Frequently asked questions
The practical answers — including the honest ones about watch sync and what “adaptive” really means. Something missing? Ask us directly.
Getting started
How do I create a training plan?
Open the Plans tab, pick what you are training for — 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon, or a maintenance plan — choose your level, set the race date, and enter a recent race result (any distance). The app derives your training paces from that result and generates the whole plan: every week, every workout, deload weeks and taper included. If your race date is closer than the recommended preparation time, the app says so honestly before you start.
Where do my training paces come from?
From a race you have actually run — not from a goal time. A recent 5K or 10K result is enough: the app derives easy, threshold, interval and race paces from it using published methodology (Jack Daniels’ pacing math). Training to real fitness instead of hope is the single biggest injury-avoider in self-coached running.
Do I need an Apple Watch?
No — plans, calendar and progress work on iPhone alone, and runs recorded by other apps count via Apple Health. But the Watch is where RunPlan is strongest: the whole workout runs from your wrist, with the current interval, target pace window and a haptic tap at every transition. The phone can stay home.
Apple Watch: install and sync
The watch app is not on my watch. How do I install it?
iOS is supposed to install the watch app together with the iPhone app, but it sometimes silently does not. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, scroll to Available Apps, find RunPlan and tap Install. If it is not listed, scroll to the very bottom of the My Watch tab — apps pending installation appear there.
My plan is not showing up on the watch. What should I check?
In order: 1) The watch app is actually installed (see above). 2) Bluetooth is on and the watch is paired and nearby — sync runs over Bluetooth first, Wi-Fi second, so having both on the same Wi-Fi network helps. 3) Open RunPlan on the watch and leave it in the foreground for a moment — Apple delivers queued data much faster to a foregrounded app. 4) In your active plan on the iPhone, tap the watch icon to push the schedule again manually. 5) The classic last resort that genuinely works: restart both devices.
Why does watch sync sometimes take a while?
Honest answer: Apple’s phone-to-watch channel makes very few promises — messages can be instant when both apps are awake, or queued “for later” when the watch is sleeping. RunPlan sends every important update through several channels at once with de-duplication on the other side, which makes delivery reliable, but not always instant. Opening the app on both devices is the practical accelerator. We have written openly on the blog about this being one of the hardest parts of the platform.
Do workouts recorded on the watch save if my phone is not there?
Yes. The watch records and saves the workout locally to HealthKit on its own — the run is never lost. It syncs into the iPhone app and your plan when the devices next see each other.
Adaptation and changes
Does the plan adapt automatically?
Honestly: it does not silently rewrite your week after every run — and that is deliberate. A plan you can trust is one you can read on Monday and still recognize on Friday. Instead, adaptation happens at checkpoints, always with your approval: run a time trial and the app offers a fitness check with new paces; miss a stretch of training and it offers to ease the remaining weeks. Both show you the complete before/after plan diff before a single workout changes.
What happens when I miss workouts or get sick?
Nothing punitive. Missed workouts simply stay missed — they do not pile onto next week. If the gap gets long enough to matter (about a week, or several skipped sessions), the app offers to recalibrate: ease the remaining paces to where you actually are — a gentle restart, not a punishment. You see the full old-versus-new plan before accepting, and declining is always fine.
Can I move, swap or skip workouts myself?
Yes — long-press any workout: move it to another day (or shift all future Tuesdays, say), swap its type (turn today’s intervals into an easy run), or cancel it entirely. Progress statistics treat your edits fairly: moved runs are judged by their new date, swapped runs count as what you actually ran, and cancelled workouts leave your completion rate alone.
My paces feel too fast (or too slow). Can I adjust them?
Yes. Open your plan’s full overview and use the pace adjustment — every remaining workout re-renders live as a preview so you can see exactly what you would get, then apply. Completed runs are never touched. And if the plan’s paces consistently disagree with a time trial, the fitness check will propose a proper recalibration with the full diff.
The practical rest
Is RunPlan free?
Yes — the whole app, right now: all plans, the watch app, recalibration, charts. No trial, no locked weeks, no ads, no account. Whatever happens in the future, it will not be a subscription. The full breakdown lives at runplan.app/free.
Can I run indoors on a treadmill?
Yes — workouts can be started as indoor runs on the watch. Distance comes from Apple’s motion estimates rather than GPS, so treadmill distance is approximate (that is a platform reality, not an app choice), but the structure, intervals and heart-rate work all function.
What languages does RunPlan speak?
Nine: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil) and Russian.
Where is my data stored?
On your device and in Apple Health. There are no accounts and no training-data servers — we could not sell your data if we wanted to, because we do not have it. Details in the privacy policy.
I found a bug or have a feature idea. Where do I send it?
Email us — the address is on the home page and in the app’s settings. Both of us read everything; bug reports with a screenshot of the workout in question are the fastest to act on. The training engine is open source, so methodology disagreements are welcome as GitHub issues too.
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