I signed up for Strava this year, but after a few months, I deleted the account. It just didn't suit me. There are a few reasons why:
1. You can't add miles to shoes, so if you have existing miles before you start logging them in Strava, the total is all wrong. Annoying. I realize that this is a problem that would go away over time, as I got new shoes, but it bothered me immensely.
2. You have to put a run duration. I often run without a watch, so I'm left guessing this. I only use my Garmin two or three times a week.
3. Unless you go premium, you can only see garmin mile splits, not lap splits.
4. I never used the segments, challenges, etc. that Strava is known for.
I'm now using Final Surge instead. By linking it to Garmin Connect, I now automatically upload workouts to Final Surge, and much like Strava, can edit them later. But Final Surge has much more detailed data fields available, and since it's Garmin Connect data, it shows lap splits, too. When you manually add a run, a time isn't required, and yes, you can also manually add miles to shoes. Furthermore, since it's a coaching app, I can share my workout data with our running group coach...I mean, if we ever start doing that. So far, I like it, it's easy to use, and it avoids all my little pet peeves.
How about you? Strava? Spreadsheet? Workout journal?
I always add my miles to shoes in the comments section. I privatized my strava so I primarily use it for personally tracking training and shoe mileage. I just set the "notify me when the shoes have XXX mileage" to a lower number if the shoes already have pre-strava miles on them.
ReplyDeleteEveryone I know who has a coach uses Final Surge or Training Peaks just because they show more information that would help the coach. For example my track workouts, the mile splits are never really accurate because sometimes one "mile" has more recovery jog than the next one, etc. But I do have the free strava and I guess I get what I pay for. I try to manually track the things it doesn't, though.
I mostly privatized mine because I was tired of armchair coaching advice from others... LOL.
I'm a Strava addict. I pay $6 a month for the premium subscription. And it lets me see my lap splits, and they recently upgraded their mobile platform so I can view my workouts on my phone. I love following other runners that are working hard. It's great motivation. I'm interested in Final surge though.
ReplyDeleteI love strava. I ride with a lot of way faster people, and I always feel slow since I don't know how long they've been waiting for me. Strava gives me a more objective view, showing how much slower or faster I am on segments than before.
ReplyDeleteI've been a faithful RunningAhead user for nearly 10 years now. It's a free tool and I love all the charts and graphs it can produce. I'm on Strava mainly to see what other people do and share my workouts with the running community. I don't use it as a training lob.
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