Strava self-loathing: why comparing yourself to others can only lead to disaster

Strava is a great space to interact with friends and other athletes, but sometimes it can be a tad overwhelming. Seeing others’ workouts can make you feel like you’re not doing enough—like you’re not going far or fast enough in your training. Even if you’re doing the best training of your life, you could get discouraged when you see that someone else is doing more or doing better than you. This is Strava self-loathing, and it’s something we need to fix in the triathlon and greater endurance communities.

Social media isn’t real

Strava is a training app, but it’s also a form of social media. And what should we all know about social media by now? It’s fake. Social media isn’t real. People only post their best moments on Instagram and Facebook, they never post their lows. It’s the same with some Strava users. Yes, there are many people on the app who post every workout they do, whether it’s great or awful, but a lot of triathletes will finish a subpar swim, ride, or run, look at the Strava data, and delete the workout instead of posting it.

It’s easy to think that you’re not doing enough when you’re seeing other people’s carefully curated Strava accounts, but don’t let this get you down. You’re seeing 100 per cent of your efforts but potentially only seeing 50 per cent of theirs, so it’s an unfair comparison that will only lead to you feeling less than.

Stay the course

You shouldn’t feel any need to compete with the people you follow on Strava (which, we know, is easy to say but can be tough to put into practice). You have your own training plan, and it could be completely different than that of the person you know who is seemingly crushing their workouts. But you’re not trying to peak in training now, you want to peak at your A-race in four or five months.

It’s great that this person is rocking their training today, but it’s January. Maybe they’ll continue to thrive and improve, but they might plateau or even start to lose fitness by the time the racing season comes around. There is no point in trying to match someone else’s training efforts, because you have no idea what they’re aiming to hit. Stay on course for your goals and try your best to ignore everyone else’s results.

Some people are just better

We’re sorry to tell you this, but you’re probably not ever going to be the best athlete on Strava. Even if you’re a world champion triathlete, there will be periods in which other athletes are performing better than you. You are going to have to accept this sooner or later: some people are better, faster, and stronger than you. The quicker you accept this, the sooner you’ll be at peace in training. You don’t have to try to beat your friend on Strava, you just have to beat last week’s version of yourself.