Berlin Marathon: Saturday Strava Segment

Hammersmith Bridge

One of the signature features of Strava is the segment. Every time you upload a run, Strava compares it to all the other routes on its database and reveals segments of your route that have been run by other users. It then tells you how your effort compared with the others who have run it that day, week, month or even all time. It's intriguing.

One of the segments I run a lot is along the Thames path between Hammersmith Bridge and Black Lion Lane, so I decided to push myself for that half-mile on an otherwise easy 45-minute outing on a bright, sunny, Saturday morning. It's also a good way to shock the body from its regular routine, which is something Yasmine the PT keeps recommending.

It was definitely a shock. I was unusually out of puff and glad to see the Black Lion pub looming into site after a quickish dash. Back at home, Strava confirmed it was personal best time for that segment of 4'07. That put me 352nd on the all-time list and 166th this year. So plenty of room for improvement and another mini-motivational tool.

I rehydrated by hopping on the bus back to Hammersmith with Joe and sampling a trio of beers in the sunshine at The Blue Boat.