Last August STRAVA introduced Best Efforts For Runners. This is a nice feature to check your PBs/PRs for each year and all-time. For runners, this feature mostly covers the standard race distances but it’s more nuanced for cyclists with bests considered for elevation gained in a ride, best single climb per ride, and then speed bests over various distances and power bests over time durations up to 2 hours.
You can immediately see your BEST EFFORTS on your Strava profile…or at least you can if you are a subscriber.
The Details
Strava Best Efforts tracks your top three efforts in five categories and includes indoor cycling as well as outdoor cycling. Distance PBs/PRs are in multiples of 10k up to 100k but also show milestone performances at 100 miles, 180km (Ironman-ish distance) and 10 miles (standard TT race distance).
Power durations are also sensibly selected to broadly correspond to typical test durations, and durations that correspond to bests for your body’s different physiologies. For example, 5 minutes is about a VO2 max effort and 2 hours is probably your real forever power (CP).
- Distances: 10 km, 10 mi, 20 km, 40 km, 50 km, 50 mi, 80 km, 90 km, 100 km, 100 mi, 180 km
- Power/time intervals: 5 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours
- Best efforts: your 3 best efforts of all time are noted and Strava also highlights your 5 best performances in each calendar year
Take Out
This is a nice feature that will probably appeal more to the performance cyclist and improver cyclist in equal measure. I regularly look at power duration breakthroughs every week (or the lack of them) but other cyclists I regularly ride with could instead be interested in mileage or vertical metres. We’re all differently motivated and these metrics seem to cover most of the bases.
Before writing this I had a quick check of my running bests. The issue I had was that a few rides had crept in to spoil the numbers. OK a bit of housekeeping soon sorted that out but it was a faff that I didn’t want.
Last Updated on 28 May 2026 by the5krunner
Small things I always use
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter: Charges your Garmin from any USB-C cable. Essential when travelling. I use one.
- Body Glide: The blue anti-chafe stick swimmers and runners carry. I use it.
- Speedo earplugs: Fewer ear infections and no cold-water dizziness. I use them.
- Dryrobe Advance: My winter changing robe for open-water swims. I use one. A cheaper option is the AONYIYI changing robe.
- Maurten: Race fuel that stays easy on the stomach. I use them.
- Garmin charging puck: The quickest way to top up before a session. I use one.
- Injinji: Toe socks that stop rubbing, so you run more. I use them.
- Ultimate toe protectors: Stop black toenails on long runs. They work. I use them.
- Compressport R2 v2 calf sleeves: My calf sleeves of choice. I use them.
- Cellucor C4: My pre-workout before hard sessions.
- TPU tubes: Schwalbe Aerothan, Tubolito and Pirelli SmarTube. Light, tiny spares. I use all three.
- G8 insoles: Adjustable insoles that are good. I use them.
- Cycplus Cube: A 97g electric pump that gets a road tyre rideable in two minutes. I carry one. 5% off with code THE5KRUNNER.
Watches and sensors
- Polar H10: My daily driver for waking HRV.
- Polar Verity Sense: My backup arm-worn HR sensor.
- Nomad bedside charger: Charges my iPhone and Apple Watch overnight. I use it, and many of their bands.
- Train.Red: The best muscle oxygen sensor I’ve used.
- Tymewear: Accurate heart rate and reliable ventilatory zones. I use it to pace endurance rides over an hour.
- Garmin Forerunner 970: A pro-grade triathlon watch. I use this.
- Apple Watch Ultra 4: My daily smartwatch. No phone needed on rides.
- Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: I’ve just bought one.
On the bike
- Continental GP5000 for everyday riding, and Aero 111 on the front for special occasions.
- Helmets: Specialized S-Works Evade 3 for road riding, and Rudy Project Wing for TT-style races. I use both.
- Ravemen FR300: A front light that mounts under your Garmin or Wahoo. I use one.
- Wahoo TRACKR Radar: I use it on one bike and Varia on the other. They perform the same.
- Garmin Varia RTL515: Radar that warns you of cars from behind. I use this model.
- Wahoo ELEMNT Roam 3: The bike computer that’s easy to use. I use mine on most rides.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2: Accurate power pedals that swap easily between bikes. I use this model.
Home and indoor training
- NPE Runn: Makes my basic treadmill smart, sending more accurate speed and distance to my watch and Zwift. I use it.
- Google Wifi: Keeps Zwift connected in my pain cave. I use it.
- Apple TV 4K: Zwift on the big screen. I use two.
- Google Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen): My video doorbell, running in both Google Home and Apple Home. I use it.
Health, recovery and sleep
- FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus: Shows how my blood sugar responds to diet.
- hDrop: Measures my sweat loss in summer and indoors.
- Fourth Frontier Zone: Checks my heart under load in hard sessions.
- Oura Ring 5: My partner’s recovery tracker of choice.
- Kineon MOVE+: Red light therapy for niggles. It works.
- Eight Sleep: A cooling mattress cover my partner and I use nightly.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
It was a “funny” feature for ~1weeks when i could see and compare on Strava everybody’s best power data for a given duration on webpage (even pros). Probably somebody informed them about this serious GDRP issue and suddenly killed this “cool” feature…