Strava Is for Health—and Generally Poetry

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After I acquired house from a run in November of final yr, I typed into my telephone a listing of issues I’d seen on my run and added it to my Strava publish. I assumed I would hold doing it, as an train in noticing issues. It was good, having just a little visible journal of the odd sights and sounds of my afternoon jog.

In fact, I couldn’t take it critically, and the very subsequent run, I wrote a brief poem, and put that on Strava. It went like this:

Procrastinator’s 5K

I would love additional credit score

for the energy I burned

sliding round within the snow

thanks

I simply saved doing it after that, each single time I recorded an exercise: Brief poems, lengthy poems, none of them with any type of actual construction, however poems, in regards to the issues I see or take into consideration after I’m out operating, or mountaineering, or snowboarding. I don’t take heed to music or podcasts after I run, so I’ve loads of time to suppose. I assume there should be not less than just a few different individuals who do that similar factor (Strava has 95 million customers in spite of everything), however I’ve solely heard from one different individual.

After I scroll by way of my feed, I get pleasure from seeing what my mates are as much as. However I actually get pleasure from seeing what my mates are as much as after they take the additional 15 seconds to make use of that Strava house so as to add in a joke, whether or not or not it has something to do with what they only did on their run or trip or ski. And I believe that’s a pleasant factor to place out into the world.

Are my Strava poems any good? I assume they don’t seem to be (however possibly somebody with an MFA may present some readability). Is that this what Strava is for? Most individuals would say no, it’s not. I don’t even know if quite a lot of individuals who observe me have observed that I’m doing it, regardless of my having saved it up for nearly 4 months now. However I’m dedicated.

Listed below are a handful of them. When you’re on Strava, you’ll be able to observe me right here.

(All images: Brendan Leonard/Strava)