2026-05-24 · 4 min read

How to read your Strava data — what metrics matter and which to ignore

You upload an activity to Strava and you see: distance, time, pace, average pace, max pace, calories, elevation, average HR, max HR, cadence, power, relative effort, fitness, fatigue, suffer score, segments, kudos... 20 metrics minimum. Most of them don't help you decide what to do tomorrow.

Here are the 6 that actually move the needle, in order of impact.

1. Average heart rate (vs. your LTHR)

The most underrated metric because it seems "obvious." Combined with your LTHR (Lactate Threshold Heart Rate), it tells you exactly what kind of session it was.

Why it beats pace: on trail with vert, heat or altitude, pace tells you nothing. HR does.

How to find your LTHR: 20-30 min all-out sustained controlled effort, compute average HR for the last 20 min. That's your approximate LTHR. Or a lab test. Or — easy — VDOT estimates it for you if you don't have measurements.

2. Average pace + GAP (Grade Adjusted Pace)

Strava shows average pace (what your watch measured) and GAP (what that pace would be on the flat, adjusted for grade).

Use GAP, not average pace, especially on trail. A 9:40/mi on an 8% climb equates to ~7:30/mi on the flat. If you stick with raw pace, you'll feel bad about something that was actually fast.

Strava computes GAP automatically when it sees elevation change. View it by clicking the activity → Analysis → Pace.

3. Cumulative elevation (day's D+)

10K flat is not the same as 10K with 1,600 ft of climbing. The second hits your muscles 2-3x harder.

Watch weekly cumulative D+: if your goal is trail with 6,500 ft D+ and your weekly peak is 1,300 ft, your legs will blow up. Practical rule: your weekly training D+ should exceed your race D+ at least 1-2 times during the body of the plan.

4. Suffer Score (not Strava's — real TSS)

Strava has its own "Relative Effort" and "Suffer Score" based on HR. It's somewhat useful but imprecise. If you train seriously, compute real TSS (Training Stress Score), which uses power or pace + duration + intensity.

100 TSS = 1 hour at threshold. Your cumulative weekly load (CTL) tells you how trained you are. Your TSS over the last 7 days (ATL) tells you how tired.

Vetta computes TSS and CTL/ATL/TSB automatically from your Strava activities. Strava only shows "Fitness/Fatigue" if you pay Premium, with less precision.

5. Cadence (steps per minute)

Optimal cadence for most adult runners: 170-185 spm. If your average cadence is below 165, there's room to lift it without extra effort and reduce impact per step.

[Calculate your optimal cadence](https://vettatrainer.com/herramientas/cadencia) based on height and pace.

Strava shows it as "Average cadence" on every run activity.

6. Time in HR zones

Per activity, Strava shows time spent in each zone (Z1-Z5) if HR is recorded and zones are configured.

What matters weekly: the aggregate distribution. If your goal is polarized (Seiler), you should see ~80% in Z1-Z2 and ~20% in Z4-Z5. If you see 60% in Z3, you're doing "grey zone" without knowing it and limiting adaptation.

What you can ignore

Combining them for a useful read

After every session, ask three questions:

1. Was HR where I planned? (review time in zones).

2. Was pace/GAP consistent? (with the feel, with the plan).

3. How did it add to weekly TSS? (ramping load gradually).

If the three are OK, it was a good session. If one fails, adjust the next.

How Vetta automates it

Vetta reads your Strava activities (auto-sync), computes GAP/TSS/CTL/ATL/TSB, detects weaknesses (low D+, low gym frequency, too much Z3), and shows everything aggregated in a dashboard. Without opening 12 Strava tabs per week.

[Connect your Strava here](https://vettatrainer.com/signup) — 7 days Pro free at signup.