One of the best features on Strava is the heat map. This shows you the most popular routes near you by highlighting the most used/recorded routes used by the people on the app. Even better, it also suggests a route. So, if you’re somewhere new, you can see where other people are running and you can get a suggestion for a route to follow.

I’m not sure that Strava knew I was on holiday though as the route it suggested was 8 miles cross country over what looked like farmer’s fields and a steep cliff face. Luckily you can adjust the distance and I worked out a four mile route away from the main roads and around some coastal trails instead.

I’d definitely recommend using Strava when you’re away, but it is a pity it doesn’t also have a no-Safari option. No, that doesn’t mean it bans the popular Apple internet browser, Safari. Instead, it could avoid the occasional detour through a field of sheep as part of the route it showed was also a field for the local farmers. Though, given this happened in Orkney, maybe the locals are always wandering into the sheep fields

(And the Orkney folk would say the same for us Isle of Lewis folk!)