7 more Strava excuses we’re tired of seeing

We have an important announcement for runners everywhere: no one cares what pace you run in training. Most people don’t even care how quickly you run in races. Everyone is too focused on their own times to worry about yours, so don’t stress so much when you post a slower-than-usual run on Strava. Odds are, you’ll get the same number of kudos as you always do, regardless of your pace. So please, stop making excuses for these slow runs. We have already published a list of Strava excuses we don’t need, but there are so many out there on the app, so here are seven more.

Finish the sentence.

I would have got a PB but…#stravawanker pic.twitter.com/rzTMuMYbdK

— StravaWankers (@stravawankers) October 23, 2020

My watch died

Stop using technology as an excuse for what you consider to be bad or slow runs. Believe it or not, a lot of people will stop a bad workout on their watch and then post it to Strava saying their watch died. Even if that’s the truth, why post an unfinished workout? OK, if your watch dies 8K into a 20K run, then sure, you can post that, but if it conks out 800m into your workout, just cut your losses and don’t post it.

There were a lot of stop lights

Unless you’re running on the trails or somewhere with few cars, odds are you’re going to have to stop a few times every run to wait for traffic lights. We know this will affect your overall pace, but when you’re finished the run and posting it to Strava, don’t mention those stops. Unless you were at a railroad crossing waiting for a 70-car train to pass, we don’t want to hear about why your pace is slower than usual.

Forgot to pause

A classic excuse is something like “Stopped to talk with my friend Joey and forgot to hit pause.”  Similar to the train situation, unless you were talking to Joey for an hour (in which case you should probably just schedule a regular hangout or Zoom call, because it seems like you two have a lot to catch up on), that chat didn’t affect your pace too much, so don’t mention it on your Strava post.

So many hills

It’s great to hit hills, but don’t blame them for your bad run. If you did a specific hill workout, then that’s a different story, and you can definitely mention that on Strava. But if your excuse is that you hit a lot of hills on your route, then don’t include that. After all, every uphill has a downhill soon after, so you could have made up the lost time on the way down.

I’ve been training a lot

If you say that your run was slower due to a heavy training load, then you should probably cut back on your weekly mileage. Take it easy, relax a bit and quit worrying about what your Strava followers think of your paces.

I overdressed

In the winter, it can be tough to know how many layers to wear on any given day. One day, you need a shirt, sweater and jacket, but the next, it’s warm enough to go out in just a long-sleeve tee. While we’re willing to admit it’s easy to overdress from time to time, don’t use that as an excuse for your slow run. If it’s affecting you that much, you can take layers off and either carry them with you or stash them to be picked up later.

Taking it easy with my running buddy

This is perhaps the rudest of all Strava excuses. You’re essentially throwing your running buddy under the bus and saying they’re the reason you didn’t run faster. For example, if you ran with Joey (the guy you stopped to talk to for an hour earlier) and then posted “Went for a slow jog with Joey,” then you’re being a bit mean. Even if you did take it easy and run slower than you usually would so Joey could keep up, there’s no need to mention that.

Really, no Strava excuses are necessary. Easy runs are important to include in your training schedule, and if you happen to run slower than normal in what’s supposed to be a hard workout, don’t worry about it. You’re still putting in the work, and that will pay off on race day.