Strava Best Efforts: Understanding, Editing, and Maintaining Data Accuracy

How Do You Edit Best Efforts on Strava?

While you cannot directly "edit" your best efforts on Strava, these performance milestones are automatically re-calculated based on any changes you make to the underlying activity data, such as cropping erroneous GPS sections or correcting activity types.

Understanding Strava's "Best Efforts"

Strava's "Best Efforts" feature is a powerful analytical tool designed to track your peak performances across various distances and durations. For runners, this includes common race distances like 400m, 1K, 1-mile, 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon, as well as timed efforts like your fastest 30-second, 1-minute, or 1-hour pace. For cyclists, best efforts might include peak power outputs over different durations. These metrics are automatically generated and updated by Strava, providing a dynamic record of your physiological capabilities and progress over time. They are crucial for performance analysis, goal setting, and understanding the efficacy of your training programs.

Why You Might Need to Edit Best Efforts

The necessity to "edit" best efforts typically arises when the underlying activity data is flawed. Since best efforts are derived directly from your recorded GPS and sensor data, any inaccuracies in that data will propagate to your performance metrics. Common reasons for needing to adjust an activity that impacts best efforts include:

• GPS Inaccuracies: Signal drift, dropped signals, or erroneous spikes in pace/distance can drastically skew your true performance.
• Accidental Pauses/Unpauses: Forgetting to pause your activity during a break or accidentally resuming can inflate your elapsed time for a given distance.
• Device Malfunctions: Battery drain, sensor disconnections, or software glitches can lead to incomplete or corrupted data.
• Incorrect Activity Type: Recording a bike ride as a run, or vice-versa, will generate irrelevant and misleading best efforts for the wrong sport.
• Warm-ups/Cool-downs: While not strictly an error, some athletes prefer to remove these sections to focus on the core workout, though this often doesn't affect best efforts unless a peak performance occurred within that segment.
• Privacy Zone Interference: If a significant portion of your activity falls within a privacy zone, it might affect the data visible and used for best effort calculations.

The Core Process: Editing an Activity on Strava

It's critical to understand that you do not directly edit best efforts. Instead, you edit the specific activity (run, ride, etc.) that generated those best efforts. Once an activity is edited and saved, Strava automatically re-processes the data and updates any affected best efforts accordingly.

Here's the step-by-step process for editing an activity on Strava, primarily focusing on the most common tools that impact best efforts:

• Accessing the Activity:
  • On the Web: Log in to Strava.com, navigate to "My Activities" from your dashboard, and click on the activity you wish to edit.
  • On the Mobile App: Open the Strava app, go to the "You" tab, select "Activities," and tap on the activity you wish to edit.
• Initiating the Edit:
  • On the Web: On the activity page, click the "wrench" icon (Actions) and select "Edit Activity" or "Crop."
  • On the Mobile App: On the activity details screen, tap the three dots (...) icon in the top right corner and select "Edit Activity" or "Crop."
• Using the Crop Tool (Most Common for Best Efforts):
  • The Crop tool is invaluable for removing erroneous sections from your activity, such as GPS jumps, forgotten pauses, or the start/end of an activity that isn't part of your core effort.
  • Drag the start and end sliders on the activity map/timeline to select the portion you want to keep. The discarded sections will be greyed out.
  • You can also use the "Split" feature to remove a middle section of an activity.
  • After adjusting, click "Crop" (web) or "Save" (app). Strava will then re-analyze the cropped data, and your best efforts will update based on the new, refined activity.
• Using the Correct Distance Tool (Less Common):
  • This tool is available on the web version of Strava under "Edit Activity." It attempts to correct minor distance discrepancies by re-sampling the data.
  • It's generally less effective for major GPS errors than the Crop tool but can sometimes fine-tune distance. Be cautious, as it relies on Strava's algorithms and may not always reflect reality.
• Editing Activity Type:
  • Under "Edit Activity," you can change the sport type (e.g., from "Run" to "Walk" or "Bike"). This is crucial because best efforts are sport-specific. Changing the type will clear best efforts from the old sport and prevent them from being calculated for the new, incorrect sport.
• Other Edits (Less Impact on Best Efforts):
  • You can also edit the activity's title, description, privacy settings, gear used, and add photos. While these are important for your activity log, they do not directly influence the calculation of best efforts.

Specific Scenarios and Solutions

• Removing Erroneous GPS Spikes or Outliers: Use the Crop tool to precisely select the valid segment of your activity, excluding any sections where your GPS data was clearly incorrect (e.g., showing you running at an impossible speed or distance). This ensures that your best efforts are calculated from clean data.
• Correcting a Forgotten Pause: If you forgot to pause your watch during a coffee break, use the Crop tool to remove that stationary period from your activity. This will accurately reflect your moving time and average pace, leading to more accurate best efforts.
• Activity Recorded as the Wrong Sport: If you accidentally recorded a run as a bike ride, go into "Edit Activity" and change the "Sport" type. This will ensure that the activity contributes to your running best efforts, not cycling, and vice-versa.
• Manual Activities: Be aware that activities entered manually (without GPS data) typically do not generate best efforts as there is no granular data to analyze for peak performances.

Important Considerations and Best Practices

• Data Integrity is Paramount: For serious athletes, accurate data is the foundation of effective training. Editing activities to correct errors ensures that your training load, progress tracking, and performance analysis are based on reliable information.
• Impact on Segments and Leaderboards: Be mindful that cropping or correcting an activity can affect your times on Strava segments and your position on leaderboards. If you correct an error that previously gave you an unfair advantage on a segment, your time will update.
• Limitations of Editing: You cannot manually create or input best efforts. Strava's system is designed to automatically derive these from your recorded data. You also cannot manually adjust specific splits within an activity; you can only crop or correct the overall data.
• Preventative Measures: The best way to manage best efforts is to ensure accurate data capture from the outset.
  • Good GPS Signal: Wait for a strong GPS lock before starting your activity.
  • Device Settings: Ensure your GPS recording interval is set appropriately (e.g., "every second" for maximum accuracy).
  • Battery Management: Keep your device charged to avoid mid-activity shutdowns.
  • Regular Syncing: Sync your device regularly to ensure software updates and data integrity.

Conclusion: Maximizing Your Strava Experience

While Strava's "Best Efforts" are automatically calculated, maintaining their accuracy is within your control through diligent activity management. By understanding how to effectively use the platform's editing tools, particularly the "Crop" feature, you can ensure that your personal records truly reflect your peak performances. This dedication to data integrity not only enhances your personal training insights but also contributes to a more accurate and meaningful experience within the broader Strava community. Leverage these tools to build a precise and empowering chronicle of your athletic journey.