100% of the clients that I coach online are either on Garmin Connect or Strava Apps because this enables me to check and analyze their workouts. By incorporating technology such as wearable devices and virtual feedback, I provide real-time insights and adjustments to enhance performance.

Strava and Garmin Connect have become some of my favourite apps over time. Strava uses GPS data from a phone, a GPS watch, or other devices to record activities and capture metrics like distance, time, pace, heart rate, and elevation. Garmin Connect, on the other hand, works primarily with Garmin devices. For example, Strava can take data from a Garmin device, but Garmin Connect cannot capture data from Strava.

My online coaching

My online coaching offers a unique blend of personalized training plans, cutting-edge technology, and listening and supportive guidance to reach one’s goals.

I get “kudos” every time I post my workouts on Strava, which happens automatically when I post them onto my Garmin Connect, where I get “likes” instead of “kudos.”

As a coach, a simple run I do, an opinion I form, or a prediction affects many runners more than I had imagined.

Recently, a runner I coach online asked me to predict his finish time for a marathon he was going to run. I knew exactly what form he was in and the time he could run.

As a coach, at times, what you know your runner will run may differ from what you would want to tell them to go out and run. Marathon is a bit complicated in that you can tell someone to aim for an ambitious time, and they end up starting out too hard and not finishing the race.

On the other hand, you may predict a slower time for them, and since they believe you, they’ll go for that time and miss out on achieving their full potential in a race.

The question is: Should you tell your marathon runners to “aim for the sky and land on the moon” or to run a conservative race?

Well, this comes down to how much you know about a particular runner. Different strategies work differently for different runners.

While my coaching tailors each plan to the individual needs, goals, and fitness levels of my clients, ensuring that each one receives the most effective guidance to suit their circumstances at the moment, coaching is an art, and some decisions have to be affected by a runner’s personality.

My Strava workouts

The runners I coach are also affected, in one way or another, by the runs I post on Strava.

When I post a 50-minute run on Garmin Connect or Strava and then ask a runner that I coach to do a 35-minute run, they’ll definitely feel that I am not giving them the proper training. Similarly, they may think that I am pushing them too much if the opposite happens.

That is why my platform fosters a community where runners can connect, share experiences, and motivate each other, creating an engaging and encouraging environment. In my Strava Group, I encourage runners to check out their fellow runners’ workouts, compare them with theirs, and ask any questions.

This approach helps my clients achieve their running goals and fosters long-term healthy habits and a love for the sport.

I have also learned from nature that there are two sides to everything under the sun. Sometimes knowing that every run you do will be checked out later by friends and community of runners may result in making decisions on your run based on what others will think, rather than on what your body is telling you to do at the moment.

For the next month or so, I want to be able to enjoy my running in private without anyone peeking in to see what I did or to check on my location and my heart rate.

However, while I won’t post my workouts, I have no option about not visiting Strava and Garmin Connect daily to check out the workouts of my clients that I coach online.