Find your ‘why’ for running – and how likes and kudos shouldn’t be itQ And kudos shouldn’t be it

In the 1980s, before I think I even knew what a computer was, I kept a running diary with a pen and paper. learnt it was a good idea to keep track of your running efforts.

For me, partly it was about accountability. It would motivate me – put it this way, I didn’t want to be staring at blank pages.

My old diaries would note how long and how far I’d run (though this was pre-GPS watch days so it was a very rough, sometimes very generous, calculation, I realise when I look back now), how I felt, what effort I put in, or what specific sessions I was doing.

Running diaries, I also realised, became useful to look back at to see what worked and what didn’t in the build-up to races.

I’m sure there’s science behind all this but, for me, it started as a natural curiosity and I kept up the practice of writing down my sessions.

Some time in the 2000s, when I got my first GPS watch, those diaries became a bit more sophisticated – suddenly I could gather all sorts of extra data – yes, including more accurate distance – but also things such as heart rate, cadence.

For a data and running geek it was heaven.

But, still, it was all just for personal consumption, a way of satisfying my inquisitiveness and keeping track of my fitness. And then I discovered Strava. There are many apps and programmes that allow you to upload and record your running GPS data, but Strava seems to have swept the Western running world.

It hit the news a couple of years ago when it published a ‘‘heat map’’ showing where in the world people were running.

Big cities, of course, glowed hot. But what grabbed attention was that it also made military bases in remote locations suddenly glow brighter than Rudolph’s nose – soldiers had been recording their runs via Strava as they trod paths around their sometimes-secret bases. Oops.

For me, Strava’s impact was far less serious, of course. But it was the same outcome. Suddenly, these runs that had been recorded on tatty old pages, the ink sometimes blemished by blobs of sweat if I’d made an

entry before I’d cooled down, were online.

Because, as well as being a receptacle for all this running (and cycling and many other exercises) data, Strava is a social network, of sorts.

You can ‘‘follow’’ people, and let them ‘‘follow’’ you. You can give and receive ‘‘kudos’’ from your followers. And make comments.

Strava is the most friendly of social networks. People are supportive and encouraging – there is none of the snarkiness or trolling that goes on on other platforms. I love seeing what my running mates are up to, and being inspired by it.

But, still, at some level, it triggers some of the same receptors as other social networks – upload a run and you can’t help but see how much ‘‘kudos’’ it gains.

On the podcast this week, Anna Frost, arguably New Zealand’s most successful trail and ultrarunning export, opens up about a time in her life when she became hooked on social media likes and the running persona she had become.

It made her miserable, she tells me and co-host Matt Rayment.

‘‘Then finally I had to throw my shoes in and say ‘I’m done’. I got off social media for as long as it took me to get out of the spiral and accept I am enough as a person without running.

‘‘I will only run for the love of it – not for anyone else’s expectations, or Facebook likes.’’

Frost’s honesty is a great reminder. As much as apps like Strava have their place, and are good fun, don’t let them become the reason you run or dictate your running.

I run because I love it. Find your own reason and let that be good enough.

‘‘I will only run for the love of it – not for anyone else’s expectations, or Facebook likes.’’

Anna Frost, trail and ultra-runner

Eugene Bingham and Matt Rayment are hosts of a trail running podcast, Dirt Church Radio. Learn more at dirtchurchradio.com or get in touch via email dirtchurchradio@gmail.com