Good apps that help you train for your 5k

Training
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So my wife has been toying with the idea to get into running. After 33 years without doing much sports, she now goes to the gym twice a week and is getting fitter. She mentioned today that she noticed that a half marathon will be held in our city, and that it’d be impossible for her. So I said that I am sure they have a 5k and a 10k option. I think she will sign up for the 5k.

So I was wondering what the best 0-to-5k apps are. Do you have any advice? She owns an Apple Watch series 3 and an iPhone.

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C25K and the like are used quite frequently. They are usually all based on the same training system but with different UI obviously.

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I’ve enjoyed the Nike Run Club app. It will help make training programs for you, and there are lots of great guided runs featuring their head coach, and also lots of other athletes (Shalene Flanigan, Eliud Kipchoge, lots of others) and celebrities that are both engaging and helpful. The head coach (Chris Bennett) instructions are a similar in some ways to Chad’s text during TR workouts, probably a little more warm and fuzzy but less scientifically rigorous. I’ve heard (but haven’t used) that the apple watch integration is good too, they have a co-branded nike apple watch. Plus it’s free.

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only thing i didn’t like about it is there is no option to sync the run to strava.

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She doesn’t know of Strava … yet. I didn’t know the Nike Run app also did structured training. That’s definitely an option, too. It looks well-designed, too.

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My wife is using Couch to 5k (costs $2.99) for her first 5k. It’s a 9 week training program. She does she she like me more warm-up. But overal she likes it.

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???

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9

Haha. She likes more warmup than the prescribed amount in the workouts!

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My wife used an app for the couch to 5k. I can ask her later which one if you want.

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11

Hall Higdon plan and good old pen and paper to check off the progress.

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12

That’s be great. Thanks!

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5k runner. Something like $8 for lifetime. 8 weeks. She now has one to help her get faster. She probably goes back and forth between her 2 apps.

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If she’s on a treadmill much, I really like Zwift’s training plans and the interactivity of it. It tends to be something like what’s typically prescribed for training: one speed run, one threshold run, one long run and optional runs in between.

I’m working on the half marathon plan right now.

Another cool thing is that you can customize the length of the plan to fit your needs and it does a nice taper as you approach your race date.

She would need a foot pod for it but the running on Zwift is still technically in beta (very clean experience though) so running is free on Zwift at the moment.

Lots of good choices out there right now. Good luck!

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Will have to offer that to the wife as winter is driving us inside.

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I did couch to 5k and it was great, went from never being able to run to doing 5k in sub 30 mins, this was when I wasn’t cycling at all so was seriously unfit!

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I’ve never used it myself, but I have heard the Zombies! Run app is a way to make your 5K training fun and enjoyable.

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