Frequently asked questions

Yes to Strava, no to Premium. lope reads activity data through Strava's free OAuth API. If you already have a Strava account, you're set. If you have Premium for the social feed and segment leaderboards, lope doesn't replace any of that — it's a layer of analysis and coaching on top of the data Strava already collects.

Your activity history, heart-rate streams, GPS polylines, lap data, race tags, and any workout types you've assigned. lope doesn't read your social feed, comments, kudos, or following list. The full per-activity intelligence we derive from this data is detailed in per-run analysis.

No. lope is read-only. Your Strava feed stays yours.

Your data lives in lope's database. It isn't shared with third parties or used to train external models. You can request deletion any time and we'll wipe everything tied to your account, including the Strava sync token. The plain-language version is in how lope handles your Strava data; the legal version is in our Privacy Policy.

lope is in active development. Early-access users get the full app for free in exchange for usage feedback. We're being deliberately careful about scaling — the coach uses AI tokens that cost real money — so we're growing the user base at a pace that keeps the experience high. You'll hear directly from us as features evolve.

Probably not forever. The plan is a paid tier eventually, but we'll honor early-access pricing or give substantial credit to anyone in the early cohort. You'll know well in advance — no surprise charges.

Request access on the homepage. We onboard in waves as capacity allows. If your goal race is soon and you'd benefit from the coaching now, mention that — it bumps you up the list.

You can override either from the app. Zones are editable on the profile page (max HR, LTHR, or individual zone boundaries); lope respects your overrides and recalculates past activities on the next sync. Run classifications can be flipped from the activity detail page, and lope learns from your manual changes — particularly for the long-run threshold, which adapts to your signals. See how zones are calculated and how classification works for the full mechanics.

Most analysis works on pace and time alone, but the gray-zone detection, zone-distribution math, and several training-score components need HR data. Without HR, you'll get pace-based coaching but lose the zone-aware insights. A chest strap or watch-based HR sensor unlocks the full experience.

Trail runs: works fully. Track: works, though some lap-detection logic (like the smart stride attachment) is tuned for outdoor running. Treadmill: works for HR and pace analysis, but elevation and route shape are obviously absent — the coach knows when a run was a treadmill session and adjusts.

Right now lope is Strava-only. Most major devices already sync to Strava, so that's the pipe. Direct device integrations and HRV/sleep data from non-Strava sources are on the roadmap — particularly because that data is genuinely useful for coaching.

A general-purpose AI doesn't know your training. lope's coach gets your last ten activities (with derived signals like terrain-adjusted cardiac drift and per-second zone distribution), your four-week summaries, your race goals, your prior chats, and your athlete notes — every time you ask a question. It also references four coaching methodologies (Daniels, Magness, Fitzgerald, Canova) and dedicated knowledge bases on injury prevention, race execution, and fueling. The full architecture is in how the lope coach is built.

We've been deliberate about grounding the coach in established methodology rather than letting it improvise. The advice is usually solid, but AI is fallible — treat the coach like a smart, well-read training partner and sense-check anything that conflicts with what you know about your own body. For injury or pain, see a physical therapist or sports doctor.

Probably not for elite athletes working 1-on-1 with a coach who knows them intimately. For self-coached runners, athletes between coaches, or runners with rich data and a limited coaching budget, lope is built to be a serious upgrade over going it alone — not a substitute for human relationships at the top of the sport.