How to Read Your Strava Data Like a Coach

Every week I review Strava data for the athletes I coach. After years of doing this, I've narrowed it down to five metrics that tell me almost everything I need to know about how training is going. Here's what I look at — and how to interpret it yourself.

1. Average heart rate on easy runs

This is the single best indicator of aerobic fitness and recovery. If an athlete's easy runs are trending toward higher heart rates at the same pace, something's wrong — overtraining, poor sleep, illness, or life stress. If heart rate is dropping at the same pace over weeks, the base is building. I look at this before anything else.

2. Pace consistency on tempo and interval sessions

On a well-executed tempo run, your pace should be nearly identical across all miles. If you go out too fast and fade, the workout didn't do what it was supposed to. I look at the pace per lap or mile splits on every quality session. Wild variation tells me the athlete doesn't know their zones yet — or isn't recovered enough to hit them.

3. Weekly mileage trend over 4 weeks

One big week doesn't mean much. Four weeks of consistent or gently rising mileage means a lot. I look at the 4-week trend, not the most recent number. A spike often precedes an injury. A dip is fine — it might be intentional recovery. The trend is the signal.

4. Long run effort vs. distance

The long run should feel easy. If an athlete is running 18 miles at marathon effort, they're racing their long run — and they'll be wrecked for the rest of the week. I look at average heart rate on long runs relative to the distance. The longer the run, the lower the effort should be.

5. Days between hard sessions

Most recreational runners don't give themselves enough recovery between hard workouts. I count the days between any session with elevated heart rate or significant pace work. Two hard sessions in 48 hours with no easy day between them is a red flag. Recovery is where adaptation happens — compress it and you're just accumulating damage.