App of the Month: Strava
This go around I tried a… *gasp*…fitness app. No, it’s not because of some kind of late New Year’s resolution. Strava has actually been on my radar since I found out it’s what Casey Neistat uses to map his runs.
After giving the app a try, this is what I found:
It. is. so. accurate.
Geographically
I am not a runner by any means, but I love biking. Strava is great for tracking both, and there’s actually a way for you to specify which one you want the app to monitor, including swimming (yeah, swimming, like maybe through a fitbit or something that’s waterproof? idk). My main concern was its map’s accuracy, so I tested it on a run in New Orleans while at a UAB jazz conference as a way to remember to get back to my hotel room. It worked really well! I tested it also with the cycling specification and it did great too.
Speed
Just to compare an alternative way of keeping up with run time, I timed the New Orleans route on the built in iPhone stopwatch and got around 7:33 as my time (give or take a couple of fumbles through opening the app to actually stopping the count). Strava told me I was running at a 6:58 pace — I say that’s pretty dang accurate!
Customization and Competition
If you need motivation or accountability to go out and exercise, this is the app for you. You can easily share any of the trips you’ve taken to other social media, you’re able to follow other athletes who also use the app (Strava also suggests people to follow), there are ways to find out popular running, cycling, swimming clubs in your area, and you can see routes other people have ran nearby and you can choose to run/bike/swim them as well. Not to mention the monthly challenges they host in the app and so much more.
If you also need something that can map routes for you that aren’t necessarily sport related, you’ll need a third party app anyways because Apple’s built in Maps can’t do that.
Strava is one app you could consider even though that’s not what it’s built for. For example, I tracked my route on the way to get coffee.
Rating — 8.5/10 lego Flash
