The Case For and Against Strava

Strava has burst onto the running scene over the last 5-10 years and has served as a form of social media for us running nerds. I think it has brought a lot of great things, but also carries some major pitfalls for runners as it becomes more and more popular. I wanted to outline what I think some positives, and negatives are for everyone to ponder and think about a bit. Full disclosure, I use Strava basically every day (here) and have used it for many years off and on.

The case FOR Strava

Strava is great at what it is meant for. I think the biggest strength of the platform is the sense of community it creates. It is interesting, and thought provoking to see what your friends are doing for training and their take on their runs. Personally, I probably share more on Strava than any other platform, good or bad. When you post runs every day, it gives you the opportunity to share when things are going well, but more importantly, when things aren’t going well. This is an issue in all of society, but it’s very clear in running that most people only share when things are all good and dandy. Things aren’t always good and easy in running, and I think sharing those stories helps everyone who runs.

Segment record boards are another great (to a point) thing Strava provides. They provide fun, competitive opportunities for people to engage their competition mind who may not get to flex that part of their brain very often. They also play a perfect host to organized and unorganized races. Currently, “Chase the Throne” is being run by Trials of Miles and hosted by Mill City Running in the Twin Cities and is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in running recently. Its an elimination bracket based on head to head matchups on certain Strava segments…pretty sick.

I also think that Strava provides space for athletes to reflect on their training. By writing a title and caption for a run, an athlete must go inwards on how they felt, what they liked, what they thrive on, and more. I think this helps with taking ownership of one’s training which is absolutely crucial for long term success in this sport. Ownership doesn’t necessarily mean you are writing your own training (it could), but it means you are taking responsibility for reflecting and considering what you are doing. I could, and likely will, write an entire blog on ownership so stay tuned for more on this.

The case AGAINST Strava

Strava does a lot of things very well, but as with most things in life, there’s two sides to any coin. While it’s cool to see your mileage totals, pace on different segments, and to see what others are doing, there’s a balance in which users need to strike. The first major drawback of Strava in my mind is that it fuels our obsession with numbers and outcomes. In the running world, it’s so easy to get way to into the numbers of training and racing. It is easy to only consider your PR’s, how many miles you’ve run during a week, and what your average pace was on your easy runs, or workouts of the week. While some of this is likely necessary, it often comes at the expense of the art of training and racing. The art relies on feel, effort, and listening to your body. In a race situation, the feel of the effort and what is going on around you is far more important than what pace you ran your 6x800 in last week. While you still need to run said 6x800 workout, focusing on the numbers takes away from a focus on the effort. One of my teammates (Josh Yeager) put it eloquently this past weekend after my race; “Chasing times is stressful.” Focusing on the art of training and racing creates athletes with autonomy and fosters more joy in the process in my experiences. An athlete who is enjoying the process, listening to their body (which doesn’t mean not pushing), and is in touch with the efforts of the training is an athlete who is ready for sustainable success.

The other thing we need to be careful of on Strava is the comparison complex. Because of Strava we are easily able to see exactly what every person is doing for training day in and day out. These are often our competitors, and this can turn into a predicament. First, when you are constantly aware of what your competitors are doing, you undoubtedly begin to question what you are doing yourself. This again, can put perspectives on the wrong thing. Instead of worrying about what you are doing is the best thing for yourself to be doing, you constantly have it in the back of your mind what these other athletes are doing. Secondly, generally what sticks out in your mind are the really impressive workouts you see others doing. It’s easy to forget about an underwhelming workout you saw someone else do, but it’s easy to remember a super impressive workout they did. This pushes people into thinking that everyone else is consistently on fire and doing crazy stuff, which worsens any inevitable setbacks you might have yourself. Keeping the focus on your process and believing in yourself and the work you’ve done is of utmost importance, but this is threatened by Strava.

I’m not here to tell you whether to use Strava or not, but I think it’s important to be aware of the good and the bad so you can use it, or not use, in a way that is beneficial to you. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and please don’t hesitate to let me know what you think!