Run applications

kramrn77

i have been using mapmyrun for the last several months and decided to download Strava last night to see which (free version) I liked better and which works best for me- no professional or future marathoner here. I just want to improve my times and run some 5ks in the future.

So now I have three different calorie burns- MFP puts it at 447, mapmyrun at 507 and Strava at 707. Who do I believe now??!?

IsaackGMOON

I'd go with MFP seeing as it is the lowest. But eat around 75% of these calories back.

If you can, get a HRM instead?

cll_survivor2014

^^ Get a HRM...all apps are ridiculously off for me compared to my HRM.

kramrn77

I plan on getting one- however we are closing on our house next week so the next several months all money is pretty much devoted to the new house. If I am lucky I can get one by Christmas or slightly before as my present to myself. Until then, I guess I will have to just go with the lowest number and hope for the best.

mwyvr

Use the lowest number.

I use Strava but not to feed MFP. The reason I like Strava is for the social aspects, for comparing improvement over time for specific routes and segments, and because it acts as a central repository that I don't mind sharing with others. Having all my runs over various routes for the past year makes it fun and even informative to see where I'm improving. Strava is very popular in the running and cycling communities and supports multiple input devices. If I switch to a Suunto device I can still send data to Strava and not lose the ability to compare.

I feed Strava data from my Garmin running watch; The Garmin running watch + associated Garmin web application feeds MFP.

Garmin always reports the lowest running calories for me.
MFP is next, and fairly close in fact.
Strava is highest, despite the fact that it gets the running data from Garmin.

I use the lowest - Garmin - but MFP's own estimate would be good enough for me if I had to use it manually.

kramrn77

Thanks for the input. I kinda thought that the Strava was pretty high. I like a lot of the aspects of Strava, love that it tracks my shoes. But I don't have a lot of people on Strava to connect with. Like any. So still up in the air between the two apps.

mwyvr

I mostly like the aspects of Strava that matter to me as an individual rather than the social aspects. Also the shoe tracking (Garmin Connect also does this) is well done - when my data uploads via my phone (the garmin watch I have uses bluetooth) I get a summary screen on the phone that allows me to pick which shoe I've run in (I alternate between four at the moment depending on surface). That alone is useful to me.

And it's free.

The premium features of Strava are largely provided by Garmin connect (also free, at least if you have a garmin device it is).

There is/was a thread recently looking for Strava users to connect with - check it out.