Strava: My Favorite Running App

When trying to gradually increase your pace and distance, I find it very helpful to use some form of tracker. Through a tracker, you can document your exact improvements or perhaps what specific areas need work. When I first started to run, I never knew what my exact paces or distances covered were, which made it somewhat difficult to progress. Although I do think it’s important to run by feel, sometimes you need to know exact details in order to push yourself further or faster on your harder days. I’ve found that documenting my work is especially useful when I’m training for a race and trying to hit a certain mileage, time, elevation, or pace goal. A tracker can be used for much more than dictating your weekly mileage however! I've found them very helpful in indicating how I felt both mentally and physically- before, during, and after a run. If I notice that my legs always feel tight during a tempo run, well then maybe I should spend more time warming up beforehand. If my legs always cramp up in the middle of a long run, maybe I need to focus on being more diligent in taking in fluids. If I feel completely winded after twenty minutes of every hilly run, maybe I need to focus on pacing myself during the beginning miles… I think you get the idea. By documenting how I feel on a daily basis, I’m able to keep track of my bodies reaction to certain things, and how to adjust various techniques to become more effective in reaching my goals.

There are many different ways to keep track of your running (whether that be in a notebook, spreadsheet, or online tracker), so I'm confident you’ll be sure to find something that fits your style. Personally, I find the free app called Strava (in conjunction with my Garmin Forerunner 235 watch) to be the most effective and easy to use method. I honestly don’t know how I ever ran without it!

Once I complete my run, my Garmin automatically syncs to Strava and uploads the distance covered with a breakdown of each split (time per mile & elevation gain) as shown below.

I’m not gonna lie, I'm slightly obsessed with reviewing my runs and seeing where I could have pushed harder or in ways I can work to keep a more consistent pace.

Strava streamlines all your activities in one easy to access place, which then comes in very handy when you want to review the progress you’ve made. You can display your mileage in a broad overview as shown below.

Or, if you want to break it down into individual runs, you can . This specific layout can be helpful when I want to review the variety of runs I've done in the past couple days.

You can edit the title of your run to indicate what type of workout you did that day. In the picture below, you can see this was a workout that incorporated flat easy running and uphill speed walking. You can also add a description as to how you felt that day. I always think I'll remember the specifics of how my body held up on a workout, but fast forward two days later, and I can barely remember what type of run I did- let alone how I felt. At the end of the week I like to review my activities to see how I felt overall, and if I seem to be improving.

Another interesting feature Strava includes, is your ability to see how a specific run compares to others who've run the same route. I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again...I don't believe you should be running to compare your abilities to others, but with that being said, this can be a fun and useful tool to push it a little harder somedays!

Strava has also added the ability to follow others in their fitness journeys- kinda like facebook for athletes. It's a really fun way to stay up to date with your friend's training, as well as maybe learn a few new routes!

Strava has both a free and premium version for $7.99 per month. To be completely honest, the free version has everything I need to keep a detailed training log, but the premium version does have added benefits like Heart Rate & Pace Zone Analysis. Premium also lets you list three people to your "favorites" which allows them to have access to your current location- definitely a valuable feature if you run a lot on trails.

There are many other trackers available, but I've found Strava to be very user friendly and enjoyable to use! The last thing I want to do after a workout, is sit down and type an extensive report on how things went, so this is quick yet extremely detailed way to document my training. I've been using Strava for three years now, have found it to be a great contributor to my running improvements!