Strava is steering you to sign up with its partner Runna App, but why?

Strava’s partnership with the Runna App aims to offer coaching for runners, but IOL Tech and sport writer Michael Sherman argues that true improvement comes from consistent training and listening to your body, rather than relying on digital tools. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL

I’m probably showing my age here, but I can still vividly remember writing down the details of my runs on a piece of paper in a file, with details like how I felt during and after, and of course the distance, time, and intensity.

I would also pop along to my local mall and buy a new digital wristwatch every year, all of them having a stopwatch feature. And that was about the only feature of these cheap Casios I used for the majority of my running between 1998 and 2015.

Since then, though, I made the switch to a smart watch with GPS tracking, which opened up a new world of digital statistics and indexing for training and racing.

Though I reached my running peak in 2017 and 2018, the use of digital luxuries like a smart watch and running apps like Strava were quite inconsequential.