Monitoring avg speed, watts, distance and time then comparing to others who seem to always be faster, go further etc., how do you all manage to reduce interference from negative comparisons to others and having self confidence in your own ride.
Ie I’d love an easy ride just bimbling around but would inevitably feel like I should have been going faster or further. The Avg speed trap gets hold and a ride that feels hard but isn’t a certain speed for the perceived effort can ruin what is at the face of it a decent training session.
I’ve tried to reduce my following count as seeing others do much “better” results in endless striving against my inner critic to do more and not rest or ride easy enough. Despite doing hard sessions in the week.
I follow nobody in Strava, so there is no interference. It is easy to concentrate on following my own progress. It is still possible for me to compare my performance with other riders, if I decide to do that.
The only interference I get is when some other rider steals some of my local legends.
Personally, I don’t compare myself to anyone but myself. I use Strava as a way to celebrate the achievements of my friends and to steal routes that look interesting. If it was causing me unhealthy stress, I’d delete it in a heartbeat.
You can start by only following slow people that don’t ride a lot. Stop following pogi and jonnas.
You could create your own group and only invite slow people. Try not to compare yourself to those e-bike people that ride 20 miles 4 times a day at 35 mph.
I use Strava for seeing the groups that I ride with. When and where the next ride is. If I have a nice 200mile week, I feel good about me. I know I’m not going to come close to Amy that’s riding 300+miles @25mph with 20,000 feet of climbing each week.
Unless you are racing the only comparison you should be concerned with is you. And even then Strava does not paint a good picture of what sort of competition you will face in a race.
I do follow a few people just to see who’s riding and give them a thumbs if they do something special. Strava is just not a racing platform for me.
It’s not Strava, it’s how you look at it - or whatever other platform. It will be the same on Garmin Connect, or Zwift Companion or… whatever.
A motto I live by is simply “Comparison is the thief of joy”. So just chill and do what you can get to do on the day. It’s not a competition - it’s a privilege to be healthy and exercising.
Looked a Keegan’s episode, converted 5w/kg, told my wife how long I could hold that, how long Keegan held it, we laughed, moved on.
So whether running or riding, I acknowledge what others have done, and that’s that - I do me, you do you. I may have an easy day today with a big day coming up, or vice versa. If I rode 160k and a friend of mine rode 20, it makes me no better - he/she simply did what they needed (or had time for). And then I’m not even coming to the debate of one riding open roads, one spending 5h honing tech skills on singletracks, etc. Or different bikes. Or trail running vs road running.
So just don’t steal your own joy by looking so intently at what others have done. Focus on your improvement, and simply be happy that you got to train today.
@Boysey95 strava can be a great tool to track your training history. You can learn a lot of things about yourself over the long and short term. But, let’s be honest, not everybody is psychologically robust enough to regularly engage with social media. And it shouldn’t be a scarlet letter on any rider’s name if they just say, ‘Hey, this is more a net negative for me than a net positive.’
Some features of Strava are causing unneeded stress for you. You should eliminate the stressor: strava. Try something else. Why not try uploading your rides to RideWithGPS? I think you can get similar data presentation on that platform without the segment stuff or head-to-head faux competition pressures.
Riding should be fun. Trust me, you can have a TON OF FUN without Strava. Good luck!
And to take it a step farther, do you compare yourself to others in other areas of life?
You’ll never be the richest, have the best car, have the best clothes, have the best watch, have the best telescope (talking about myself on that one). It’s a good practice for you to learn how to look at others and not compare and be content. Doesn’t mean you don’t wanna improve.
As a side note, I don’t really understand following anyone on strava unless it’s interesting / enjoyable / educational. Just turn it off if it’s bugging you.
Thanks for all the advice it’s a case of knowing that it’s not serving me but being somewhat addicted to it.
My problem arises from subconscious feeling that I should/could have do/done more or “better” and constantly feeling unworthy in myself. Not necessarily as a direct relation to others. It just makes me feel worse about myself. It’s not following pros that is the issue but those individuals I know, get on with, and feel I should be in the mix with. It’s like I never feel content with my efforts m, hence my difficulty eating ‘imperfectly’, taking proper rest and truly enjoying it by being free and confident in my own choices.
as I’ve detailed in other posts. I am certain I’m in the middle of RED-S. but guilt gets in the way of my attempts to properly recovery, gain fat/muscle/weight and reduce training volume. It’s like I’m on the treadmill of training with the end simply to be to get through the day with a modicum of serotonin. Deep psychological issues I understand. Changing deep rooted negative thoughts and practices is very very tough. Thanks for all the advice and support.
Yep. I only look at my own data comparing it to my past, look at no one else’s, and keep all my data private. This isn’t because it would bum me out, but because IDK and have no interest in what anybody else is doing or how I compare. When I was younger, it did matter, but the comparison was done in person out on the road riding with others, not on social media.
Be purposeful about what your plan is for each ride/workout, what you want to get out of it, and what will make it successful. Maybe write that down beforehand, and read it a few times to make sure it makes sense and decide if it’s reasonable and achievable. Then after the ride, read it a couple more times before you look at your strava, and then look at your strava stats with your focus on the intended outcome, and just judge how you did with that.
I’m not racing, so my primary goals involve hours/miles on the bike, and then I have secondary goals each week for time in zones, that is as much about being able to recover as it is to improve my fitness/speed/TIZ, etc. Maybe try mixing into your goals some of those type achievements that set upper limits, if that’s where your issue is (just spit balling). I’m guilty of overdoing it on fun rides, too, looking down and seeing that I’m ahead of my PR average speed for a loop, and switching my focus to beating that PR. But, there’s usually an internal discussion involving where I am with fatigue and recovery, and how my next workout might be affected.
I don’t think many if any people are doing any more analysis on strava than seeing you got out on your bike and giving you kudos. Certainly not for a standard “Morning Ride” kind of effort, guess they’re more likely to take a closer look if it’s a race or a ride that you’ve added a title and commentary to.
Would try not to think about it. Or set your rides to default to private and then just open up the ones where you have actually done some intervals and don’t mind people having a look. Or start changing your ride titles to justify the speed if you really have to - something like “hungover recovery ride on the winter bike” should be more than enough justification for a slow average speed!
I am usually on a TrainerRoad plan and just follow it when riding alone. That really helps to not care about my speed, distance, etc. Trust the process.
I also know a lot of people how stop looking at Strava when they are injured because it frustrates them even more than the injury alone. So temporary deleting the app is a good strategy.
since I don’t pay for a subscription, most of the annoying and inaccurate junk that Strrava posits as “training”,”Fitness scores” and “athlete intelligence” is hidden from me. I was a subscribing member from 2013 to 2024. Never really used it as a training aid, but used to enjoy chasing KOM’s when the playing field was more level. Now, I just stay in touch with friends all over the world who I actually know. IMO, it’s about al it’s good for.
OP I fully understand where you’re coming from. A few years ago I went through something similar, not performance based but seeing people I knew van lifing, posting dream rides etc… it was really affecting me mentally (even though my strava would’ve probably seemed epic to other people) I ended up deleting the app and focusing on myself, comparison is the thief of joy as they say. I’m back on Strava, mostly to stay in touch with some distant friends, but cautious not to dwell too much on what other people are doing.
if they do something special. Strava is just not a racing platform for me.