can someone explain Strava to me?

[PaDisneyCouple]

I use a Garmin watch and have the Garmin app on my phone. The stats provided on the app are sufficient for me and I rarely go into my account on the PC.

So what is Strava? How does it work and what benefits does it offer?

Thank you,
Mrs. PADC

 

[rteetz]

I use a Garmin watch and have the Garmin app on my phone. The stats provided on the app are sufficient for me and I rarely go into my account on the PC.

So what is Strava? How does it work and what benefits does it offer?

Thank you,
Mrs. PADC

Strava is just another running app. You can track runs and be part of running groups. The Dis has a group.

 

[FFigawi]

I use a Garmin watch and have the Garmin app on my phone. The stats provided on the app are sufficient for me and I rarely go into my account on the PC.

So what is Strava? How does it work and what benefits does it offer?

Thank you,
Mrs. PADC

 

[McNs]

Strava is synced to my Garmin account so all runs that I upload to Connect also go to Strava.

Apart from a better way to show your run information, the best but I find with Strava is the social aspect. I don’t social media usually (no FB, Twitter is used fir info) but I really enjoy seeing what fellow runners are doing and giving kudos. I’m part of The Dis group on Strava so can see runs posted by other group members. It’s funny sometimes figuring out who is who between the boards and the group (not everyone in the group posts here). I really like Disney race weekends to see who is there and how they have done.

 

[kleph]

welp, i guess i'll give it a whirl as well.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Thanks for all of your answers!
Can you use a screen name or must you use your real name?
Can I keep my profile private? Or just allow certain people, like Mr. PADC and my sister for example? (I know this would defeat the purpose of the social media aspect).
Can I choose when I want to sync my Garmin to Strava, or is it an all or nothing setting?
It sounds like Strava can be used to track runs without the use of Garmin. Is this correct?
Thanks!

 

[kleph]

Thanks for all of your answers!
Can you use a screen name or must you use your real name?
Can I keep my profile private? Or just allow certain people, like Mr. PADC and my sister for example? (I know this would defeat the purpose of the social media aspect).
Can I choose when I want to sync my Garmin to Strava, or is it an all or nothing setting?
It sounds like Strava can be used to track runs without the use of Garmin. Is this correct?
Thanks!

from my poking around today i may be able to answer a few of these.

• i didn't see anything requiring you to use your real name in the profile
• there is a privacy setting which limits what other folks can see regarding your information. it looks like it has an opt-in function where you have to approve people who can see details of your profile. i believe you can also limit which workouts are viewable to others as well.
• you can set strava up to automatically update via the garmin app. you can also manually upload your workouts if you so choose. that way you could select them individually (this is also how you have to populate your older runs into the system).
• there is a strava app you can put on your phone that i assume can track your runs directly but i don't know anything about it.

obviously, other folks who have used it more might be able to provide better detail. perhaps make a comment in the running thread with this question and link back to here.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Can you use a screen name or must you use your real name?

Yes, you can use a screen name.

Can I keep my profile private? Or just allow certain people, like Mr. PADC and my sister for example? (I know this would defeat the purpose of the social media aspect).

Yes, you can make your profile private. You can choose who sees it on an individual basis. You can also block people from seeing your running route, or just a section of the route (like your home).

Can I choose when I want to sync my Garmin to Strava, or is it an all or nothing setting?

I use the auto-sync feature which does everything from Garmin to Strava. I think you can pick and choose, but I think the benefit is doing everything.

It sounds like Strava can be used to track runs without the use of Garmin. Is this correct?

Yes, but if you've got a Garmin, then the Garmin is superior to the phone based Strava app.

Other things I like about Strava -

-The interface is much more user friendly for the social aspect and seeing other's runs.
-The GAP (grade adjusted pace) feature is nice to see how your pace is accounted for on a hilly run vs flat run.
-Stravistix, which is a Google Chrome plug-in is a high end feature that tracks training load using HR data. It can be very beneficial, but only if all runs are uploaded to Strava.
-Strava's "Fly-by" feature which shows you and other racers on the course at the same time in a replay. So Disney races are fun because you can see where all your friends were on the course vs your location. It's neat to see how you cross paths on hairpins after that fact and whether you did or didn't see them.
-Strava tracks way more PRs than Garmin does.
-Strava has a lot of "segments" which people self-created around running routes and races that also act like "PRs".

That's just to name a few.

 

[kleph]

-Stravistix, which is a Google Chrome plug-in is a high end feature that tracks training load using HR data. It can be very beneficial, but only if all runs are uploaded to Strava.

now i need you to explain what the heck i'm looking at with this.

 

[DopeyBadger]

now i need you to explain what the heck i'm looking at with this.

TRIMP (link) and HRSS (link).

The short version of those is that TRIMP and HRSS are methods to calculate the stress (or training load) of a workout using duration and relative HR (based on someone's resting HR, max HR, and LT HR). Also, "Fitness" builds slower than "Fatigue" as both are measures of training load averages over timeframes of 6 weeks and 2 weeks. So it takes longer to build fitness, and fatigue can be erased at a faster rate.

 

[kleph]

i think i might start a new thread about Stravistix specifically and not mess up @PaDisneyCouple thread.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

i think i might start a new thread about Stravistix specifically and not mess up @PaDisneyCouple thread.

I do not think this would mess up my thread, in fact I welcome this topic. The more we can all learn the better.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I do not think this would mess up my thread, in fact I welcome this topic. The more we can all learn the better.

@kleph started it here (link).

 

[kleph]

I do not think this would mess up my thread, in fact I welcome this topic. The more we can all learn the better.

no worries. i'm also still on the learning curve for strava so i'm hoping for more info on that here.

 

[kleph]

OK. Strava question. Is there a way to look at average pace over time? Like a weekly or monthly average? Garmin does this but, I just learned recording a walk workout will pollute the data.

 

[DopeyBadger]

OK. Strava question. Is there a way to look at average pace over time? Like a weekly or monthly average? Garmin does this but, I just learned recording a walk workout will pollute the data.

No, I don't believe you can find average pace on Strava (maybe as a premium member, but I can't be sure).

But you can fix it on Garmin Connect. Go to the walking activity. If it's listed as "Running":



The click the down arrow and change it to "Uncategorized".

Then when you look at a summary of the last month using Reports -> Progress Summary -> And change "All Activities" to "Running" that activity will be removed from the summary. Then you'll be able to see duration and distance which you can use to calculate average pace if desired with only "running activities".

 

[kleph]

No, I don't believe you can find average pace on Strava (maybe as a premium member, but I can't be sure).

But you can fix it on Garmin Connect. Go to the walking activity. If it's listed as "Running":

View attachment 334498

The click the down arrow and change it to "Uncategorized".

Then when you look at a summary of the last month using Reports -> Progress Summary -> And change "All Activities" to "Running" that activity will be removed from the summary. Then you'll be able to see duration and distance which you can use to calculate average pace if desired with only "running activities".

This is the problem. Right now the Garmin report gives me an average pace reading but this new entry messes it up. Re-classifying the activity doesn't change it's appearance on this chart.



Now I am fully capable of building a spreadsheet by inputting the information myself and using it to create a customized graph.



But it seems a little ridiculous to have to go through all of that effort when I've got TWO fitness apps which have this data right there and ready to go.

 

[DopeyBadger]

This is the problem. Right now the Garmin report gives me an average pace reading but this new entry messes it up. Re-classifying the activity doesn't change it's appearance on this chart.

View attachment 334505

Now I am fully capable of building a spreadsheet by inputting the information myself and using it to create a customized graph.

View attachment 334503

But it seems a little ridiculous to have to go through all of that effort when I've got TWO fitness apps which have this data right there and ready to go.

You appear to be looking at Reports -> Running -> Average Pace

Instead, look at Reports -> Progress Summary (last option) -> and change "all activities" to "running". I did this as a test for myself on that run shown above, and it deleted it from the dataset in this output.

Should look like this:



Vs this one with the one run marked as "uncategorized".



Now only 932 activities, therefore the one run has been removed.

Then I just divide activity time by distance. That's how I calculate my monthly summary average pace that I post on the running thread.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Strava is just another running app. You can track runs and be part of running groups. The Dis has a group.

And I can always count on a few people from the DIS to give me kudos on at least one run per week if not more. I know @DopeyBadger is one of them, but the others use their real names so I may or may not know them here.

I signed up because I needed to use Strava to verify my miles for a virtual challenge I'm doing. I like the ability to see my month to date miles at a glance and so forth.

 

[DopeyBadger]

And I can always count on a few people from the DIS to give me kudos on at least one run per week if not more. I know @DopeyBadger is one of them, but the others use their real names so I may or may not know them here.

I signed up because I needed to use Strava to verify my miles for a virtual challenge I'm doing. I like the ability to see my month to date miles at a glance and so forth.

Check the "Posts" section of the Disboards Communtity group on Strava. A few members have made themselves known, but it was from 2 years ago when the group was started.