I'm currently training for two back-to-back, incredibly challenging marathons in Boston and New York City—which, aside from a lot of early morning runs and solid hydration practices, requires a significant belief in myself. And long ago, I realized that comparing my progress to others' by sharing my pace on social media was messing with my running confidence. So I decided to stop doing it altogether.
Thanks to an influx of wearables that make it easy to track running data (looking at you, Apple Watch and FitBit), community run sharing has exploded in recent years. Apps like Strava and Map My Run, along with social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, allow runners to track and share their times, splits, and progress. On one hand, these are incredible tools for building a community, but on the other, they have the potential to negatively impact people's mental health.
“I think platforms like Strava are both the best and the worst things that have happened to the running community," says Nike Run coach Jes Woods. "Sharing your runs on social media or a running platform is great for camaraderie and virtual community building, but it can also become a source of negative anxiety.”
This was certainly the case for me. Sharing my stats on Instagram made me think that I wasn't "good enough" to call myself a runner because I wasn't as fast as my peers—which according to Woods, is a problem that many runners face. Though it might be tempting to see how your pace stacks up to...
Read Full Story: https://www.wellandgood.com/why-i-no-longer-share-my-running-pace/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.