Tag: strava

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I’m taking off my boot and streaking!

Have you ever participated in a run streak? I haven’t, but that is changing from tomorrow. Along with my wife, Liz, a load of my running friends, and of course my BibRave family, I will be running at least one mile every day in May!

We want YOU to join us! All you need to do is log your run (or walk) on Strava and join the BibRave Run Club Strava group. Get YOUR friends involved too for some local support! I know it’s generating quite a bit of excitement among my running buddies.

I’m soooo looking forward to it to be honest, and a little nervous at the same time. I just got out of my aircast boot at the weekend. I had to wear it for 30 days to allow my peroneal tendon to heal after injuring it while training.

I’ll be taking it real easy starting out, to ensure I don’t end up back in the boot. My eventual aim is to get back to my regular 22-25 miles a week.

The most consecutive days I’ve ran without a break is around 8-9, so this will definitely be a challenge, but it couldn’t have come along at a better time.

So, are you in? If you post your runs to Instagram or Twitter also, you can use the tags #StravaRun and #BibChat.

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Tech: Convert Your Strava or GPX routes to Google Street View Hyperlapses

I came across a website that can covert your GPS running data into Google Street View Hyperlapses. I exported a GPX file from my morning run and produced the video above.

The website currently doesn’t support downloading your finished hyperlapse, so I had to perform the following steps to achieve this.

  1. Uploaded my GPX to gpxhyperlapse.com and adjusted the settings until satisfied with the output speed and frames.
  2. Add the Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder extension to Chrome.
  3. Started screen recording and downloaded the finished video. It was in .webm format which I’d never heard of.
  4. Used an online video editor to crop the video to the frame size (removing rest of browser window, etc.).
  5. Converted to mp4, and uploaded to YouTube.

In other words, quite an effort really, but interesting all the same.

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My Running Apps

There’s so many good apps out there for running these days, and every runner has their favorite. These are the apps I use on an almost daily basis.

Garmin Connect

If I’m running, my Garmin Forerunner watch is recording it. Garmin Connect is the app that my watch syncs with to upload my run data. You can use Connect on your phone, or the slightly more featured web version.

Connect gives me the most details about my run, and various reports to help me track progress over the month, year, and so on. It also tracks my steps, weight, and sleep patterns.

The social networking side of Garmin Connect seems to be a bit of an after-thought though, which is the why I sync my runs with a couple of other applications.

Strava

I’m quite new to Strava, but I love it. It has, by far, the best social networking features. It’s easy to follow friends on there and comment on their activities.

I like how Strava will group runners together who ran with you, on your feed. It also analyses your route and lets you know if you’ve ran it faster or slower than before.

While Garmin has an implementation of Segments, it feels like Strava has done a better job of this and is probably one of the Strava’s greatest strengths. You are able to see how you compare to the rest of the Strava universe on certain sections of your routes – for example – I was able to tell I was the only Strava user to have attempted those hills in Boone this year!

Nike+ Run Club

My first love. The Nike+ Run App was the first app I used when I began running. I have a lot of connections on there so I don’t want to give it up just yet.

Nike have a great online running community as well, and their app developers provide the best and fastest support in my experience.

They also have cool sharing options complete with stickers, to post your runs to Nike itself, or facebook, Instagram, etc.

So, I have my Garmin Connect app automatically sync my runs to both Nike+ and Strava and everything seems to work seamlessly together without issue.

 

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Runner Safety: Setting up Privacy Locations in Strava and Garmin Connect

If you’re a Strava and/or Garmin Connect user, you may like to share your route information with friends & family. However, it’s possible that this information is also seen by complete strangers.

As most of my routes will begin and end at my home, I was happy to see that Strava supported Privacy locations, where you can mask an area of your route maps automatically — e.g. your home or office.

Just last week, Garmin also implemented the feature. I have now set this up on Strava and Garmin Connect. Check out the screenshots below on how to set this up under your own profiles. I couldn’t see a way of doing this via the phone apps, so for both platforms I had to use the desktop websites.

Strava

Garmin Connect