Much like Star Wars...Strava Wars can foster an interesting relationship between a
father and son.
My daughter and I came in from a run today and plopped down next to my husband who was watching the first finishers of the New York Marathon cross the line. While she was stretching (coaches be proud), Kate said, "Where's Peter, he's been out running forever?" After 10 more minutes, I looked out the window and saw Pete running up the hill. As he walked into the living room I asked, "Did you run to China?" He told me he was busy playing Strava. My eyes widened as I looked down at his iphone screen which said he ran 10.2 miles. Not sure whether to blurt out, "good job or you're just crazy", I just said "wow!", and then we all went back to watching the Kenyan kick everyone's heiny on the tv screen. My husband watched the top runners cross one by one over the line and I could see that squirley look in my spouses eyes, the same look he gets while watching the tour De France. It's the look of, "If I don't get out there and start riding (or running in today's case), I'll just about explode here in the living room." Peter then showed his dad his Strava route and the two of them pointed and conferred like they were Eisenhower and his cabinet plotting in the war room. Peter gulped down a glass of water and shook his fist at his father as he left the room and said, "Don't you dare run more than me today." The Strava game was on! As it turns out, my son has turned his real running life into a virtual video game. I guess he's no different from his dad, who's been doing this for years. Chris started logging his workouts onto Garmin Connect in 2006 and logged over 80,000 miles into that system(and I'm not talking about car mileage here). Now less than two years into Strava world, he has 15,000 miles logged there as well. Call it crazy, but there is great truth that comes in Strava numbers. While I may roll my eyes at the competitive Strava games my boys play with each other, I am pretty sure there is some validity to the results it fosters. There is no better tool (perhaps other than monitoring your heart-rate in training) to tell you how your training is going. The system gives you your splits, distances, courses, and times of you vs other Strava users on segmented courses. I swear the damn thing will even tell you how many snot rockets you can launch during your run!
Anyway, my husband came home and ran 3/10 of a mile longer than my kid. Chris smiled as I shot him a look of disdain. Apparently, there is no mercy in Strava wars, even if your kid just turned 12 a couple of days ago. Chris remarked, "A real man never lets another man take his "KOM" without a fight( what's KOM?King of the mountain…see Strava.com) But I believe the revenge will be sweet when Peter turns 15 and the old man gets clocked by his kid's faster turnover. They often jokingly say to each other, "I'll crush your dreams" as they head out for their runs, but to be honest I think they are doing quite the opposite. They are somehow figuring out a way to come together. They have a father son relationship like few others and if Strava helps keep these boys together, this is one video game, I'll let them keep playing.
father and son.
My daughter and I came in from a run today and plopped down next to my husband who was watching the first finishers of the New York Marathon cross the line. While she was stretching (coaches be proud), Kate said, "Where's Peter, he's been out running forever?" After 10 more minutes, I looked out the window and saw Pete running up the hill. As he walked into the living room I asked, "Did you run to China?" He told me he was busy playing Strava. My eyes widened as I looked down at his iphone screen which said he ran 10.2 miles. Not sure whether to blurt out, "good job or you're just crazy", I just said "wow!", and then we all went back to watching the Kenyan kick everyone's heiny on the tv screen. My husband watched the top runners cross one by one over the line and I could see that squirley look in my spouses eyes, the same look he gets while watching the tour De France. It's the look of, "If I don't get out there and start riding (or running in today's case), I'll just about explode here in the living room." Peter then showed his dad his Strava route and the two of them pointed and conferred like they were Eisenhower and his cabinet plotting in the war room. Peter gulped down a glass of water and shook his fist at his father as he left the room and said, "Don't you dare run more than me today." The Strava game was on! As it turns out, my son has turned his real running life into a virtual video game. I guess he's no different from his dad, who's been doing this for years. Chris started logging his workouts onto Garmin Connect in 2006 and logged over 80,000 miles into that system(and I'm not talking about car mileage here). Now less than two years into Strava world, he has 15,000 miles logged there as well. Call it crazy, but there is great truth that comes in Strava numbers. While I may roll my eyes at the competitive Strava games my boys play with each other, I am pretty sure there is some validity to the results it fosters. There is no better tool (perhaps other than monitoring your heart-rate in training) to tell you how your training is going. The system gives you your splits, distances, courses, and times of you vs other Strava users on segmented courses. I swear the damn thing will even tell you how many snot rockets you can launch during your run!
Anyway, my husband came home and ran 3/10 of a mile longer than my kid. Chris smiled as I shot him a look of disdain. Apparently, there is no mercy in Strava wars, even if your kid just turned 12 a couple of days ago. Chris remarked, "A real man never lets another man take his "KOM" without a fight( what's KOM?King of the mountain…see Strava.com) But I believe the revenge will be sweet when Peter turns 15 and the old man gets clocked by his kid's faster turnover. They often jokingly say to each other, "I'll crush your dreams" as they head out for their runs, but to be honest I think they are doing quite the opposite. They are somehow figuring out a way to come together. They have a father son relationship like few others and if Strava helps keep these boys together, this is one video game, I'll let them keep playing.