Strava - Useful training tool or simply another form of social media?

Testosterscone

Who nows we might get a few new posters out of this one

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Those that use it what benefits do you feel you get from it. Does it enhance your training or simply record it?

Hurrache

Good topic actually, I was only thinking of social media and running this morning when my facebook feed was full of people sharing articles such as "10 tips to improve your 10k time", "5 Superfoods for runners" and that usual type of nonsense.

Absolutely a useful training tool, and the social media aspect also adds to its usefulness. If you have friends or just people you know you race regularly against it's interesting to watch how they train and you can get that fun rivalry going on.

But even without a group of 'friends' it's good to monitor your own progress and training calendar. I find it enhances my training, I don't like to see big gaps in the calendar when I don't do anything so it's a good incentive to getting out there.

When your own a repeating training calendar, e.g. 1 week reps, 1 week tempo etc there's usefulness there in monitoring any improvements, or dis-improvements, over a period of time, with the former giving you that bit of extra confidence when you can visualise the pays offs of the work you're doing.

BeepBeep67

Testosterscone wrote: »

Who nows we might get a few new posters out of this one

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Those that use it what benefits do you feel you get from it. Does it enhance your training or simply record it?

I would say I get more benefit from analyzing other's training, than I do from mine.
Even with recent enhancements, it's a cycling app trying to adapt to running.
The social aspect is interesting and can be motivating.

The unawareness to privacy concerns by some users does baffle me at times.
- Women who always run the same route at the same time.
- A neighbour of mine who posted a treadmill session with a picture with 2 very expensive bikes hanging in his shed and his activities either side identifying where he lives!

Nuttzz

I use a chrome extension called StravistiX I find it gives excellent analytics, I dont think the paid starva plan is worth it.

Hurrache

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

The unawareness to privacy concerns by some users does baffle me at times.
- Women who always run the same route at the same time.
- A neighbour of mine who posted a treadmill session with a picture with 2 very expensive bikes hanging in his shed and his activities either side identifying where he lives!

Agree with this (look at the example recently of the guy who had his house broken into while he was there, Strava was the suspected source of info as I don't think he had privacy set up), but I wouldn't say it's a specific issue with Strava as people do the same on other social media platforms.

It's a long time since I set my account up but if they don't by now maybe it should be a mandatory step when creating an account which you can either set your privacy settings or ignore the recommendations.

I did get a random kudos this week on an activity from 2010 from a "Mark /www.T8.run" presumably to pimp his/her business, they had no activities recorded. There needs to be a way to report such accounts rather than just blocking them.

OOnegative

Not on it, but would love to be a ‘Strava Superhero’!!!!

skyblue46

It's something relatively new to me and I found it 'interesting' to nosey in on other DCM novices progress in training last year! :pac:

As regards it being a tool for training...not for me at my level. In all honesty it doesn't offer much more, if anything, than Garmin Connect in that regard. So yes, for me it's just another form of social media.

TheBigGreen

I too got a kudo from a "Mark /www.T8.run"!

ReeReeG

Testosterscone wrote: »

Who nows we might get a few new posters out of this one

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Those that use it what benefits do you feel you get from it. Does it enhance your training or simply record it?

I think it's great. When I started running, it was nice to see the progression in the same routes I was doing eg runs home from work. At the start, I used to have to stop to walk so seeing the difference in the start to 1 year later etc gives a nice virtual pat on the back.
I use it to motivate myself to go for a run on those dark evenings when you just want to sit on the couch. You can see who else has already been out for a run and think if they've been out, then I should too. 
I like the competitive side... quite a few of my family are on it and we like to see who's logging the most miles  
I've also liked being able to look back at races if I'm doing them a second time eg Raheny 5. View the course profile, remind myself where I struggled on the course the last time. 
Looking at other people's training is great too. I've seen clubmates change it up training-wise and it's nice to see if it's working or not working for them. Leads me to ask them why / what they're doing, and inspires interesting conversations that way.
Once you have the cop on to use the privacy settings available, I don't see much harm.

Annie get your Run

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I would say I get more benefit from analyzing other's training, than I do from mine.
Even with recent enhancements, it's a cycling app trying to adapt to running.
The social aspect is interesting and can be motivating.

The unawareness to privacy concerns by some users does baffle me at times.
- Women who always run the same route at the same time.
- A neighbour of mine who posted a treadmill session with a picture with 2 very expensive bikes hanging in his shed and his activities either side identifying where he lives!

Oh chryst that's me . And there I was thinking because I have my home privacy settings set up I was a okay. Thanks for pointing that one out, not that it matters any more..

I actually found the information on Garmin Connect much better to analyze and that's what I used when looking back at my training.

I think it's probably a useful training tool and another form of social media.

The O

I'm actually thinking of signing up for Strava. Have recently upgraded my Garmin, but might use the older one occasionally.

Just wondering, will I be able to link both watches to the one Strava profile or does it allow just one watch per profile?

Coffee Fulled Runner

I'm a fan of Strava overall, there are a few this I don't like too. I love the training log the way it's done I find it better then Garmin conect. The interface is pretty easy to use. Not so much of a fan of the kudos but there is a club on it where local runners from various clubs use that gives you a insight to their training. This club also shows me local places where I can run that I wouldn't be familiar with. I also like the heatmap. Say if I'm going somewhere on holidays I check out out where are the popular places to run in that area. I also like to check out race profiles of races from people I follow where I haven't ran yet.
I think Garmin offers more in terms of personal data like cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact time, vo2max etc

Djoucer

I like strava. The segments are a bit of craic and a decent indicator of improvement.

It's great for analysing hill running in terms of where you are making/losing time, be it climbing or descent.

I also like the trolling "just out an easy run" where they're clearing hoofing it.

There is a tendency for people to beat their times/segments rather than stick to an easy run.

Also a good motivator when you're not feeling it and then see someone you know posting a run.

Everyone should enable the setting that hides where you live/work. That was the issue with guy that his bikes stolen.

RacoonQueen

Djoucer wrote: »

I also like the trolling "just out an easy run" where they're clearing hoofing it.

I think some people just have a max HR of 350 so an 'easy run' of HR 185 for someone in their 40s is perfectly acceptable with a max like that! :pac:

Peterx

I am a bit baffled as to why the free Strava is so good. I think they could/should have kept a lot of the functionality back for the paid premium version. The few add-ons you get with premium are not enticing enough, which is a pity as it's a great app and I would not like to see it disappear.

The flyby function is brilliant for looking at races afterwards.
Especially funny on misty hillruns with lads appearing from all angles.

It is very much a social media platform, once your friends are active on it.

BeepBeep67

Djoucer wrote: »

Everyone should enable the setting that hides where you live/work. That was the issue with guy that his bikes stolen.

It's still not tight enough, very easy to triangulate if you were that way inclined.

EC1000

Very much a social media type thing but it is interesting to see the training that similar level peers are doing. Find that quite motivating.

I find the analytics and interface from Garmin connect to be better but also find myself scrolling through the strava feed whenever I post an activity.

Kellygirl

I like it from a Socia Media perspective. I also love the feature of comparing previous runs and the fact it gives me pbs on segments or entire routes. I’m probably guilty of not being security conscious enough though I don’t run from home generally anyway. I joined a couple of challenges and suddenly getting random kudos for runs can be a little disconcerting.

Swashbuckler

I don't think it enhances my approach to training in any way but there are several benefits for me;

I enjoy seeing other peoples approaches to training.
I love following the local top guys to see their approach.
Great to see race results with splits etc first hand.
I think it's good to share my training given it's prescribed from a knowledgeable source
It's good to see the type of training people at a similar level to me are doing.
I enjoy seeing how many kudos AMK gets for his runs.

Doesn't sharing information not simply disclose your training to those you are then trying to beat in races? I wouldn't post up details of my training on social media, it's not top secret or anything but I have dozens of friends on it that I'll be vying to beat in IMRA races.

RayCun

I find it easier to get a high level overview of my training there than on garmin, and that's usually all I want. And easier to record there than logging every run here.

For other people, I don't usually look at the details, but its nice to get a general idea of what people are up to.

Don't bother with segments, but do like the race playback. (Its a bit weird that it includes loads of people you don't know)

Hurrache

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

It's still not tight enough, very easy to triangulate if you were that way inclined.

You can set your privacy distance at various lengths, in built up areas a persons run can start and end in any number of streets, nevermind specific houses.

Kellygirl

One day my Strava timeline told me that Hot Buttered Scones was running with a friend of mine. I couldn’t understand how they knew each other. Turned out one was running behind the other (I think HBS was in front of course!) for a while along the same route. Could get you into trouble though

Swashbuckler

Deleted User wrote:

Doesn't sharing information not simply disclose your training to those you are then trying to beat in races? I wouldn't post up details of my training on social media, it's not top secret or anything but I have dozens of friends on it that I'll be vying to beat in IMRA races.

I know a few people with the same opinion. I don't get it tho. Let them know you're training. If you're putting the work in there's damn all they can do about it

BeepBeep67

Hurrache wrote: »

You can set your privacy distance at various lengths, in built up areas a persons run can start and end in any number of streets, nevermind specific houses.

Here's an article on it: https://www.flexinets.eu/threat-report-stravas-privacy-zones-have-been-revealing-users-hidden-locations/

TFBubendorfer

The greatest benefit I ever got out of it was when I moved into a new area and could look at popular routes, especially the ones favoured by some very good runners I happen to know.

Aside from that I definitely like it but try not to get too involved in the social media aspects.

There are definitely some drawbacks. The privacy issues have been mentioned. Chasing segments can be detrimental to your training when you're supposed to do an easy run and it can be surprisingly hard to slow down when you know the world and her dog will be able look at your data and think "blimey, he's gotten slow"

Djoucer

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Hurrache wrote: »

You can set your privacy distance at various lengths, in built up areas a persons run can start and end in any number of streets, nevermind specific houses.

Here's an article on it: https://www.flexinets.eu/threat-report-stravas-privacy-zones-have-been-revealing-users-hidden-locations/

Wow. That's a fairly big/fatal flaw in privacy zone.

RacoonQueen

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

It's still not tight enough, very easy to triangulate if you were that way inclined.

You can put a second privacy zone at the spots where your run 'starts' when you leave the privacy zone outside your home/office. Gives you double/triple/whatever you choose over the default strava give.

BeepBeep67

RacoonQueen wrote: »

You can put a second privacy zone at the spots where your run 'starts' when you leave the privacy zone outside your home/office. Gives you double/triple/whatever you choose over the default strava give.

Yep, how many users do that though

jamule

I try to avoid social media, but strava has me sucked in. I love the fly byes, saying hello to someone out in a run and then figuring out who they are when u get home. Great to compare improvement on regular routes.

Love creating and studying course profiles, i find this a real advantage on hill races.

sideswipe

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

I would say I get more benefit from analyzing other's training, than I do from mine.
Even with recent enhancements, it's a cycling app trying to adapt to running.
The social aspect is interesting and can be motivating.

The unawareness to privacy concerns by some users does baffle me at times.
- Women who always run the same route at the same time.
- A neighbour of mine who posted a treadmill session with a picture with 2 very expensive bikes hanging in his shed and his activities either side identifying where he lives!

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

It's still not tight enough, very easy to triangulate if you were that way inclined.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Here's an article on it: https://www.flexinets.eu/threat-report-stravas-privacy-zones-have-been-revealing-users-hidden-locations/

Was probably a bit ambivalent about the privacy aspect- have overhauled my settings this evening, cheers for the heads up.

Wanderer78

Handy app for many, a gigantic pain in hole for some, including myself

Testosterscone wrote:

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Singer

Testosterscone wrote: »

Who nows we might get a few new posters out of this one

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Those that use it what benefits do you feel you get from it. Does it enhance your training or simply record it?

It's very good at the basics, i.e. recording training and races. It's got a damn good UI. I also use the StravistiX extension for additional insights and metrics. The social stuff is fun - I like looking at other runners' sessions and training as it happens, and recording the occasional picture when running abroad is a nice way of documenting runs. I think it complements a log rather than replacing though, I don't tend to note niggles and big picture thoughts in Strava, whereas the log allows for more freeform content.

robinph

It's interesting to see how a run compared with running the same route on another day and easily see if I am actually running it quicker/ easier than before. No idea how that is of benefit to anything other than making your mood better/ worse though. Doesn't affect my training in the slightest.

It is also interesting during races to see where someone overtook you, or you them, or to realise that someone else was running the same race but you never noticed them. But again that has no benefit to your training or racing/ at least not compared to any other tool like the Garmin pages which will show you where you went too fast/ slow during the race.

As for seeing what other peoples training is and trying to copy them, I guess they are probably running further/ faster/ hillier than me and that is why they are beating me. It doesn't take an app like Strava to tell me that though.



The only thing that I find genuinely useful is that it instantly matches the previous times you've run a route so is great for seeing what your time was in a race last year which is useful for the post match analysis in the pub as it saves you having to remember your times.

eyrie

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Here's an article on it: https://www.flexinets.eu/threat-report-stravas-privacy-zones-have-been-revealing-users-hidden-locations/

That's fairly alarming. I just went in and added some extra zones around where the one I already had ends, as RacoonQueen suggested, but it doesn't look like these get applied to past activities.

Personally I don't use strava much but it is interesting sometimes to look at what other people are doing, and it's great for checking out routes in areas you don't know.

hot buttered scones

Testosterscone wrote: »

Who nows we might get a few new posters out of this one

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Those that use it what benefits do you feel you get from it. Does it enhance your training or simply record it?

I've used Strava from more or less when I started running. Well, originally I took up cycling to get fit and used Strava to track my rides. Then I started running and used Strava for tracking that too. After I found out about GPS watches I switched to those because they are just way more useful, but I kept uploading to Strava because I found the interface way easier to use than Garmin Connect, especially the old version.
I do have Premium subscription - so much easier to properly analyse workouts and races visually.
I love the fly by feature, especially in races where you can see a race unfold and examine other peoples racing strategies and maybe pick up a few tips.
I've said before on here that I also use smash run - They have colour coded pace and HR charts which are really useful visual tools and you can see at a glance where you maybe pushed too hard or where you backed off a bit too much during a race or maybe during a hard rep in a session.

The social side of it came later. I followed one or two people I knew locally and one or two who lived elsewhere. I was nice that we could keep track of each others training quite easily. Then you start following and getting followed by people who you may have run alongside in races. I've met a few people this way who I still only meet at races and have a quick chat with. But I think most of the people I follow are from here. I've found since they messed with the timeline I don't like it so much though.

As always , numbers on paper (or a screen in this case) don't mean much unless put into context, so when you tie Strava in with a boards log or race report, you can really see what's going on. Helps you to learn from others experiences I suppose. But I guess you could say the same for any running/social media app, its just that Strava seems to dominate the market

I've had a go off a couple of the training plans which are ok - as good as you'll find in a book anyway. The 10k plan is pretty much the same as the one on "The Best 10k training plan" thread here. A quick anecdote - when I washing the 12 week Marathon Plan I sent off an email with some concerns and queries to the site which hosts the plans and got a personal reply back from on of the coaches there, which I though was good.

Another note on the social side - I always found it great, along with boards when training for DCM. This place is buzzing around that time and seeing all the runs and workouts going up on Strava too I find quite motivational at times. The other side of it is I do all my training by myself, so again Strava+boards provides an added social outlet as I'm not in a club, which I like.

A quick question to yourself Testosterscone - do you find it useful as a coach? Or does it matter that it's Strava? By that I mean is it just the case Strava is what everybody uses, so that's what you use?

adrian522

The O wrote: »

I'm actually thinking of signing up for Strava. Have recently upgraded my Garmin, but might use the older one occasionally.

Just wondering, will I be able to link both watches to the one Strava profile or does it allow just one watch per profile?

You link to the Garmin Connect not to a particular watch so when you upload your run to Garmin Connect it should copy across to strava, even if you are using a seperate watch.

pconn062

I like Strava because:

It's the easiest way for me to keep track of my training/mileage.

I like seeing what other guys and gals do as training, I'm interested in the sport in general and training methodologies.

Our club has a group on it and it's good to see what fellow club members are doing in training.

It's a handy way to keep in touch with a few running guys I know that I don't live near and only see at races.

It's great to look in on some of the elites who post there. I don't understand why people are afraid of rivals seeing their training? If Olympians and elites post their training publicly, then I think us joggers are safe enough.

Personally I never bother with badges or segments but some people get a kick out of that.

Testosterscone

hot buttered scones wrote: »

A quick question to yourself Testosterscone - do you find it useful as a coach? Or does it matter that it's Strava? By that I mean is it just the case Strava is what everybody uses, so that's what you use?

As a coach in my situation; yes most definitely. I am not fortunate enough to get to attend majority of sessions for runners I work with (even the ones that are Dublin based due to my irregular work hours)

Feedback is important and Strava provides an extra dynamic to that as sometimes it helps me to read between the lines or give me indications outside of subjective feedback. Often Weekly Summaries tell one story while the strava details tell another and it allows me to get to know the athlete better and tailor training to suit the characteristics of the person (every athlete is different not just in how they respond to different stimulus but also in there personality which can be just as important for development)

From an educational perspective it also gives great insight into a wide range of approaches and abilities (I follow runners from 2.14 Marathons to complete beginners and the day to day is something that you just don't get when reading articles on training logs or approaches etc)

As a training log the maps help me put into context my own training. They jog my memory of course profile, which way wind was blowing on different reps and the training logs make direct year on year comparisons of different stages of training as opposed to just the sessions themselves (time of runs help show sleep and work patterns to an extent and)

I don't go crazy with the social element off it (comments here or there) but the Kudo's element for my athletes is more an acknowledgement that I am following my athletes sessions (to keep them honest haha) and gaining info from it rather than just sending a weekly update week by week.

hot buttered scones

pconn062 wrote:

Personally I never bother with badges or segments but some people get a kick out of that.

I could have just waited for your response and copied and pasted most of it. That's it in a nutshell.
As for the quoted bit above - I don't chase segment times but I've created a few public and a few more private ones. It's nice handy for comparing performances over regularly run routes or hills over the years - you can see your fitness going up and down as you go through training cycles. The badges thing are just a force of habit at this stage, although I was chasing the half marathon one for a good while as a bit of motivation to get some longer runs in when I wasn't really following a plan.

Krusty_Clown

Funny enough, I've never raced a segment, but I've actually created quite a few. For example, I was down in Westport for a a lads weekend the year before last, and ran the Wild Atlantic Way as far as Achill, and I was curious about how many people had run the route before me (lots of people have cycled it but as it turns out, few have run it), and what kind of times they were doing it in. Knock up a quick segment based on your activity, and you've got your answer. I've done the same with some of my pre-marathon tester-loops. While it's not necessarily healthy to do direct comparisons with previous years, in a couple of clicks I can pull up every lap I've ever done of that loop and compare pace and heart rate data.

Like others, I also find it fascinating to see how some of the top marathon runners train, and am extremely greatful to those performing at the top level, who are willing to share their approaches. I can't understand why anyone would feel the need to be secretive about their training at sub-international level (their locations - absolutely, but seeing their training and progress is immensely fascinating). In the same vain, I'm happy to share all of my own data, with whoever is interested enough to look, but recently there have been a few spurious accounts with fake photos and their own privacy settings turned on that I've simply blocked.

I still find Strava very buggy, but I also find it to be immensely more usable than Garmin Connect. I used StravistiX for a whole but got tired of the constant crashes. Still trying to figure out if the [Fitness & Freshness] stuff is really useful or relevant. If the numbers are correct, I'm fitter than I've ever been, but also in a similarly fatigued state to when I've been most prone to injury. Garmin has incorporate this type of functionality into their newer watches (Fenix 5, 645, etc.) powered by FirstBeat, so I suspect that when I eventually upgrade my watch I'll have little reason to pay for Strava premium, as beyond the heatmaps, I don't think there's anything else really useful for runners that they don't offer in the free product.

Murph_D

I think the Fitness and Freshness stats are only as good as your HR data. I use the 235 and get very unreliable HR data - believable one day, obviously wrong by the next. It tends to err on the low side, making me appear fitter than I am. So I’ve stopped looking at that kind of data - including Garmin Connect metrics like Training Effect or VO2Max, which is a good 4 points higher on GC than my results would suggest.

Agree with Krusty on the segment thing. I run quite regularly in Donegal, in a part where you hardly ever see another runner. I’ve laid down a few segments to see if anyone ever runs in the vicinity. I did get notice a while back that a new CR had been set on one of my out of the way routes. Even more surprisingly, it turned out to be our former Tánaiste Mary Coughlin, but she was definitely on a bike. Possibly a motorbike.

Van.Bosch

Am I the only one who loves the heat map? Love trying to cover every road enough to go red.

Coffee Fulled Runner

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Am I the only one who loves the heat map? Love trying to cover every road enough to go red.

It's a little obsession of mine :pac:

AuldManKing

Strava; The Fear - Part 1

When you've done a session a little too fast and you've got 99 kudos, but the coach ain't 1.

opus

Don't use it all all but all these posts has got me wondering should I

Garmin has been soaking up my (admittedly uninteresting) runs for years and it's done me grand although I rarely look back at history tbh.

kit3

Testosterscone wrote: »

Who nows we might get a few new posters out of this one

Interesting to hear people's honest thought's and opinions.

Those that use it what benefits do you feel you get from it. Does it enhance your training or simply record it?

I got into it on the recommendation of a former poster here who assured me it was 'awesome' - it is I never had a garmin so it opened up a whole new world to me. I enjoy the stats & was surprised to see that my simple commute on the bike amounts to over 2,500 miles a year. My sister started running in Texas in the last 2 years so it's cool to be connected with her on it. In terms of running, I tend to do a lot of the same routes & like to compare although I've been injured for much of the last year but hopefully getting stuck in again now.

Kellygirl wrote: »

One day my Strava timeline told me that Hot Buttered Scones was running with a friend of mine. I couldn’t understand how they knew each other. Turned out one was running behind the other (I think HBS was in front of course!) for a while along the same route. Could get you into trouble though

This can be a bit disconcerting - I still remember the double take when I read 'morning ride with one other ....'

quickbeam

Use the regular version, not Premium, for social media purposes mostly. Garmin and Excel are more of use for actual analysis.

Posts above about security weaknesses have got me worried though. I've the maximum radius around my house, have set my view to private, and people can only follow me if I accept them. Is that safe enough? Because I am a creature of habit, and tend (give or take) to run the same routes at the same times.

Itziger

It's grand for a bit of banter and seeing how others are going (esp. AMK )  They sometimes do some weird crap with distance/pace though so you wouldn't want to be taking it too seriously. And then there's the Easy 10k training trot that gets more 'Likes' than your shiny new PB the week earlier. 
I see a couple of my dedicated acolytes giving me 'likes' for a cool down but they'll never ask me how a tough rep. session went. Does me head in a bit, that does!

hot buttered scones

Itziger wrote: »

It's grand for a bit of banter and seeing how others are going (esp. AMK )  They sometimes do some weird crap with distance/pace though so you wouldn't want to be taking it too seriously. And then there's the Easy 10k training trot that gets more 'Likes' than your shiny new PB the week earlier. 
I see a couple of my dedicated acolytes giving me 'likes' for a cool down but they'll never ask me how a tough rep. session went. Does me head in a bit, that does!

I'd have to confess to being a casual kudos giver sometimes - just clicking the kudos button as I read down the timeline, especially when I'm browsing on the phone when I waiting in the car for the kids or something like that. A habit I picked from another social media site that I now longer really use. I do click in and read the splits etc. but I would rarely comment - but know I now you'd welcome it I'll oblige

Itziger

hot buttered scones wrote: »

Itziger wrote: »

It's grand for a bit of banter and seeing how others are going (esp. AMK )  They sometimes do some weird crap with distance/pace though so you wouldn't want to be taking it too seriously. And then there's the Easy 10k training trot that gets more 'Likes' than your shiny new PB the week earlier. 
I see a couple of my dedicated acolytes giving me 'likes' for a cool down but they'll never ask me how a tough rep. session went. Does me head in a bit, that does!

I'd have to confess to being a casual kudos giver sometimes - just clicking the kudos button as I read down the timeline, especially when I'm browsing on the phone when I waiting in the car for the kids or something like that. A habit I picked from another social media site that I now longer really use. I do click in and read the splits etc. but I would rarely comment - but know I now you'd welcome it I'll oblige

HBS, it's not commenting for commenting sake but when I see people new to running, on here or Strava or in Real Life  (God forbid) and they don't pick the brains of people who've been there and done it. The amount I've learned from people's logs and posts on here, would need a book to do it justice. And the vast majority welcome questions about training and will reply and explain points. That is what I want from a forum or a social media thingy.