How to Pair Your Watch With Your Runna Plan
To connect your watch to your Runna plan, start by opening the Runna app and heading to your Profile.
From there:
Tap Connected Apps.
Select Connect Watch.
Choose your device.
Log in using your device's companion app credentials when prompted.
Once connected, your Runna workouts will automatically sync to your device's companion app.
Workout Syncing Between Runna and Your Device
Free week trial users: Only workouts scheduled within your free trial week will sync to your device.
Runna Premium users: Your next two full weeks of workouts will sync to your device every Monday.
If you switch plans or make changes to your current plan, your workouts will automatically update to reflect those changes. When you mark a workout as complete, it will also be removed from your device's training calendar.
📢 Important: Your device's companion app and your watch are separate, so you may occasionally need to manually refresh the connection to ensure plan changes and completed workouts are reflected correctly.
If your workouts don't appear to update straight away:
Open your device's companion app.
Trigger a manual sync, this is usually found in the app's main menu or settings.
Check that your workouts have synced across to your watch.
Manually Resyncing Workouts to Your Device
If you've accidentally skipped a workout on your watch and need to resend it, you can manually resync it from your device's companion app.
To do this:
Open your device's companion app.
Navigate to the Training or Workouts section.
You'll see a list of all available workouts from your Runna plan.
Tap the workout you'd like to resend to review the details.
Select the option to send the workout to your watch.
Once sent, refresh the connection between the companion app and your watch so the workout can sync across successfully.
If you can't see your workout If your intended workout doesn't appear in the workouts list, open the Runna app and check that the session hasn't been marked as completed or skipped. Workouts marked as complete won't be available to resend to your watch.
If everything looks correct and the workout still isn't appearing, try refreshing your companion app and updating your Runna app to the latest version.
Syncing to Strava
To enable automatic syncing from your device to Strava, open your device's companion app and navigate to Settings → Connected Apps → Strava. Once connected, any Runna workouts recorded on your watch will automatically push through to Strava.
Although we can sync activities from Strava back to Runna, we're unable to sync activities from your device → Runna → Strava due to data-handling limitations.
For this reason, we recommend syncing directly from your device's companion app to Strava.
📢 Note: If you're used to recording workouts on your phone using the Runna app, you may notice a small difference when uploading to Strava from your watch. Watch-recorded workouts may not include the "with Runna ✅" title or the workout description when uploaded to Strava, depending on the file format supported by your device.
How to Start a Workout on Your Watch
Depending on your device model and settings, there are a few different ways to start your Runna workout.
Option 1: From the Run Activity
Select Run from the activity list.
Tap Workouts.
Choose Do Workout.
Option 2: From Scheduled Workouts
Select Run from the activity list.
Tap Workouts.
Choose Scheduled.
Select Do Workout.
Option 3: From the Training Calendar
Open the Menu on your watch.
Select Training.
Tap Training Calendar.
Choose today's workout.
Select Do Workout.
Once started, your watch will guide you through the workout as planned. When you finish and save the workout, it will sync back to Runna automatically.
📢 Note: The exact steps above may vary depending on your device model. Refer to your device's support documentation if you're unsure!
Recommended Watch Settings for Runna Workouts
There are a few settings we recommend adjusting to get the best experience when following Runna workouts on your watch. These settings help ensure your workouts run smoothly and your data is easier to review afterward.
Units of Measurement
Your workout will appear in the same unit of measurement (miles/kilometres) as your Runna plan. For a smooth experience, make sure your device account is configured to the same unit of measurement.
Turn off auto lap
By default, many watches automatically create a new lap every 1 km or 1 mile. For longer intervals in Runna workouts (for example, 2km Repeats), this can cause laps to split partway through an interval and makes analysing your average pace a little tricky.
We recommend turning off auto lap when following Runna workouts. If you're heading out for a casual run, time trial, or race, you may want to turn auto lap back on so your watch continues to provide regular pace updates.
Turn off auto pause
Auto pause automatically stops your workout when your watch detects that you've stopped moving, such as at traffic lights. While this can be useful on easy runs, it can cause issues during interval workouts.
During recovery periods, especially if you're walking, auto pause may stop the workout and pause the timer counting down to your next interval. We recommend turning auto pause off and manually pausing and resuming the workout if you're forced to stop briefly.
Turn on audio prompts
If your watch supports audio prompts, enabling them can be a helpful way to receive pace cues and workout alerts without needing to look at your wrist.
Check your device's companion app or settings menu to enable workout alerts, lap alerts, and pace/speed alerts.
Not all devices support audio prompts. Check your device's support documentation to confirm compatibility.
Can You Sync Non-Running Activities from Runna to Your Watch?
At the moment, we only support the syncing of 'Run' type workouts to your device's training calendar and to your watch.
We also cannot sync other activity types recorded on your device, such as strength sessions, weights, or yoga, back into Runna just yet.
However, you can use our Calendar Sync feature to schedule and keep track of all of your training, and manually add any additional workouts into the app via the Activities tab.
Supported Devices
Many popular GPS running watches are compatible with Runna. Features will vary by device model, and not all devices will support audio cues.
FAQs
Why am I not hearing audio cues during my Runna workout?
When you run a workout on your watch, your device controls the audio prompts, not Runna. This means what you hear may differ from the Runna app.
Your device doesn't support spoken audio. Many watch models only provide vibrations and on-screen alerts, not spoken cues. Even if headphones are connected, spoken prompts may not be supported.
Headphones are connected to your phone. Spoken prompts may play through the companion app into your headphones, but the app must stay running in the background. If it's force-closed, prompts may stop.
Even if audio cues are enabled in Runna, your device will usually override them and use its own audio prompt settings. If your watch is compatible, make sure you've enabled audio prompts in your device's companion app.
Why do my splits look inaccurate in a Runna workout recorded on my watch?
This is usually caused by auto lap being turned on.
Auto lap creates laps at fixed distances (e.g. every 1 km or 1 mile), which can cut across your structured workout steps (warm-up, recoveries, intervals).
As a result, the laps no longer match your planned segments in Runna, and your splits may look inaccurate or misaligned.
For structured Runna workouts, we recommend turning off auto lap on your device. This ensures your splits align with your planned workout steps.
Why do I have to manually press "Next" or "Lap" during my Runna workout?
If your watch is asking you to press Lap or Continue to move through your workout, one of the following settings is usually turned on:
Open Warm-Up. If this is enabled in the Runna app, your warm-up has no fixed distance or time. Your watch will wait for you to manually end the warm-up. To turn this off: Runna App → Settings → Workout Settings → Open Warm-Up.
Intervals/Tempo on Track. If this is enabled, you'll need to manually advance each interval. This setting is designed for track sessions where you want full control over when each rep starts and ends. To turn this off: Runna App → Settings → Workout Settings → Intervals/Tempo on Track.
Auto Lap turned on. If auto lap is enabled on your device, it can interfere with structured workouts and cause splits to look misaligned. We recommend turning it off when completing structured Runna sessions.
If you're completing a hill workout, manual lap presses may be expected. Please see our Hill Workouts guide for more information.
My GPS data is inaccurate and has skewed my workout data, what can I do?
If your GPS track, pace, or distance looks inaccurate, this can affect what you see in Runna, as Runna displays activity data exactly as your device records and syncs it.
Common causes of inaccurate GPS data:
Poor satellite signal. Tall buildings, tree cover, tunnels, cliffs, or heavy cloud can reduce GPS accuracy, causing your route to drift or "cut corners."
Starting before GPS is fully locked. Always wait until your watch confirms a strong GPS signal before pressing start.
Incorrect positioning system selected. Most GPS watches allow you to choose different satellite systems. For best accuracy outdoors, select the most comprehensive option available (e.g. All Systems, or GPS + GLONASS/Galileo). Refer to your device's settings or support documentation for guidance.
Wrong activity profile selected. Recording an outdoor run using an indoor/treadmill mode (or vice versa) can cause incorrect pace and distance. Treadmill runs do not use GPS, so distance is estimated.
Auto lap turned on. During structured workouts, auto lap can disrupt your session and make splits look misaligned with your workout steps.
Why didn't my run automatically link to my planned workout in Runna?
This usually happens when Runna can't match your completed activity to the planned workout in your training plan. The most common reason is that the run was recorded as a free run, instead of starting the Runna workout that was sent to your watch.
If this happens, the activity may still sync into Runna, but it won't automatically attach to the planned session. You can manually link it:
Open the planned workout in your Runna app.
Select the option to Link Activity.
Choose the correct activity from your Activities tab.
Still Have Questions?
If you're experiencing issues or have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us via in-app support.
If the issue relates to your device itself or a technical problem with the watch, we'll do our best to help, but you may need to contact your device manufacturer's support team for further assistance.
Happy running!