Social Fitness

It's called Strava. If you're not familiar with it, I suggest you sign up. Over the past season I've been using Strava, for more than just a map of where I ride. It's way more.Strava combines all the data one could ever need to produce a "tangible" outlook on your training or racing. Everything from maps, elevation profiles, HR zones and suffer scores. Strava even tests you against your pas efforts as well as others you follow. They call it "Social Fitness".Strava was created by athletes, for athletes. Their thought behind it was to create a training aid in which those of us who spend a lot of time training alone, could use Strava, as a tool to help minimize the "alone" factor, as well as provide athletes with an amazing tool to collect our training data. Many times I've attempted to keep a training log on paper but over time, I seem to let it slip through the cracks or just lost interest. With Strava, it's simple. Using an iPhone, Android or any Garmin GPS  device, I've been able to keep track of my training rides and races without using a pen and paper.In addition to the data from my rides, it also compares me with others using Strava. Users can create Segments that they want to keep track of and check their progress. Say you have a favorite climb that you hope to improve on over the season. After tracking your ride, log in to your Strava account and using their simple tools, set a start and end point to the segment you'd like to track. Name it and you're done. Now every time you or any other Strava user pases through that segment, it will place your time(s) on a leader board that you can see on the Strava website. Compete against yourself and or defend your segment as others compete as well.Strava has thousands of users from all over the world. From professional athletes to casual enthusiast. There are two account options when signing up. The basic account is free while the premium membership that offers a handful of  technical features to maximize your training and user experience, for only $6 a month or $59 a year.For cycling and running, Strava has been a fantastic tool and fitness journal. I'm looking forward to using it as well for skiing this winter winter. I've been very impressed by their technical support and quick response to questions and comments concerning my account during some beta testing. They're always looking for feedback regarding their service and welcome any comments to further better improve what they currently have in place.If you're not using it already, I suggest you go here and sign up. When you do, look up KDAY RACING and let's hook up. Now get out and ride.