While we are still very much fans of our incredible training plans – the type you print out and stick to the fridge – the reality is that AI-generated training is everywhere. You may have even already used it and not realised.

We asked Katy Dartford to do some research on everything from Chat GPT training plans to AI-generated running apps. Here’s how she got on…

New technology = new types of training

Each year, I find myself eagerly signing up for a race. Not long afterwards, I start looking for a training plan to follow for that race. Sometimes, I go for a half marathon, sometimes an ultra, occasionally something I probably shouldn’t enter at all. But the pattern is always the same: excitement on signing up and then the creeping realisation that I now have to start the hard work and prepare for it.

Back in the day, I used to rip a plan out of a magazine to follow. [We’d recommend Women’s Running!] Or I’d get myself a human coach, either for a one-off plan or with some regular feedback and tweaking. I’ve also used apps such as RunMotion, which generate training schedules tailored to my goals, my pace and my calendar. They were easy to use, seemed personalised and frankly, were cheaper than hiring a coach.

But bit by bit, the features I relied on crept behind a paywall. The schedules were also all too easy to ignore if I wasn’t in the mood.

Then I found myself thinking: I already pay for ChatGPT. These apps are built on AI. How hard could it be to just… do it myself? So, that’s what I did. I did it myself.

AI Running Training FAQs

What counts as AI training?

You may have been using AI in your running training for years – you just didn’t know it. Every time a Garmin watch adjusts a suggested workout after a hard week, or an app dials back intensity when recovery looks poor.

Apps like Runna, which launched in 2021 and was recently acquired by Strava, have made AI-powered coaching available to anyone with a smartphone. It creates customised plans tailored to your goal, pace, timeframe, calendar and even the specific race you’re targeting. RunMotion Coach, developed in the French Alps by elite runners and coaches, works similarly.

It’s also worth knowing what AI actually means inside these apps. Runna pushes back on the idea that its plans are AI-generated. A spokesperson I contacted says the plans are designed by experienced coaches, with technology playing “a supporting role” in tailoring them to each runner.

What are the cons of AI training?

In short, injury. But it’s not quite as simple as that.

A debate has recently centred on Runna, which now has around 2.1 million monthly users, up 74% in the past year.

Its rapid rise has coincided with a steady stream of cautionary tales on TikTok and Reddit, that focus on stress fractures, shin splints and burnout. The Wall Street Journal reported that some physical therapists it spoke to were seeing multiple injured runners each week who had been using the app. In January this year, the app rolled out changes to make plans less aggressive, particularly for beginners.

Runna says that a plan will never automatically adjust without the user’s consent. Runners stay in control throughout. The app also flags potential injury risk when someone sets up a plan with too short a timeframe for their ability level, and has a ‘Not Feeling 100%’ feature for adapting around illness or life chaos. Whether people actually use these tools is harder to measure, but they do exist.

Does AI training cause more injuries than following a traditional training plan?

No peer-reviewed study has yet established whether AI training plans cause injuries at higher rates than traditional static plans.

The criticism that keeps coming up isn’t that the AI plans themselves are more likely to cause injury. It’s more that they can’t feel you. They can look at your pace data and decide you’re ready for more. They can’t notice you winced going downstairs this morning, that you’ve been sleeping badly, that you’re three days before your period, and everything feels harder than it should. While the data tells one story, our bodies often tell quite another.

That being said, we are part of the problem – whether using a traditional plan or an AI plan. “Runners can tend to ignore signs of fatigue and continue to run through symptoms which may require reduced training or a break,” says Clinical Lead Physiotherapist, Tom Goom. While a human coach notices these signs and may be able to change the plan before injury occurs, an app nor a piece of paper can’t.

Is AI training good for beginner runners?

Yes and no. Trail runner Milly Voice says AI can be helpful for beginners trying to make sense of training plans. “AI tools can help answer questions and decode programmes that might feel daunting for a first-time runner,” she says. “But it’s best if that’s alongside someone with real experience with whom you can cross-check.”

Running judgement develops over time. You learn the difference between tired and injured, between a hard session and something tipping into trouble. For beginners, that distinction is harder, and if an app tells you to run faster because your last session looked strong on paper, it’s difficult to push back. That’s not an AI problem specifically, though.

Many of the apps we’ve mentioned try to account for this. Newer runners are steered towards a New to Running or Return to Running programme, designed for gentle progression.

Is AI training replacing running coaches?

I am worried that, like in many other industries, by using ChatGPT, I am contributing to the erosion of a profession. But among those I spoke to, there was little suggestion that AI should replace human expertise, only that it should work alongside it.

For runners who can’t afford a coach, AI offers something real: access to responsive, personalised thinking that was out of reach previously. It doesn’t have to kill coaching. It can bring more runners into a relationship with structured training, some of whom will go on to seek the truly personalised guidance of a running coach.

Can Chat GPT plan my training for me?

ChatGPT is different from the apps mentioned above. It’s a large language model that generates text by predicting plausible responses based on an enormous amount of training data, including a great deal of sports science and coaching methodology. It doesn’t ‘know’ things the way a coach does. But it can synthesise information and adapt its answers to what you tell it.

ChatGPT is only as good as the information you give it, and I found that out the hard way. I started with bare bones – race date, weekly mileage, goal time – and got a plan that was fine but generic. When I started being specific about my Achilles history, a tendency to overtrain in peak weeks, and the fact that I’m doing trail ultras, not road marathons, what came back was more useful.

ChatGPT running training tips

Give it your full history

Don’t just say ’I’m training for a half marathon.’ Tell it your injury history, how many years you’ve been running, your typical mileage, your lifestyle stressors, and where you are in your menstrual cycle. The more it knows, the more tailored its output.

Ask for three training plan options, not one

A single recommendation is a single point of failure. Ask for alternatives and decide which fits your situation best.

Tell it to flag load spikes

Instruct it to alert you if any week involves a sudden increase in mileage/intensity and to adapt if external factors (illness, poor sleep, high stress) affect the plan.

Keep the conversation going

Update your requirements regularly. Tell ChatGPT how your training is going, what’s working, what isn’t. Treat it like a training diary that talks back.

Always triangulate

ChatGPT is one voice. A physio is another. Your own body – and your knowledge of it – is a third. The best decisions will come from listening to all three, so bear this in mind when devising a schedule.

Seek help if you see any warning sighs

Tom Goom, Running Physio, advises seeking immediate professional assessment if you experience any of the following:

• bony pain that worsens with impact
• pain while walking
• localised swelling or bruising
• pain at night.

These can be signs of a stress fracture and must never be self-managed by an app, an AI or willpower alone.