Logo Running Workout Running Workout
watch Garmin
New · AI Coach

An MCP server, yes.
But above all, a coach.

Running Workout doesn't just connect Claude to your watch. It teaches it how to coach: read your Garmin data, ask the right questions, build a plan, push it to your wrist — and adapt it every week to what you actually ran.

auto_awesome Install the coach — 2 minutes calendar_month See a week of the plan

Compatible with

Claude
ChatGPT
Gemini
Claude — Running Workout · start_coaching
Start coaching me.

I read your Garmin data before asking you a single question.

You run 3 times a week, about 69.6 mi over 30 days. Your longest recent run is 7.7 mi. Your VMA is 9.6 mph (verified test on 1 September). Your load is stable — ACWR 1.05.

Does that sound right?

Yes. I'm targeting the Paris 10K on 12 April, under 44 minutes.

Noted: 44:00 goal, that's 7:05/mi — realistic with your VMA. You run Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday: keep those days? Long run on Sunday?

set_athlete_goal ✓ get_athlete_profile ✓

It is not

a PDF plan

The same table for everyone, to copy onto your watch yourself.

It is not

a generic assistant

That makes up a VMA, a pace and a finish time because you asked for a plan.

It is

a coach that knows your Garmin data

23 tools, one method, and zero invented numbers: everything starts from your real data, everything ends on your wrist.

BEFORE SAYING HELLO

It reads your Garmin data before asking a question.

Every conversation starts with your profile, computed on the spot from your Garmin Connect activities. The coach never asks what your data already knows.

VMA

9.6 mph

verified test · 1 September

30-day volume

69.6 mi

12 sessions · 3 per week

Longest run · 90 days

7.7 mi

the starting point of the long run

Load · ACWR

1.05

optimal zone 0.8 – 1.3

Days you run

Tue · Thu · Sun

actual, not declared

Max HR · resting HR

188 · 52 bpm

the easy-run guardrail

THE ONBOARDING

Five questions. Not one more.

One at a time, in this order — and only those your data can't answer. Everything you say is remembered: you'll never repeat it.

  1. 01

    The goal

    Which race, which date, a target time or "finish well"? The plan is built backwards from the date.

  2. 02

    Your days

    How many, which ones, and which one for the long run — starting from the days you already run.

  3. 03

    Pain and injuries

    A current or recent injury changes the plan — or pauses it. Non-negotiable.

  4. 04

    Experience

    Ever raced a timed 10K? Done intervals before? The first sessions adapt.

  5. 05

    The terrain

    Track, treadmill, hills, cycling or swimming to fit in: intervals are set by time or by distance.

timer

No reliable VMA? The coach pushes a 6-minute test to your watch, computes your VMA from the synced activity, and asks you before saving it. Never an invented number.

THE 10K PLAN · 8 WEEKS

A plan, not a table. Every session says why it exists.

Four phases, two quality sessions a week, one long run. The paces below are computed by the coach's engine for an example VMA — yours will be computed from your own, in min/mi or min/km.

W1 – W2

Base

Settle the routine, ease into interval work

W3 – W5

Development

Raise the ceiling (VMA) and the ability to hold pace (threshold)

W6 – W7

Race-specific

Learn race pace

W8

Taper

Arrive fresh and sharp

Week 5/8 — The big block

Phase Development: Raise the ceiling (VMA) and the ability to hold pace (threshold) · Paces derived from VMA 9.6 mph (verified test, 2026-09-01).

get_plan_week

Tuesday · ≈ 46 min

W5 · VMA 6 × 2 min

Warm-up 15 min + 4 strides · 6 × (2 min at VMA 98-100 % (6:21–6:14/mi) / 1 min 30 s jog) · Cool-down 10 min

Why : Medium intervals: VMA becomes sustainable.

Thursday · ≈ 54 min

W5 · 10K pace 5 × 1000 m

Warm-up 15 min + 4 strides · 5 × (1000 m at 10K pace (6:55–6:46/mi) / 1 min 30 s jog) · Cool-down 10 min

Why : Benchmark session — target time reassessed afterwards.

Sunday · ≈ 70 min

W5 · Long run 70 min

55 min at endurance (8:54–7:59/mi) · 15 min at endurance 78-80 % (7:59–7:47/mi)

Why : Longest run of the plan, finishing at 80%.

Three sessions, one command: they land on the watch with their date and pace ranges.

watchschedule_plan_week → Garmin

Week 5/8 review — The big block

Planned: 3 · Done: 2 (67 %)

  • ✔Tuesday — W5 · VMA 6 × 2 min: done (47 min · 6.1 mi · avg HR 158)
  • ✘Thursday — W5 · 10K pace 5 × 1000 m: missed
  • ✔Sunday — W5 · Long run 70 min: done (1 h 12 · 8.1 mi · avg HR 149)

Load: ACWR 1.12 (optimal zone 0.8 – 1.3)

DECISION

1 quality session missed: no make-up — never two quality sessions back to back. Week 6 as planned.

EVERY WEEK

It looks at what you actually ran — and decides.

Session done, missed, cut short; load too high or too low: the plan's rules decide, always the same. The coach asks you one question — "how did you feel, 1 to 5?" — then pushes the next week.

  • →Two sessions missed: the week is repeated. During the taper: never, race day rules.
  • →Load above 1.5: the VMA session becomes 40 easy minutes, volume −20 %.
  • →Pain, illness, heat: the coach decides, not a formula.
INSTALL

Three steps, two minutes. Nothing to download.

The connector carries the coach itself: add it to Claude and you add the method with it.

  1. 01

    Connect your Garmin watch

    One Garmin Connect consent, with history: that's what feeds your profile.

  2. 02

    Add Running Workout to Claude

    One button, one pre-filled dialog. The coach comes with the connector.

  3. 03

    Say "Start coaching me"

    It reads your Garmin data, gives you the picture, asks its five questions. Week 1 follows.

Add to Claude

Opens claude.ai with the Running Workout connector pre-filled. You confirm, and the coach is there — instructions and prompts included.

ChatGPT and Gemini: the MCP server address is enough, see the Connection guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can the AI Coach make up a VMA or a finish time? expand_more

No. Running Workout only accepts a VMA from a verified test, a time reported by the athlete or a proposal they explicitly accepted — and refuses a % VMA session when no VMA is known. The coach then proposes a 6-minute test.

Which Garmin data does the coach use? expand_more

The profile computed from your Garmin Connect activities: VMA and its origin, 30-day volume, longest run over 90 days, training load (ACWR), max and resting heart rate, the days you actually run, and the sessions already on your calendar.

Do I need to install a skill or a file besides the connector? expand_more

No. The coach's instructions and its two prompts (start_coaching, weekly_review) are carried by the MCP connector itself: adding Running Workout to Claude is enough. An equivalent skill is available for assistants that don't honour MCP instructions.

Which plans are available? expand_more

Five plans on the same engine: back to running (6 weeks, walk-run, no VMA needed, 3 sessions), 5K (6 weeks, 3 or 4 sessions), 10K (8 weeks, 3 to 5 sessions), half-marathon (10 weeks, 3 or 4 sessions) and marathon (12-16 weeks, 3 to 7 sessions), with targets in % VMA resolved from your profile.