Garmin vs strava recording

[AlysP]

I wondered what you all use to record runs? I could have claimed my 10k badge today at a 6:19 pace as I have just recorded that run on strava. However on my Garmin Vivo 4s it said 9.6k @6.38 pace so I have left that on strava after it uploaded and deleted the ‘strava’ 10k as I feel it would be cheating!! I have been using my Garmin stats for the whole of the 10k plan so am sticking with it even though it is always a lot shorter- and of course slower- than my Fitbit/strava/Nike app.

I know it’s all to do with satellites so Garmin gps must be more accurate, as strava/Nike/Fitbit use the phone gps, and where I live in the countryside seems to really overestimate, but it’s still annoying!!! Do any of you go with the strava recording anyway?

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

How annoying. Sometimes they do differ, and I have known strava to change once its all downloaded from Garmin. I hope you can reconcile it?

[AlysP Graduate10 in reply to ju-ju-]

Hi Ju Ju- I physically recorded it on strava as in pressed ‘start’ on strava. I have kept the strava version of the run privately so I could take a good look against the Garmin strava upload- and worked out the issue. About half my run was off road and the phone (aka strava) gps was very jagged in places- hence the extra distance. The Garmin does a lot better job of off road tracks and woods. So sadly I did only do 9.6k but that’s ok as naughtily it was supposed to be my second 9k anyway today on your superb plan- I was just being impatient to get to the magic 10😂

[2718281 Graduate10]

I never record with strava, I just wait for the upload from Garmin. Strava has an option, when you open a run in the web browser, just below the distance, it has a question mark, if you click it, it has something that reviews your run and applies some kind of algorithm that corrects the GPS distance for inconsistencies. I've found differences of up to 0.5 km (in a 10k) and that's using exactly the same data, just processing it differently I don't correct it because I really don't care, I just want to do it always the same way, but it's interesting

[AlysP Graduate10 in reply to 2718281]

Ooooh thank you will take a look. I don’t normally use strava to record either, I just did today and got depressed it was so far off Garmin!! So close yet so far from that 10k!!

[AlysP Graduate10]

That’s a good idea thanks- I have studied both the strava and the Garmin plotting and strava basically struggled on the off road parts- had me in a farmhouse at one point, and the middle of fields 😂

[AlysP Graduate10]

Well I bet ‘that was unexpected’ when you looked at the results 😂😂😂

[Tasha99 Graduate10]

I use Garmin and it automatically syncs to Strava so they’re the same. You don’t need to record separately. You need them to sync.

support.garmin.com/en-GB/?f...

[AlysP Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

Thanks Tasha- I do normally sync them- but my Garmin battery was low so pressed record on strava just in case. I had visions of Garmin dying just before the end! It was completely stupid stopping at the strava 10k rather than Garmin 10k - although I was utterly done in anyway. Maybe the heat got to me 😂 The Garmin synced as normal to strava after the run and I deleted the strava ‘10k’ recording. Thank you again though😀

[Tasha99 Graduate10 in reply to AlysP]

Strava can be quite inaccurate

[AlysP Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

Agreed- it’s all the off road bits it got really inaccurate with, it went a bit crazy this morning!!

[AlysP Graduate10]

😂

[Lizzibeth78]

I just let my watch sync with Strava rather than recording separately. My phone is usually tucked away in my pocket when I start a run. Only really have it with me for the music and any emergencies.

Although the other day my new 10K PB was different in strava than on connect. This Garmin still had some gremlins though then.

[AlysP Graduate10 in reply to Lizzibeth78]

Thanks Lizzbeth- yes so do I normally just sync Garmin to strava but the battery on my Garmin was low so I physically recorded on strava in case Garmin died - ‘if it’s not on strava it doesn’t count’ and all that and I didn’t want to end up with no recording at all. So sad really that I care that much😂😂

[AllezLeChef Graduate10]

I run with my daughter. She uses Strava and I use Garmin and for a 5km run she reaches 5km when I still have 400m to go. Much of the gap is typically occurs early on in the run

[AlysP Graduate10 in reply to AllezLeChef]

That’s interesting! I hope she doesn’t claim she is much quicker than you😂