Looking at my 'stats' on Strava I can see that I am currently averaging 48 mile per week. I am reasonably pleased with this, especially as I effectively lost another 4 weeks of training earlier in the year. However the 11 weeks since have been fairly consistent and last week I reached 96,000 miles in my quest to run 100000 miles prior to my 65th birthday
I was late to take up using Strava. One of the reasons being vanity. I know I can run nowhere near the modest standard I used to be able to and didn't really want to share that with others. I succumbed to the online process at the request of my sister who asked me to monitor her training when we were working towards the Endure 24.
Strava can be useful and like all social media mildly addictive. It can be a positive force, from an accurate recording system to a motivating tool through comparisons against your own previous efforts and against those of your peers. It can also hold you to account.
But there is also a down side to Strava, or indeed any such social media platform. It's use can Entice you to tweak your intended training plan as you know other people will be looking at what you are doing. These changes could be small, such as running a little faster than planned because you don't want to look slow online.
Numerous changes like these can add up, so eventually your training / behaviour is modified to be more accepted and 'normal' with the activities and conduct of others online. Following this thought process through, then eventually the freedom to run and make our own judgements on the training we do in respect to how our bodies feel and our own individual needs and goals can be stifled by a move to conformity.
In the 70's French philosopher Michael Foucault proposed that a society of discipline has evolved and that disciplinary process have been created to promote docility and a lack of human individuality in society. People are standardised and individual complexity is dampened and freedom lost in favour of conformity / acceptance.
I shall continue to use Strava but with care
I was late to take up using Strava. One of the reasons being vanity. I know I can run nowhere near the modest standard I used to be able to and didn't really want to share that with others. I succumbed to the online process at the request of my sister who asked me to monitor her training when we were working towards the Endure 24.
Strava can be useful and like all social media mildly addictive. It can be a positive force, from an accurate recording system to a motivating tool through comparisons against your own previous efforts and against those of your peers. It can also hold you to account.
But there is also a down side to Strava, or indeed any such social media platform. It's use can Entice you to tweak your intended training plan as you know other people will be looking at what you are doing. These changes could be small, such as running a little faster than planned because you don't want to look slow online.
Numerous changes like these can add up, so eventually your training / behaviour is modified to be more accepted and 'normal' with the activities and conduct of others online. Following this thought process through, then eventually the freedom to run and make our own judgements on the training we do in respect to how our bodies feel and our own individual needs and goals can be stifled by a move to conformity.
In the 70's French philosopher Michael Foucault proposed that a society of discipline has evolved and that disciplinary process have been created to promote docility and a lack of human individuality in society. People are standardised and individual complexity is dampened and freedom lost in favour of conformity / acceptance.
I shall continue to use Strava but with care
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