Strava's #StatMaps

I have been using Strava's #StatMaps for a while and the first impression was a bag of mixed feelings.

What are #StatMaps?

#StatMaps are hashtags that you can add to the description of your activity which will allow you to highlight certain characteristics of your activity. This functionality is available to the Subscriber type of memberships at the time of writing (2021-01-21). The official Strava's support site describes it here: [1]

Hashtag	Purpose
#PaceMap or #SpeedMap	Higher speed/lower pace will be a darker blue.
#HeartrateMap	Higher heart rate will be a darker red.
#ElevationMap	Lower absolute elevation will be black and higher elevation will be yellow.
#GradientMap	Descents will be yellow and inclines will be red.
#PowerMap	Higher power will be darker purple. Please be aware this map treatment is not available for activities with estimated power.
#TimeMap	Longer elapsed time will be a darker red.
#TemperatureMap	Higher temperatures will be a darker red.

To identify which #StatMaps is best to use, I run two different paths, one with three loops of the same course, experiment 1, and another one with minimum repetition of paths, experiment 2. Both experiments were recorded with my Garmin fēnix 5S.

TL;DR

If your run has repetitions of the same course, like loops in a running track, then better use one of #ElevationMap, #GradientMap, #PaceMap or #SpeedMap, whichever better highlights your run. You might find that #HeartrateMap, #TimeMap and #TemperatureMap create confusing overlapping lines.

If your run has minimum repetitions of the same path, then you can use all of them, depending on the characteristic of the activity you would like to show to your followers!

Experiment 1

The run took place around Finsbury Park, London, UK, on 1st December 2020 [2].

The more useful #StatMaps in this experiment were the ones that highlighted the nature of the course, like:

• elevation using #ElevationMap,
• slope using #GradientMap and
• speed, using #PaceMap or #SpeedMap to the extent that your speed relates with the slop.

Intuitively, the later holds true when the slope is more challenging for you.

Because this run had multiple iterations of the same path, the #HeartrateMap, #TimeMap and #TemperatureMap created lines for characteristics that changed over time, hence the last repetition covered the earlier lines. #HeartrateMap will be more interesting if your activity has variation in your effort, but it will be darker if you try to achieve that precious Personal Best (PB) effort! 😄

Additionally, #TemperatureMap didn't show any interesting line, mainly because the temperature recorder by Garmin fēnix 5S was the temperature of my wrist and not the ambient temperature. Therefore it shows that my wrist temperature was higher, 21ºC (77°F), at the start of the run, because it was sunny and crispy December morning at 4ºC (39.2°F), and the temperature at home would have been around 21ºC (69.8°F). But after spending 50 mins running then my wrist temperature has dropped to 9ºC (48.2°F). Bottom line, if your temperature is recorded at your wrist then I don't believe that this figure carries too much information.

This experiment didn't show any estimated power which I believe it is reserved for cycling activities. Additionally, the #PaceMap did not show any results, and I was expecting it to present the same activity line as in #SpeedMap.

Experiment 2

The run took place around Crouch End, Alexandra Palace and Muswell Hill, London, UK, on 4th December 2020 [2].

All of the #StatMaps created interesting activity line apart of #PaceMap which showed no special line. The #TimeMap shows which was the earliest and the latest point in time and hence it presents the direction of the activity. Naturally, there is a strong correlation between the #GradientMap and #SpeedMap since I was faster in downhill and slower in uphill!

Conclusion

If your activity contains overlapping paths then I would advice you to avoid #StatMaps that would create lines with different colouring on every pass, like #HeartrateMap, #TimeMap and #TemperatureMap. Otherwise, if your activity contains intervals then you can use #HeartrateMap to show the intervals on the map. If your device has recorded the temperature at your wrist, then the created activity line may not be useful. I would recommend to use #TimeMap, to show the direction of your path, #ElevationMap or #GradientMap for the characteristics of the terrain, but #SpeedMap to present your performance in terms of speed.

I hope you found this break down useful! Happy exercises!

Reference

[1] Custom Activity Lines #statmaps https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049869011-Custom-Activity-Lines-statmaps
[2] Experiment 1, Activity on 1st December 2020 https://www.strava.com/activities/4414997530
[2] Experiment 2, Activity on 4th December 2020 https://www.strava.com/activities/4428758896