Preferred/Alternative Activity Sources

What could we be using to get our data into CityStrides? If we assume that Strava is not going to provide additional API calls, we will never get caught up with the backlog of imports.

So what could we actually be using to bring data into CityStrides?

I use, in this order

1a. Strava
1b. SportTracks
3. Garmin

If I could pause strava sync and do a “from this date onward” sync with Garmin to help, I might be able to live with that.

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I use Garmin → Strava → CityStrides.

@rpjansonius made that same comment about a pause on Strava + Garmin go forward

I’d be totally fine with that.

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Same for me.

I’m encouraged by James’ Garmin mention here: CityStrides Roadmap (updated 2020-04-23)

Sounds like eliminating Strava in the chain would be a good thing, though I wonder what new problems it will bring? Garmin does not seem to be a problem for Strava though, and they must pull a lot of data.

Getting more data providers connected will take the load of the Strava api.

I already have Garmin connected with Strava and Endomondo, and a few days ago i added RunKeeper.

I would prefer direct link to Garmin as that is my main account, but i would actually be ok with a manual solution where i uploaded my own gpx.

I recently found a script to download all my gpx from Garmin, so i could do a full manual signup at CityStrides :slightly_smiling_face:

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Same as Dave and Eric (Garmin - Strava - CityStrides). But that is only because I have a Garmin watch currently and in order to get data into Strava, need to go through Garmin Connect first. If i purchased a different brand device, workflow would change.

Cutting Strava out as middleman & making data push centrally from Garmin to Strava & CS separately in theory should work but could be long term consequences we aren’t thinking about. (e.g. what if Garmin has or creates a limit similar to Strava). Adding a lot of different providers sounds like a good plan until you are a user and don’t know which one you should choose to avoid duplicates and/or avoid a platform’s rate limits.

Related: It appears that Strava does make limit adjustments subjectively but they have no real incentive to do so in this case. CS isn’t an exact duplicate feature of Strava’s heatmap feature but it’s in the same ballpark. In addition, upping CS limits would not likely bring in more users or revenue to Strava. Even if all CS users (~15k) ditched Strava in protest, Strava wouldn’t bat an eye. They were adding over a million new members a month as of June 2019

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Had to correct this:

I have always had my watch download to MapMyRun (MapMyFitness) and Strava. Then it automatically uploads from MapMyFitness to CityStrides. I like this setup because I feel like it gives me two locations where my running history resides. If something happens to Strava then my running log is on MapMyFitness and visa versa. I seem to have less issues with my data appearing on CityStrides In a timely manner with this setup.

Posted this in another thread as well but in the effort of bringing things together, I use Smashrun as my preferred source and only use Strava (now Runkeeper) to import to CS. My setup is:

iSmoothRun on Apple Watch > Strava/RunKeeper/Smashrun/Dropbox (GPX)
Strava/Runkeeper > CS

iSmoothRun is a great app and I suppose could be directly integrated but it really just exports GPX files to various other services so I’d imagine it would be easier to go from somewhere that already stores that GPX.

I saw in @JamesChevalier’s road map the note:

Strava has been completely unresponsive to my requests for an API limit increase.

It seems to me like it’s pretty obvious why that is. Strava has very specific branding and exclusivity requirements which this site doesn’t abide by. By choosing to support both Strava and their competitors, you’re probably stuck with the basic API limits, and you could probably be cut off at any time. Strava has cut off integrations with popular sites in the past. The most well-known example of this is what happened with Relive.

before i joined city strides i always went Garmin —> Endomondo. I only joined Strava so i could sync up all my activities. If we can enable Endomondo and/or Garmin that would eliminate the need for strava in entierty (for me at least).

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Hoping the Garmin option comes through. Would like to see this on my profile page:

You can find the Garmin integration discussion here: Interested in direct Garmin integration?

And also vote on it!

It’s also mentioned in CityStrides Roadmap (updated 2020-04-23), if you want to see it officially!

I wonder that too, but based on my observation, Strava never has a problem getting my Garmin data. Activities appear on my phone (Android with Garmin Connect & Strava apps) almost simultaneously after GC syncs with my FR235. And I suspect Strava, all it’s supported devices, is pulling a lot more data from Garmin than CS will!

@edsheldon, which watch do you have? I like that system of yours. I’m going to see if the direct Garmin interface comes to fruition, but if it doesn’t, will look into what you are doing. It will be good for CityStrides to use less Strava API call, but I don’t want to “loose” Strava data here, so maybe there needs to be a way to keep the Strava data CS already has, but not ask for more (suspend Strava sync). I think I read that if you remove Strava, or revoke access, then CS also “looses” the data. I don’t want that to happen.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this plays out. Oh, James did say, “I’m going to need some [Garmin] test accounts”, and I will be willing to do that too!

Eric, I have been using TomTom sports watches for about 8 years. They have been very solid and reliable for me. About a year, or so, ago they decided to leave the sports watch market (Really bummed about this). I will have to make a change at some point in the near future.

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What about bulk manual upload? I have a folder on my desktop with my run history in .GPX (because what running/data nerd doesn’t??) and could just drop it in for manual processing.

I suspect there are enough services out there to download your runs from whatever service you use that this would alleviate a lot of the Strava backlog. At that point I could flip a switch/check a box that de-prioritizes my strava sync for a day when there are extra API calls to spare (maybe I’m dreaming) just in case a few were missed.

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I haven’t reviewed APIs but I’m pretty sure there is a difference between data going from Garmin Connect to Strava than Strava to CityStrides. In the former data is being pushed from Garmin to Strava. In the latter data is being pulled from Strava to CityStrides. The pulling task is what platforms usually care about so that they aren’t getting bogged down or people doing nefarious things with the data.

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