake up.
Life is a bummer.
M606 officially the slowest motorway in the country.
I now travel it twice a day ��