When I write about technology and fitness, Strava features at the top of my list. The app has not only made a big difference to my marathon progress and training but it's connected me to other runners I now consider good friends.
But there is another side to Strava that I haven't dug into. Its API has enabled a whole host of other apps and services that make use of your data in inventive and helpful ways.
The problem has always been discovery: knowing where to start. Now, Strava has created a categorised directory of apps features 200 of the more than 18,000 apps. This means you have one place to browse and find the apps that will make a difference to you.
“In the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of cool apps being developed by members of our community using Strava’s API,” says says Mateo A. Ortega, Head of Integration for Strava. “We created this directory to help our athletes find fun, useful and interesting ways to get more out of their Strava data, as well as to shine a light on these creative developers who are using Strava as a platform.”
The categories covered in the directory include data importers, visualisers, prints, social motivation, charity, performance and training apps among others. These apps perform a range of functions. They can help athletes meet new running partners based on pace and geography, visualise data in a wide variety of ways, turn activity into 3D prints or even overlay data on video clips.
Of these apps I've particularly enjoyed discovering Relive. This app takes your Strava run data and combines it with maps images to create a short film of your effort viewed from the sky. For me, as a runner, it's a nice novelty. But also it's been a great way to share some of the achievements that don't always makes sense to those who pursuit other sports.
One example of this is a recent ultra marathon I competed in, the Dartmoor Discovery. It's a race I run each year, but this year I shared a Relive rendering of my Strava data and had many more comments, questions and likes because of it. It felt like a really nice way to share my enjoyment of this long run with friends and family.
I've been digging through the directory and already come up with some surprised. Here's what top of my list at the moment:
Gyroscope Once they’re synced from one of the apps, your runs will show in various parts of the site, as well as in the iPhone app. The app allows for creating and sharing many different maps and other views of your running.
Story Teller - Storyteller allows you to weave a narrative around your Strava data, and to share it with the world.
Nice Trails - Create physical 3D maps of the grand runs or rides you've been on. The process of creating this also enables you to view your activity in 3D on the screen which can also be quite eye opening.
With 10 million activities uploaded to Strava every week (that's 16 a second) it's good to be doing more with all our data that often sits un-noticed on Strava. This can create new ways for us to understand our exercise and performance as well as share achievements with friends and family. If you'd like to follow me on Strava, I'm here.
