Strava Challenge – The Escape Plan
A new Strava Challenge called “The Escape Plan” is designed to get you out the door, active, and hopefully start building some healthy new habits.
Beginning on September 2nd, you simply have to log 5 activities each week for a minimum of 15 minutes each. Practically any activity is accepted. Even activities marked as “Only You” or “Followers Only” count towards the challenge.
Remember, you’re playing for “pride not prize” – although if you complete the challenge, you’ll receive an Escape Plan finisher’s badge in your virtual Trophy Case. So join the challenge and get on out there and start logging those activities!
Update
Apparently the new challenge was prompted by some pretty interesting data analysis done by Strava. A few excerpts from a recent Runner’s World article that I found particularly compelling:
Strava found that for marathon runners who ran the same race two years in a row, people who got faster did fewer training runs at their marathon pace when training for the second year’s race. Runners who improved were also more likely to have increased their time doing non-running activities compared to the previous year. For example, Strava found that marathoners with finishing times under four hours only did 25% of their training runs at marathon pace, whereas in previous years, these runners had done 43% of their runs at marathon pace.
Runner’s World, 21/08/2019
And even if you’re not a marathoner:
The data also found that when it comes to staying motivated, high-frequency, low intensity exercise helped people form lasting exercise habits and stay active, especially when people varied their activity types. Data from Strava shows that regular activity habits are associated with staying active over longer periods of time. In fact, athletes who pursue two different sport types per week have twice as many active weeks over the course of a year as single-sport athletes.
Runner’s World, 21/08/2019
But the bottom line is obvious. You’ve got to stay motivated:
Strava’s CEO James Quarles said, “Staying motivated is the largest and oldest barrier in health and wellness. People are busier than ever and screen time is eclipsing moving time. The Escape Plan Challenge is designed to inspire people to put their phones down, declare a simple goal and create better habits.”
Runner’s World, 21/08/2019
