Hal Higdon vs Nike Run Club vs ChatGPT vs Runna: Best Running Training Plan 2026
- May 2
- 26 min read
Updated: Aug 15
By Andy Hood | Ultra & Endurance Runner | Runna Ambassador | North Devon
Disclosure: I am a proud Runna Ambassador. Some links in this article are affiliate links. All opinions are my own, based on genuine personal experience of every option described here.
Updated August 2026 | Originally published May 2026
Runna 2 week exclusive free trial - available here
Every runner I speak to, whether they're lining up for their first ParkRun or asking me about ultras on the trails of North Devon, eventually asks the same question: "How do I find a training plan that actually works for me?"
It's a question I've wrestled with throughout my own running journey. Before cancer knocked me off my feet in 2021, I trained largely by feel and instinct. When I came back, rebuilt, refocused, and determined to make every mile count, I had to start thinking much more carefully about structure, periodisation, and purpose. The search for the best running training plan commenced.
Since then I've completed events including the Tour du Mont Blanc (160km through France, Switzerland and Italy), multiple 50K London ultras, and self-designed fundraising runs that have raised over £25,000 for cancer and mental health charities. Structure and the right training plan have been central to all of it.
And I've genuinely tried everything on this list. Not reviewed it from a distance, actually used it. Printed PDFs off and ticked boxes week after week. Logged into Nike Run Club and run with a voice in my ear. Asked ChatGPT to build me a bespoke ultra plan. And, as a Runna Ambassador, used Runna's coaching platform extensively in preparation for some of my biggest events.
This article is my honest, no-nonsense guide to all four options. The good bits and the bits that drove me away. Written from lived experience on the trails, coastal paths and country lanes of North Devon and around the World.
Whether you're targeting your first 5K, chasing a marathon PB, or eyeing something more ambitious, this is the guide I wish someone had written for me.
Why trust this review
I've personally trained with every option on this list, not tested them briefly for a review, but used them through full training blocks for events that mattered to me. I followed printed Hal Higdon plans for several years, used Nike Run Club as my primary app, built bespoke ultra plans with ChatGPT, and as a Runna Ambassador have used Runna through the build-up to the Tour du Mont Blanc and multiple 50K ultras.
I'm an ultra and endurance runner based in North Devon, a cancer survivor, and I've raised over £25,000 for cancer and mental health charities through self-designed fundraising runs. I'm not a qualified running coach — where that matters, I say so.
Disclosure: I am a Runna Ambassador and some links here are affiliate links. Everything below is my own opinion, based on genuine use.
What's in this guide
The Four Options: Best Running Training Plan A Quick Overview
Best running training plans compared: Hal Higdon, Nike Run Club, ChatGPT and Runna (updated August 2026)
Hal Higdon | Nike Run Club | ChatGPT | Runna | |
Cost | Free PDF's; paid tiers available | Free | Free (paid tiers available) | Subscription UK - £15.99/mth, £99.99p/a. USA - $19.99p/mth, $119.99p/a |
Full session detail (pace, reps, recovery) | No | Partial | Yes, if you prompt for it | Yes, every session |
Adapts to your live data | No | No | No | Yes |
Strength & conditioning included | No | No | Only if you ask | Yes, built in |
Distances covered | 5K to marathon+ | 5K to marathon | Any, on request | Couch to 5K, to marathon & ultra |
Watch integration | Via Hal+ | Yes | No | Garmin, Apple Watch & others |
Accountablity/reminders | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Best for | Budget conscious runners who want proven structure | Tracking, community and guided audio | Confident runners who can evaluate output critically | Runners from beginner to advances who want real coaching structure |
Prices checked August 2026
The short version
Hal Higdon gives you free, proven structure — but tells you what to run, never how to run it. No paces, no recovery times.
Nike Run Club is an excellent tracking and community app and a mediocre coach. Its audio guidance can't see your actual pace.
ChatGPT will fill in the session detail printed plans leave out, but it can't see your Garmin data and won't hold you accountable.
Runna is the only option here that combines full session detail, adaptation to your real training and built-in strength work. It costs money, and it earns it.
Best free combination: a Hal Higdon plan plus ChatGPT to fill in the paces and recoveries.
Own a Garmin? Garmin Coach is a strong free alternative — I've covered that comparison in detail in Runna vs Garmin Coach.
Option 1: Downloadable Training Plans — The Hal Higdon Method
In short: Hal Higdon's downloadable plans are free, sensibly structured around an 80/20 easy-to-hard split, and available for beginners through to advanced and senior runners. Their limitation is that they specify the session but not how to run it, no pace targets, no recovery times between intervals, leaving you to research each workout yourself. Best for budget-conscious runners who are happy to fill in those gaps.
Hal Higdon is, by any measure, a giant of running coaching. A competitor in eight Olympic trials turned bestselling author and coach, he's been publishing running plans since before most recreational runners were born. His plans, covering 5K through to marathon and beyond, have helped hundreds of thousands of people cross finish lines they once thought impossible.
It's worth being clear that Hal Higdon isn't just one product. There are three distinct tiers. The free downloadable PDFs are what most people think of, you print one off, tick boxes, and follow along. There's also a TrainingPeaks subscription option where Hal himself will message you with feedback on your runs and suggestions going forward, which adds a genuine coaching layer.
And there's the Run With Hal app, which provides some post-run feedback, though GPS tracking and pace features sit behind the Hal+ paid subscription. So depending on which tier you use, the experience is quite different.
I did exactly this for several years, the free PDF version. Found plans online, combined bits from different ones, printed them off and stuck them on the fridge. And to a point, it worked, I got to start lines, I got to finish lines. But the deeper I got into my running, the harder a fundamental problem became to ignore.
The genuine benefits
There's a reason Hal Higdon plans remain popular decades after they were written. They work, and they work for a broader range of runners than people sometimes assume.
The plan range is wider than most people realise. There are programmes for beginners, intermediate and advanced runners, and dedicated plans for seniors, making Higdon one of the few free resources that doesn't just cater to first-timers. If you're an experienced runner on a budget, or a masters runner looking for age-appropriate structure, there's likely a Higdon plan built with you in mind.
The plans follow a sensible 80/20 philosophy: roughly 80% of your running volume is at a comfortable, conversational pace, with the remaining 20% devoted to structured quality work like tempo runs and intervals. For novice plans in particular, this is a forgiving and injury-conscious approach. Weekday runs are short, rest days are plentiful, and the long run is the centrepiece of each week's training.
The TrainingPeaks subscription option genuinely upgrades the experience, having Hal message you with feedback on your runs and guidance on what to do next is a meaningful step up from a static PDF. It's not the same as real-time coaching, but it's a genuine human touchpoint that the free plan entirely lacks.
The community around these plans is enormous too. If you're training alongside friends, the chances are someone in your group has used Hal Higdon, which creates a natural accountability network.
The honest downsides, and why I moved on
Here's the problem I kept running into, and I suspect it's one a lot of you will recognise.
The free plan told me what to do. It never told me how to do it.
Take a tempo run. The plan says "6 miles tempo" on Thursday. Fine. But what pace? What does tempo actually mean for a runner at my fitness level, is it 80% effort, 85%, something else? How hard should it feel? And the interval sessions were worse.
"Intervals" or "speed work" would appear in the schedule with no further explanation. It may state 400m repeats, 1km, 800m and the number of repeats. But the question remained, how much recovery between each? What pace target should I be hitting?
Every single week I'd have to do additional research on top of the actual training. Hunting through running forums, YouTube videos, coaching websites, trying to piece together what the session I was supposed to be doing actually looked like in practice. That's a significant amount of extra work, and it creates real risk: if you get the session wrong, going too fast, running too long, taking too little recovery, you either undertrain or pick up an injury.
The Run With Hal app adds post-run feedback too, which is helpful, but if you want GPS tracking and pace data and real programme personalisation, that sits behind the Hal+ subscription. So what begins as a free option can accumulate costs as you seek more features, without ever quite delivering the seamless, live coaching experience.
And underpinning all of it: the base plan still doesn't know who you are. It doesn't know that you had a rough week at work, that you've got a niggle in your left knee, or that you ran your local ParkRun hard on Saturday and have nothing left on Sunday. It doesn't adjust in real time. Week four looks the same for a runner who's flying and a runner who's struggling, because a static plan, however well supported, can't replace a coaching system built around your live data.
That's ultimately why I moved on. The plans weren't bad, but they were incomplete. They were the skeleton of a training programme without the muscle, and filling in the gaps required more coaching knowledge than most recreational runners actually have.
Who should use Hal Higdon?
Hal Higdon's plans are worth considering across a wider range of runners than you might expect, beginners, intermediate runners, advanced athletes, and seniors all have dedicated programmes. If you want a free, structured plan to follow with minimal setup, the downloadable PDF remains one of the best options available at zero cost. If you want more engagement, the Run With Hal app adds post-run feedback and human touchpoints that the static PDF lacks. Just go in knowing that real-time, in-the-moment coaching, the kind that responds to what's happening during your actual run, isn't part of the package at any tier.
Option 2: Free Running Apps — Nike Run Club and Others
In short: Nike Run Club is one of the best free running apps for GPS tracking, run history and community, and its guided audio runs are well produced. As a coaching tool it falls short: the sessions repeat rather than progress, and the audio coaching has no visibility of your actual pace, so the encouragement is identical whether you're on target or three minutes behind. Best used alongside a proper plan, not instead of one.
Nike Run Club (NRC) is one of the most widely used free running apps in the world, with guided audio runs, GPS tracking, community challenges, and built-in training plans for distances from 5K to marathon. Other notable free options include Strava's training features and Adidas Running (formerly Runtastic).
I used Nike Run Club for a period, and I want to be fair to it before I tell you why I stopped.
The genuine benefits
The tracking features alone make these apps worthwhile. Having GPS, pace data, heart rate (if your watch supports it) and run history all in one place is genuinely useful, and free is hard to argue with.
The guided audio runs are well-produced, and the idea of having a coach voice in your ear during a session is appealing. The social elements, shared activities, community challenges, tap into something real about how runners stay motivated. Running can be a solitary sport, and features that connect you to other people doing the same thing fill a genuine gap.
The honest downsides — and why I moved on
Two things frustrated me enough to move on, and I think they'll resonate with a lot of runners who've hit a similar wall.
The first was repetition. After a few weeks, I could predict roughly what was coming. The sessions felt like they were cycling through a limited library of workouts without a coherent progressive logic behind them. Good training should feel like it's building toward something, each week a step in a deliberate sequence. What I experienced felt more like a rotation of familiar sessions than a structured programme moving me forward. Variety in session type, intensity and structure isn't a luxury in training; it's how adaptation happens.
The second frustration was the audio coaching, and this one gets to the heart of what generic coaching can and can't do. In theory, having a voice guiding you through a session sounds great. In practice, those cues had no idea what was actually happening in my run. The coach in the app didn't know whether I was ahead of my target pace or grinding through three minutes behind it.
The encouragement was identical either way. When you're working hard and a voice tells you you're doing brilliantly without any reference to your actual numbers — your real pace versus your target — it stops feeling like coaching and starts feeling like background noise.
Real coaching responds to what's actually happening. A generic audio track fundamentally cannot do that, however well it's produced.
There's also a broader issue. These apps are built as engagement and tracking tools first, coaching tools second. The goal of the product is to keep you opening the app — and that isn't the same thing as designing your training to make you a genuinely better runner.
In fairness to Nike the app may have moved on since I last used it, but at the time I found it very frustrating even when paired to my Apple Watch.
Who should use free running apps?
Free running apps are genuinely excellent as companions to your training, for tracking, data, and community. I'd encourage you to keep one running alongside whatever plan you follow. But as your primary coaching tool, once you've moved beyond total beginner level, they're likely to leave you wanting more.
If you own a Garmin, Garmin Coach is a considerably stronger free option than any of these — see my full Runna vs Garmin Coach comparison.
Option 3: AI-Generated Plans — ChatGPT and Similar Tools
In short: ChatGPT will build you a bespoke training plan in seconds, free, and — unlike a printed PDF — will tell you exactly what pace to run your tempo at and how long to recover between intervals. Its weakness is that it can't see your training data, doesn't know how you're responding week to week, and offers no accountability. Best as a supplement to a structured plan rather than a replacement for one.
This is the newest entrant to the training plan conversation, and it's genuinely interesting. You can open ChatGPT, Claude, or any other large language model and ask it to build you a completely bespoke training plan based on your current fitness, your goal race, the number of days per week you can train, any injuries you have, and whatever other constraints apply to your life. The output can be detailed, thoughtful, and surprisingly well-structured.
The genuine benefits
The appeal is obvious: it's free, it's instant, and it gives you something that feels personalised in a way a Hal Higdon PDF simply cannot.
If you know how to prompt an AI well, you can get something genuinely sophisticated. You can ask for full session detail, specific pace targets for interval sessions, recovery times, whether that Thursday workout is 400m or 1km repeats and why. You can ask for strength sessions to be woven in. You can request a plan that accounts for a holiday in week six, a tune-up race in week ten, and a target finish time for your goal event. You can iterate, question and refine: "Why have you included a tempo run in week three rather than week four?" and get a coherent answer.
Crucially, an AI will actually answer the session detail question that printed plans leave hanging. Ask it what pace to run your tempo at and it will tell you, specifically, based on what you've told it about your current fitness. That alone puts it a step ahead of a generic PDF.
The honest downsides
I say this as someone who has experimented with this: there's a meaningful gap between a plan that looks good on paper and one that actually serves a runner well over weeks and months of training.
The core problem is that AI has no idea how your training is actually going. It can't see your Garmin data. It doesn't know you felt flat on Wednesday's tempo run, or that you've been sleeping badly, or that your calf has been grumbling since last Thursday's session. You can tell it, but then you have to remember to tell it, interpret the signals yourself, and know the right questions to ask. That requires a level of self-awareness about your own physiology that most recreational runners are still developing.
There's also no accountability built in. A training plan sitting in a ChatGPT conversation is easy to quietly abandon. There are no notifications, no progress tracking, no sense that anyone is watching or that the next session is waiting for you.
And finally, AI plans are only as good as the training knowledge in the model. While they can produce plans that follow general principles of periodisation, the output doesn't carry the specific expertise of a qualified running coach who has taken hundreds of athletes through real training cycles and learned what works under race conditions.
Who should use AI-generated plans?
AI tools are genuinely useful as a supplement for confident, experienced runners who can critically evaluate the output. They're also excellent for getting the session detail that printed plans leave out, use them to flesh out a Hal Higdon plan if you want to stick with that structure. As your primary coaching tool, approach them with healthy scepticism.
Option 4: Runna — Structured Coaching in Your Pocket
In short: Runna is a subscription coaching app built by qualified coaches, offering plans from Couch to 5K through to ultra marathon. Every session comes with full detail, repeat distance, number of reps, target pace and recovery, with strength and conditioning built in and integration for Garmin, Apple Watch, Coros and Suunto. It costs money and it doesn't replace a human coach for injury management. Best for runners past the beginner stage who want genuine coaching structure.
I'm a Runna Ambassador, and I want to be upfront about that from the start. What that means in practice is that I believe in the product, because you don't lend your name to something you wouldn't stand behind, especially when your reputation as a runner and a cancer awareness advocate depends on being honest with people.
Runna is a subscription-based running coaching app built by world-class coaches including England Athletics certified professionals. It offers personalised training plans for distances from Couch to 5K through to ultra marathon, with plans adapting based on your current fitness level, training history, race goals, and the number of days per week you can train.
The genuine benefits
The quality gap between Runna and everything else I've described is meaningful, and it comes down to one thing above all others: this was built by coaches, not product teams.
When you arrive on Runna, you don't select a plan from a menu. You tell the app your current running level, your goal event and date, how many days per week you can train (anywhere from two to six), and whether you want strength and conditioning built in. The app builds you a plan calibrated to where you actually are, not a generic runner of vaguely similar ability.
And crucially: every single session comes with full detail. Your interval sessions specify the distance of each repeat, the number of reps, the target pace, and the recovery time. Your tempo runs tell you exactly how hard to work and for how long. There is no homework required. The question I spent years trying to answer — is this a 400m or 1km session, and at what pace? — is answered before you even lace your shoes.
The plans include a genuine mix of session types: easy runs, tempo work, intervals, long runs, and structured strength training. That combination is what coaches actually prescribe. It's not just running more miles, it's running the right miles at the right intensities, with the conditioning work that keeps you healthy enough to absorb the training load.
The Garmin and Apple Watch integration is seamless. Your workout loads directly to your device, you run it, and the data feeds back into the app. For athletes who train by feel rather than technology, you can also run to RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion), useful when you're travelling, tired, or running challenging terrain like the coastal paths around Croyde and Saunton Sands where pace targets become meaningless.
I've used Runna in preparation for the Tour du Mont Blanc and my own self-designed fundraising ultras, and the structured approach, knowing each session has a clearly defined purpose within a larger progressive plan, has transformed the way I train. The difference between printing a plan off and ticking boxes versus having a coaching programme that knows who you are is not subtle.
Runna holds a 4.9/5 rating on Trustpilot. That number reflects the quality of the coaching and the app experience together, and in my experience it's earned.
The honest downsides
This wouldn't be an honest review if I didn't tell you what Runna doesn't do as well as a 1-to-1 human coach.
It doesn't give you direct feedback on your sessions. There's no coach reading your data and sending you a voice note saying "your heart rate looked high in that tempo, let's talk about what you ate beforehand." The plan adapts based on inputs, but the conversational layer of real coaching isn't there.
Handling injury is the other area where the app's limitations show. Runna will accommodate a holiday, you tell it you're away and it adjusts your schedule, but adapting the plan around a more complex injury situation isn't quite as seamless. For that, you still need a physio or a human coach's eyes on what's happening.
And it costs money. There's a subscription fee, and I'm not going to pretend that's nothing. If you're a genuine beginner on a tight budget who just wants to complete a first 5K, a free Hal Higdon plan will serve you well enough. Runna earns its cost when you're serious about progression, when you're training for something that matters, when you want the session detail and the structure that moves you forward rather than just keeps you moving.
Who should use Runna?
Runna is the right choice if you're past the beginner phase and want genuine coaching structure. And in fairness there are free Beginner and Return to Running plans, they have limited functionality compared to the Premium offering but they are a great way to start or return to running.
If you've completed a first race and now want to improve. If you're training for something that matters to you, a first marathon, a spring ultra, a redemption race after injury or illness, and you want a plan built around your actual life, your actual fitness, with every session clearly explained. And if you want strength and conditioning built in as standard, rather than something you have to bolt on separately and figure out yourself.
Runna vs Nike Run Club: Which Is Better?
Nike Run Club wins on cost, tracking and community. Runna wins on coaching. If you can only pick one, the question is really whether you want an app that records your running or an app that directs it.
Nike Run Club is free, and for logging miles, reviewing your history and connecting with other runners it is genuinely excellent. The guided audio runs are well produced and the challenges give you something to chase. What it will not do is build a progressive plan around your current fitness, tell you the target pace for Thursday's intervals, or notice that you have run the same session four weeks running.
Runna does all three. Every session arrives with the repeat distance, the number of reps, the pace target and the recovery time already worked out. The plan is built around your goal race, your fitness and the days you can actually train. It costs money, and that is the honest trade.
Here is what I would actually suggest, and it is what I do myself: run both. Use Runna for the training plan and the session detail, and keep Nike Run Club or Strava alongside it for the tracking and the social side. They are not really competing with each other. One is your coach and the other is your training diary, and there is no reason to choose.
Hal Higdon vs Runna for a First Marathon
Both will get you to a first marathon finish line. The difference is how much of the thinking you do yourself.
I want to be fair to Hal Higdon here, because a Novice 1 plan has taken hundreds of thousands of people through a first marathon and it will do the same for you. The structure is sound, the progression is sensible, and it costs nothing. If your budget is genuinely zero, print one off and start. That is a legitimate route and I took it myself for years.
What you take on is the homework. The plan tells you to run six miles at tempo pace on Thursday. It does not tell you what tempo pace means for a runner at your level. It gives you intervals without recovery times. Every week you will be filling those gaps yourself, and if you get them wrong you either undertrain or pick up an injury.
Runna removes that work entirely. Every session is specified before you lace up, strength and conditioning is built in as standard rather than something you bolt on, and when life gets in the way the plan adjusts around it.
So it comes down to budget against support. If money is the deciding factor, Hal Higdon plus an AI tool to fill in the paces is a solid free combination. If you would rather spend your evenings resting than researching, Runna is where I would point you.
Is Runna Worth the Money?
Runna costs £99.99 a year in the UK, or $119.99 in the US, as of August 2026. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on where you are in your running.
Let me start with who I do not think should pay for it, because that matters more than the sales pitch.
If you are a complete beginner working toward a first 5K on a tight budget, a free Hal Higdon plan will serve you perfectly well. If you already own a Garmin and you are happy with Garmin Coach, you have a capable free option sitting on your wrist. And if you already work with a human coach, Runna is not going to replace them, nor should it.
Where it earns its cost is when you are past the beginner stage and actually trying to improve. You are getting a plan built by qualified coaches around your fitness and your goal race, full session detail on every workout, strength and mobility work included as standard, and a plan that adapts when you are ill, away, or having a rough month.
Set against the cost of a single race entry, or an hour with a physio after an injury you picked up guessing at paces, I think it stacks up. But test it before you decide. Code ANDY2 gives you 14 days free, double the standard trial, which is enough time to run a full training week and form your own view.
Free Alternatives to Runna
There are several, and if the subscription is the sticking point then one of these is a better answer than giving up on structure altogether.
Hal Higdon downloadable plans. Free, proven, and available from 5K to marathon with dedicated novice, intermediate, advanced and senior versions. What it costs you is time, because you will be researching paces and recovery times yourself.
Garmin Coach. If you own a compatible Garmin, this is the strongest free option available. The plans are adaptive, the sessions come with full detail, and everything loads straight to your watch. I have written a full comparison of Runna vs Garmin Coach if you want the detail. What it costs you is hardware, since you need the watch.
Nike Run Club or Strava. Excellent for tracking and community, limited as coaching tools. What they cost you is progression, because the sessions do not build the way a proper plan does.
ChatGPT or another AI tool. Free, instant, and it will genuinely answer the pace questions a printed plan leaves hanging. What it costs you is judgement, because you have to know enough to spot when the output is wrong.
Runna's own free plans. Worth knowing about. The Beginner and Return to Running plans are free with reduced functionality compared to Premium, and they are a decent way to start or come back.
My honest steer: if you own a Garmin, start with Garmin Coach. If you do not, take a Hal Higdon plan and use ChatGPT to fill in the session detail. Neither is free in the truest sense, because both cost you time and a bit of guesswork, but both will get you training with structure at zero financial cost.
So Which One Should You Choose?
Here's my honest steer, based on years of trying all of this, including the expensive mistakes:
If you're a complete beginner with a simple goal and a tight budget, start with a Hal Higdon novice plan, but use an AI tool alongside it to fill in the session detail the PDF leaves out. Ask ChatGPT what pace to run your tempo at. That combination is free and gives you more than either tool provides alone.
If you want free tracking and community alongside your training, keep Nike Run Club or Strava running. They're genuinely useful as companions. Just don't rely on them for coaching.
If you're confident enough to evaluate training plans critically, experiment with AI-generated plans, they're more capable than most people realise, especially on session detail. Treat the output as a starting point, not a finished product.
If you're serious about improving and want a plan that actually knows who you are, with full session detail, built-in strength work, and the progressive structure that real coaching provides, Runna is where I'd point you. It's the difference between ticking boxes and training with purpose.
And if you already own a Garmin and you're on a zero budget, look at Garmin Coach before anything else on this list — I've compared it head-to-head with Runna here.
My Exclusive Offer for Running Westward Ho! Readers
As a Runna Ambassador, I'm able to offer you something that isn't available through the standard sign-up: an exclusive 14-day free trial, double the usual seven days.
That's two full weeks to set up your plan, run real sessions with full coaching detail, see how the strength work integrates, and form a proper opinion, with no financial commitment whatsoever.
To claim your 2-week free trial:
Download the Runna app and enter promo code: ANDY2
or use this direct link: https://web.runna.com/redeem?code=ANDY2
Two weeks is enough to complete a full training week, do a structured interval session with proper pace targets, experience a strength session, and feel the difference between following a plan and being coached. I genuinely encourage you to try it, and if it's not for you, you've lost nothing except a bit of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hal Higdon really free?
Hal Higdon's core downloadable PDF training plans on halhigdon.com are completely free, covering 5K through to marathon for novice, intermediate, advanced and senior runners. Paid tiers exist: a TrainingPeaks subscription where Hal provides feedback on your runs, and the Run With Hal app, which offers post-run feedback free but places GPS tracking and pace features behind the Hal+ subscription.
Why don't printed training plans include pace targets?
Printed training plans omit pace targets because they're written for the widest possible audience. Prescribing a tempo pace requires knowing an individual runner's current fitness, which a generic PDF can't account for. This is the fundamental limitation of downloadable plans. If you're using one, pair it with a running pace calculator or an AI tool to work out your target paces for each session.
What distances does Runna cover?
Runna offers training plans for Couch to 5K, 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon and ultra marathon, plus general fitness and off-season base-building plans. Free Beginner and Return to Running plans are also available with reduced functionality compared with the Premium offering. Plans can be built around two to six training days per week.
Can ChatGPT actually write a good marathon training plan?
ChatGPT can write a marathon plan that looks well structured, and unlike a printed PDF it will give you specific session detail, target paces, repeat distances and recovery times, if you ask for it. Its limitation is that it has no access to your real training data and no way of knowing how you're responding week to week. Use it as a supplement, not a complete coaching solution.
How much does Runna cost?
Runna costs £99.99 per year in the UK, or $119.99 per year in the US, as of August 2026, with everything included, training plans, strength, Pilates, mobility, audio coaching and in-app access to the coaching team. Monthly billing is also available at a higher effective rate. Since Strava acquired Runna in 2025 there's also a joint Strava + Runna bundle. With promo code ANDY2 you get a 14-day free trial, double the standard seven days.
*Source Runna
Do I need a GPS watch to use Runna?
A GPS watch isn't required to use Runna. Runna integrates with Garmin, Apple Watch, Coros and Suunto, pushing workouts directly to your device, but the app works fully from your phone alone. You can also train to RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) rather than pace targets — useful when you're travelling, tired, or running technical terrain where pace becomes meaningless.
Is Runna suitable for ultra marathon training?
Runna has dedicated ultra marathon plans that account for the specific demands of long-distance events, including back-to-back long runs and time-on-feet sessions. I used Runna through the build-up to the Tour du Mont Blanc — 160km across France, Switzerland and Italy — as well as for my own self-designed fundraising ultras, and the ultra plans held up across a full training block.
What's the difference between Hal Higdon Novice 1 and Novice 2?
Hal Higdon's Novice 1 marathon plan is designed for true first-timers with very little running background. Novice 2 assumes several months of consistent running and prescribes slightly higher volume, including cross-training. If you can already run 3–4 miles comfortably, Novice 2 is usually the better starting point; if you're starting from close to nothing, begin with Novice 1.
Can I use a training plan after a health setback?
Any training plan needs adapting around a serious health issue, in consultation with your medical team — your doctor or physio comes before any app or plan. After my cancer diagnosis in 2021, surgery and chemotherapy, I rebuilt my running from almost nothing. Runna is flexible around illness and recovery, and its Return to Running plans are a reasonable starting point, but medical guidance comes first.
Is Garmin Coach better than Runna?
Garmin Coach is free and adapts to your training using data from your watch, making it the strongest zero-cost option if you own a compatible Garmin. Runna covers more distances including ultras up to 50km, includes strength and mobility work as standard, and works with Apple Watch, Coros and Suunto as well as phone-only. I've compared the two in full detail in a separate article: Runna vs Garmin Coach.
Can I use Runna and Strava together?
Runna syncs with Strava, so completed sessions appear on your Strava feed automatically. Many runners use both, Runna for the training plan and session detail, Strava for tracking, segments and community. Running a coaching app alongside a social tracking app is the setup I'd recommend for most people.
Does Runna work with Coros or Suunto?
Runna syncs with Garmin, Apple Watch, Coros and Suunto, pushing each session directly to your watch so you can follow pace targets and interval alerts mid-run. It also works fully from your phone alone if you don't train with a watch, and you can run to RPE rather than pace if you prefer.
How do I cancel a Runna subscription?
You cancel a Runna subscription wherever you originally subscribed, not inside the Runna app itself. The quickest route is the Subscription button under Profile in the app, which opens the right platform for you. On iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions and select Runna. On Android, open the Google Play Store, tap your profile icon, then Payments and subscriptions. If you signed up through Runna's website, log in to the Paddle customer portal. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription. Cancel at least 24 hours before your renewal or trial end date to avoid being charged, and you keep access until the end of the period you've already paid for.
Which training plan is best for a first marathon?
For a first marathon on zero budget, a Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan paired with an AI tool to fill in the pace targets is a proven combination. If you own a Garmin, Garmin Coach gives you similar structure with adaptation built in, free. If you want full session detail, strength work included and a plan that adjusts when life interferes, Runna is the strongest option and the one I'd point most first-time marathoners toward.
A Final Word
Running saved me. Not in a metaphorical sense, in a very literal one. Coming back from cancer, from chemotherapy, from surgery, and lacing my shoes back up on the coastal paths of North Devon was one of the most significant things I've ever done. Every mile since then has felt earned in a way that miles before diagnosis never quite did.
Part of that comeback was learning to train properly. Not just putting in miles, but understanding why certain sessions matter, how to build fitness without breaking myself, and how to balance ambition with the reality of where I actually was. The right training plan, one that actually tells you what to do and why, was part of that education.
I wasted time with plans that left me doing my own research at 10pm trying to figure out what pace I was supposed to be running the next morning. I wasted weeks with audio coaching that couldn't see my watch. Those experiences are why I'm pointing you toward something better.
Whatever you choose from this list, the most important thing is that you start. Pick something, follow it, and adjust as you learn. The best plan is the one you'll actually do.
And if you want the best possible start, with a plan that tells you exactly what to do, every session, every week, grab that 14-day free trial with code ANDY2 at https://web.runna.com/redeem?code=ANDY2.
Let me know how you get on.
See you on the trails.
— Andy
About the Author
Andy Hood is an ultra and endurance runner based in North Devon. A cancer survivor and testicular cancer awareness advocate, he has completed events including the Tour du Mont Blanc, multiple London ultras, and self-designed fundraising events raising over £25,000 for cancer and mental health charities. He is a proud Runna Ambassador.
Find Andy at www.runningwestwardho.co.uk and on Instagram @runningwestwardho
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