Any one else wish they never joined Strava?

I just use it as a logging website. I haven't gotten burnt out so far.

+1 - It's pretty stressful and I've questioned why I used it at times.

If you are part of clubs or challenges, there are always people trying to beat you on the leaderboards.

you're average pace for the week is displayed-- do an easy run and it goes up.

if you decide to do a loop you commonly do at an easy pace it gives you a sad graph showing you're going slower than average

If you do a race and it doesn't go well, everyone gets to see it.

Going private is a great idea. you can invite a couple of running buddies who you know well and keep the rest out. Or you can get rid of it entirely.

Means you are slow and not good. If you're good and run fast, Strava is awesome. I love Strava. Pound the crap out of the newbie nerds, look specifically for homers setting up a segment as some BS loop around their house and then destroying it, and waiting until late Sunday to do my runs so I can bump people out of the Top 3 on the club boards.

Glad Im not alone. Sometimes I feel like it's a race that never ends. I get that it's supposed to be fun and friendly. However, when people start eyeballing every run you do or try to critique, or just have to comment about it, it becomes taxing. I have a few good friends on Strava, but sometimes I feel like it's becoming a competition on any run that gets uploaded. Another thing is I feel like I have too much info put out, people all know my training paces and it kills the vibebon race day when we're all in the same race. The more I think about it the more I feel like leaving it. Sometimes even during workouts I feel like I have to push harder because I know I have others staring at it including my HR and pace relation.

I can honestly say that I've never felt the slightest bit of pressure from Strava. The only runs that really matter are races, and those results are published for all the world to see anyway. Follow some pros and you'll see plenty of easy jogging, "I feel awful today" titles for runs, aborted interval workouts, etc.

I think it's much worse for cyclists, because so many cyclists (including before Strava was around) don't really race, so their training rides are actually their competition.

I can see if you're not racing or don't have higher goals in mind then maybe, yeah, I could see how Strava can be a bit stressful. IF you let it. Otherwise, I think it's a great tool for counting mileage and see your improvement. Honestly I didn't even know half the features you guys mentioned existed until now. Don't be a Strava hero.

my garmin watch automatically uploads to strava but Ibe never done anything else with it. I think I'll avoid it. It seems like a good way to motivate you to run your easy runs too hard and get injured

Stravajo Warrior wrote:

Awesome handle.

Stravajo Warrior wrote:

IF you let it. .

Exactly, it's not Strava that's the problem, it's you. Not trying to be a d/ck, but if you can't handle the stress, yes, dump it. But if you use it in the right way I think it can be very beneficial. I'm not super into it, but enjoy some of the social aspects for sure.

Strava remorse wrote:

Glad Im not alone. Sometimes I feel like it's a race that never ends. I get that it's supposed to be fun and friendly. However, when people start eyeballing every run you do or try to critique, or just have to comment about it, it becomes taxing. I have a few good friends on Strava, but sometimes I feel like it's becoming a competition on any run that gets uploaded. Another thing is I feel like I have too much info put out, people all know my training paces and it kills the vibebon race day when we're all in the same race. The more I think about it the more I feel like leaving it. Sometimes even during workouts I feel like I have to push harder because I know I have others staring at it including my HR and pace relation.

Honestly, anybody who feels this way is guilty of jealously comparing oneself with others - the same competitive instinct that he or she claims to despise. Just do what you want to do for fun, and race against yourself.

"The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride f***ing with you. F*** pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps."

I like strava and enjoy keeping up with my runs that way. I just don't know anybody that uses the app so looking at the three followers I have bums me a little

I also just use it as a training log.

Of course, Strava is great if you believe in racing all your workouts.

I sometimes chuckle at the idea of a "PR" in a workout.

I do a lot of easy pace miles and I also keep my Garmin running during recoveries in workouts, because I want to time the recovery. I don't care how it looks in Strava. I only care how it looks on race day.

balsam2 wrote:

If you are part of clubs or challenges,

Just keep doing challenges. Eventually all of your club mates will kick you out for clogging their feed.

It makes you want to race the warmup. No good.

It doesn't bother me, but I am old and slow now.

One thing Strava does do is make me keep up on my solo midweek runs, because if I sleep in instead of hit the pavement, my wife, my friends, and even my 75 year-old mom will TRASH me for being lazy. I think that Strava might be the best thing that ever happened to my running life post school.

gabrielshorn wrote:

I like strava and enjoy keeping up with my runs that way. I just don't know anybody that uses the app so looking at the three followers I have bums me a little

just join the LRC Strava group

I've been logging on Strava for a couple of years now and I've honestly never thought of it as a competition. Runners compete in races. It's fun to look at how others are training and talk about running, something I never do IRL.

I've used both and I far prefer logging on Running2Win to Strava.