I have discovered Strava. Or Strada, as my wife likes to call it. ‘That’s a restaurant chain,’ I point out annoyingly. ‘Totally different.’ I joined Strava earlier this year, but I did not really get it. Another way to record how far and how long you have been running or cycling, I thought. I used it only three times. Yesterday, however, I downloaded the data from my Garmin onto Strava: a simple task even for the mind of a technophobe. Up popped ‘segments’ from numerous runs I had done. Essentially, in a given 10-mile run, for instance, there may be a dozen or more ‘segments’ over which you can compare your time with fellow runners. Presumably these ‘segments’ are calculated and compared by some wizardry in the sky that is far beyond my comprehension; yet regardless of how Strava works, it is a marvel. Now I know that I am the seventh fastest runner (out of 34 – it is a big sample) to run the ‘Yacht Club to Martello’ segment in Seaford, a distance of 1.3 miles. I feel happier knowing this. A chap called ‘David Bradford’ holds the CR (course record), although I have a feeling he may have been cycling, as his time of three minutes, 26 seconds would make him the fastest miler on the planet. More interestingly, I found out I am the CR holder (out of 37 this time) for the 0.7-mile ‘Zig Zag Rd Climb’ up the steps from the stepping stones to the trig on Box Hill. (You will know exactly where I mean if you know Box Hill). I feel happier knowing this too. And so on…

Oh, Strava, I was painfully slow to find you, but running will never be the same again.