One of the most important things about a great training plan is that it starts where you are and builds from there at a pace that's right for you. Here's how Runna does that.

Runna uses the information you provide during onboarding to make sure your very first session is appropriate for your current level of fitness. Here's how that works for each plan type.

When you set up a distance or race plan, Runna asks your ability level (for example, Beginner or Intermediate) and uses your response to set a starting point for your current weekly mileage and current longest run.

You can further configure your current weekly mileage and longest run in the Training Preferences screen during onboarding.

You'll also be asked to provide any recent distance finish times you may have achieved. With this information, Runna is able to set your initial pace targets matched to your ability levels from day one.

If you've just completed a race, Runna automatically carries over the information from your race plan to set up your post-race recovery plan. There's nothing you need to configure, your starting point is determined by what you've already done.

For these plans, your starting point is shaped by the answers you provide during onboarding. Runna uses this information to build a plan that reflects where you are right now, rather than where you were before. These plans really focus on sustainable progression that best supports returning runners.

For these plans, Runna will use the answers from your onboarding questionnaire (how long it's been since you last ran, how often you currently exercise, and what type of exercise you do) to estimate your current fitness and activity level.

This means two people starting a New to Running plan on the same day might begin at slightly different points based on their individual fitness and activity levels. Someone who cycles regularly, for example, will have a higher aerobic base than someone who hasn't exercised in a while, and your plan will reflect that.

Your very first workout will be a walk-run, and your plan will schedule a workout on the day you choose to start. This gets you into the habit of consistent training right from the start.

When you set up one of these plans, Runna uses your ability level and current mileage as a starting point, then builds you toward a target that reflects your goal.

For Run Faster plans, your sessions are weighted toward speed work; for Run Further plans, toward endurance.

If you're on a Run Your Way plan, the types of sessions Runna selects are shaped by the preferences you tell us during onboarding.

In all cases, your plan is designed to take you from where you are now to where you want to be.

Once your plan is underway, Runna increases training demand gradually, making sure you progress in line with your Training Preferences. The goal is not to push beyond what your body is ready for. Here's how progression works across different plan types.

In distance and race plans, your weekly mileage builds along a curve that increases week by week, but with a fixed ceiling on how much it can go up in any single week. The maximum increase allowed each week is calculated based on your current weekly mileage, ensuring very low-mileage runners can still progress while higher-mileage runners are protected from increasing mileage too quickly.

Your long run is managed separately, following its own progression to avoid increasing too quickly even if your overall weekly mileage is building.

More experienced runners are given higher overall training targets, but not faster build rates.

Everyone progresses at a rate that's specific to them, based on Runna's established coaching principles, regardless of ability level.

Based on your completed workouts, Runna may suggest increases or decreases to your pace targets throughout the plan. You can choose whether to accept these suggestions.

Runna's coaching principles determine how this progression works, taking multiple factors into account, including how many days a week you're running, your running ability, your training preferences, and any periods where your training has been interrupted (such as a holiday or time off due to illness).

Runna’s approach is to provide structure with flexibility: plans that encourage sensible progression, include recovery, and adapt when runners need to slow down or change course.

These plans take the most conservative and sustainable approach. Your pace and ability level steps up by a small, structured amount each week, determined by Runna's coaching framework. The suggested distances and paces are calculated directly from a coach-built, rules-based training system.

These plans use a controlled double constraint to limit progression in a single week. Each week, your training ceiling is set using two limits, and whichever is more conservative applies. This is designed to avoid dramatic jumps from week to week.

New to Running and Path to parkrun plans progress more gradually, while Return to Running plans allow a slightly faster rate of increase, reflecting that previous running experience gives you a higher base to build from.

Your progression from walk-run to continuous running is also carefully managed. Rather than switching abruptly from walk-runs to continuous running, the proportion of continuous runs in your plan increases gradually across defined stages.

Return to Running users move through this transition across four quarters of the plan; New to Running and Path to parkrun users follow a slightly more gradual path, reflecting that they're building from a lower base.

Pace targets don't apply to these plans. The focus is entirely on building your running time and endurance.

Runna's non-distance plans build your weekly mileage at a fixed weekly percentage rate depending on your ability and how many days a week you're running. This rate was deliberately chosen to stay within the same training load boundaries as race plans.

One nuance worth knowing: if you're running fewer days per week, your plan applies a slightly higher percentage increase each week. The more days per week you run, the more volume you're already covering, so the weekly percentage increase is scaled down accordingly.

Your pace progression works in the same way as distance and race plans, taking into account your ability, training preferences, runs per week, and any periods of interrupted training.

Your training plan is designed to evolve with you. As your fitness changes, Runna aims to reflect that, adjusting your targets and progression to keep your training feeling challenging but manageable. Ultimately, you are in control of your plan, and your input shapes how it develops.

When approaching any new training routine, Runna encourages runners to listen to their bodies and use the tools available to them, including in-app feedback and support.