Where else does an endurance athlete spend their time scrolling but Strava? Strava is a social media app where athletes can record and post runs, bikes, swims and 30 other types of activities. Branded on strava.com as “the leading platform for movement,” Strava serves over 100 million athletes.
Different from many existing fitness apps, Strava was built for high-level athletes. “We wanted something that was aimed at the top third of athletes as opposed to the bottom third,” co-founder Michael Horvath told cyclingtips.com. Regardless of performance level, the tracking technology of Strava is most useful to committed athletes who train consistently and are tracking activity to see improvement.
Senior Liam Maurillo finds a practical use in Strava. He said, “Some of their features can be really useful, like tracking mileage on a pair of shoes.”
The app is better known for its other features though. Strava gained significant traction during the pandemic because people were looking for a community. It is now one of the most widely known fitness apps. The app saw a 38 percent increase in activities from 2020 to 2021, according to finance.yahoo.com.
Cross country coach Christopher Tafelski said, “One of the really important parts of training is making sure you are consistent in the way that you do it and when you make progressions that [they] not be too drastic.” Although Tafelski said keeping track of his runners’ training is his “responsibility as a coach,” he sees Strava as a “logical extension” of those principles.
On Strava, runs can be posted publicly, and users can give “kudos” (likes) and comments. The post can include various details about the run, including the route, pace, distance and runner’s heart rate.
Varsity runner Bella Hill said, “It can be friendly… but it’s definitely a competitive environment sometimes.” She frequently receives kind comments from friends, but also explained that there can be “beef” between teams, citing an incident where a member of the Hunterdon Central team posted a negative message about Westfield.
Varsity runner Avery Keith also uses Strava to see what other teams post. He said, “A bunch of other kids on the team and I tend to look at other kids’ workouts to see how fit they are and how we might stack up against them.” Keith said looking at other runners’ Strava results doesn’t affect how he trains, but it does affect how he views his training.
Tafelski knows his athletes are “highly motivated” and will always wonder if they are doing everything possible to succeed. However, he said, “like any social media, the trap lies in comparison.” The things that people see aren’t “necessarily the most important things… [teams post] this really amazing body of work and then race day comes and where is it?”
Hill added, “It’s definitely an ego thing. You want people to see what you’re doing.”
Although Tafelski knows other coaches who have struggled with Strava, he doesn’t believe it undermines his coaching. He believes that when he is open with his athletes and explains why they are doing what they are, a lot of these issues can be resolved, and then athletes can really take advantage of the technology.
