How to use Strava in the right ways

Strava has changed the game of the running world!

Pre-Strava times we used logbooks to document our weekly training. Those were the days.

But thank you Strava for bringing so much convenience into our lives and saving us so much time. It’s also given us easy access to clean data to be able to look back on certain training runs.

Here are some of the things that I find gets you the most use out of Strava:

It’s highly encouraging to see the work that some other athletes are putting in.

Often, I find that following runners who are stronger than you can be a great motivating factor. Seeing them show up, day in and day out, and the work that goes into it, often makes your training seem more doable. We live in a day and age where elite runners are sharing more and more of their training. In previous years, this was often kept as a secret and elite runners didn’t disclose a lot of their training. Nowadays, you’ll find lots of professional runners on Strava, showcasing all their training. After seeing the work they put into it and how hard they train, it then makes sense when you see them smashing it in a race. You often get the new and improved session ideas that you can incorporate into your own training.

If you’re following an athlete who is running at a desired level you’d like to get to, then you can see just what the training is that goes into it. This doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily run the same time but it just gives you a good indicator of what sort of training it takes to get there.

In running, there is always more to learn, no matter what level of athlete you are. Even Kipchoge himself is constantly learning. The more you learn in the sport, the smarter you can train and more productive you can become, utilising your training time in a much better way that will yield better results. As a coach, I try and give as many training tips and bits of advice to fellow athletes as I can on my Strava. I often get asked a lot of questions and get back to as many as possible. It's a perfect platform where you can showcase training and then talk through why you did things in a certain way.

As mentioned previously, pre-Strava times, we didn’t have these luxuries and had to keep a training book which we physically wrote in daily. Strava basically syncs with any smart watch or fitness tracker, or you can even track your run directly through the Strava app. showcasing all your activities and runs. It gives you clear, concise access to your data, such as what your weekly mileage, monthly or annual mileage is. It’s super useful when you want to gauge how many kilometres you’re currently doing, compared to previous times when you were at your best. I also love the fact that it’s simple and quick to go back to times when you were at your fittest and see what you were doing.

A useful tool if you’re travelling on holiday or in a location where you haven’t run before. Strava analyses the most commonly run routes. It’s also really user friendly and easy to create your own routes according to the distance you’re looking to run. Strava summarises it quite nicely by giving you the elevation and showing you an overview of your route map prior to your run. It’s then quite simple to sync this to your fitness tracker or smart watch if you have that feature. You then have a much better planned route than if you were to just run out the door clueless. Wow - what did people do back in the day?

As runners we all have a competitive side to us. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the crown for a segment (fastest in that specific segment), but if another runner is faster than you for that segment, you get a notification saying someone has stolen your crown - one of the worst emails for me to receive. It’s quite simple - there’s only one way to get it back. I once switched segment leads with another runner about 10 times. The final time, I put on my racing shoes and took that segment even more seriously than a race and gave it an absolute full send at 5AM in the morning. I probably went quicker during that segment than I had in the race before. It was totally worth it as that was the last time that segment ever switched hands. This brings out that good competitive side in all of us. You can also become the local legend if you’ve run a specific segment the most number of times. Once again, if another runner does the segment more than you, then you get notified and I am no longer the local legend. Best you put your shoes on and reclaim the title back the next day.

It allows you to prepare for a race much better than before. Looking at the route gives you an accurate overview of what the course map looks like and where the hills are, allowing you to plan for your race better than before and to come up with a strategy you feel would be best for that specific race. There are heaps more benefits I could go into it but in summary, Strava has definitely allowed myself and others to level up training, remain motivated and hold each other more accountable.

You know how the saying goes: ‘If it’s not on Strava, it doesn’t count.’

Hope you’re getting those Kudos!