As a recent ‘convert’ to Strava I have to say how impressed I am with it. I wasn’t sure at first, I mean, I am a long time fan of TrailrunnerX, and have been using it to log runs since 2008, but a month or so in and I have to say I like it.

One thing I like about Strava is how it makes (almost) every effort look fantastic. It always finds a way to make achievements look great (possibly because they are?), elevation profiles look like near vertical assents were tackled, and even if you don’t feature in an overall ranking, best efforts get flagged in a way that really reinforces that every activity was a great effort.

I like this, and the social side of things is really good too. Being able to connect to runners across the country / world, to share their progress, the highs and in some cases the lows as well is helping me to build a really good virtual support group for my running.

I have not used Strava via an app, and I have noticed some odd GPS tracks and segment results wen running with people who do use it this way – I am happy to run with my trusty Garmin 410 and import the data.

This month I signed up to a couple of Strava challenges, “Find Your Way” where I am currently ranked 758th out of 17000+ participants (see, I told you it can make you look good) and the “10K Challenge”

In my eagerness to run a good 10K I hadn’t clocked that the start date wasn’t when I signed up to the challenge, oh well, my all time PB of 42:26 (average pace 6:50 for whole run) will be a hard one to beat. It was a flat course along Bournemouth Sea Front…

Still, now the challenge has officially started, I need to see what I can do, and I will be leased with a 43 minute time. Who knows though, if I can find the right course, I might be able to crack 40 minutes!

Wish me luck!