Buzz
I recently reviewed the Garmin Forerunner 265, a $499 running watch. During the review process, I explored its features and app, which offered personalized training plans. Eventually, I set it to help me prepare for a 5K race (3.1 miles). The training was enjoyable, and I achieved my best 5K time in years. Here’s my experience, and how you might have a similar one.
My Training Plan Goals
My primary aim was to test the watch for the review, and that was my main focus. I wasn’t initially concerned with getting the best possible race time—although my thinking did shift in that direction as I progressed through the training.
Garmin offers training plans through their app and certain watch models, providing guidance for various distances like marathon (26.2 miles), half-marathon (13.1 miles), 10K (6.2 miles), and 5K (3.1 miles).
The 5K, being the shortest distance, is often the first race many beginners attempt. These races are widely available, particularly on weekends, and are suitable for newcomers as you don’t need to worry about being “fast enough.” However, even seasoned runners can enjoy the challenge of improving their 5K time. I’ve participated in many 5Ks, though none recently, but I always found them more enjoyable than longer races.
After using the Garmin watch for a bit, I realized I did want to push myself to run a fast 5K. It felt like the perfect opportunity to put the watch’s training plans to the test. To make it even more challenging, I skipped recommended workouts whenever life got busy—because running wasn’t my top priority. But I stuck with it and had a blast on race day.
How Garmin Watch Training Plans Operate
By wearing a Garmin watch, you’ll install the Garmin Connect app on your phone. This app allows you to track your runs, monitor health data, create workouts, adjust settings, and much more.
You have multiple options for setting up workouts within the app.
Design your own workouts and add them to your calendar. When you begin a run on that day, your added workout will appear on your watch.
Download or sync a training plan from other apps or platforms. For instance, the Runna app can directly add workouts to your Garmin calendar.
Utilize the Garmin Coach feature to select from various expert training plans featuring Coach Greg, Coach Amy, or Coach Jeff.
Some models, such as the Forerunner 265 and newer, also allow you to choose an adaptive training plan through the Garmin Coach feature.
The last two options are typically what people refer to when discussing Garmin training plans. I mostly used the adaptive training plan but have experimented with both types and can explain their distinct features.
There’s another way to access workouts from your Garmin watch, though it’s a bit different. Some models, like those in the Forerunner series, offer “daily suggested workouts” (DSW). The Forerunner 55 and 165 only provide the workout for the current day, whereas the 265, 965, and Fenix watches allow you to see an entire week of DSW and even do a future workout ahead of time.
To use the adaptive training plan, your watch must support weekly DSW. This applies to mid- and high-tier running watches, including the Forerunner 255, 265, 965, and Fenix 6 and later. Garmin has a full list of compatible watches here. The adaptive training plan is essentially an app-based version of daily suggested workouts. If your watch doesn’t support a full week of DSW—like the Vivoactive 5—you can still access Garmin Coach but will be limited to expert plans.
A comparison between Garmin's expert plans and adaptive plans
If you’re torn between the two types of plans and own a watch that supports both, here are the key differences to consider:
Timing
The expert plans are structured to require a specific number of weeks from the start to your race day. For example, when I set up a plan in early November, I couldn’t assign a race date in March. Each plan has a defined minimum and maximum number of training weeks, and these vary depending on the plan.
In contrast, the adaptive plan is flexible and works regardless of when your race is scheduled. If your race is far off, you'll receive generic workouts until the event date draws closer.
A welcoming face
Each expert plan features a coach with a distinct personality—a real person, complete with a face and name. Although they don’t engage directly with you, they’ve filmed videos sharing their training philosophies and offering advice, with each expert plan having a unique vibe. For instance, Coach Jeff incorporates run/walk intervals, a technique he’s known for.
The adaptive plans lack these personalized touches. There’s no specific coach, no instructional videos with tips or motivation. It’s just the workouts.
The confidence meter
The expert plans feature a handy confidence gauge in the corner that indicates how certain your coach is that you’ll meet your goal. For example, if I’m aiming for a specific 5K time, I’ll want that gauge to show green, signaling I’m on track. Sliding into the orange zone means I’m falling behind, while the red zone signals I’m really off track. The purple zone, on the other hand, indicates that I’m doing so well that I could push for a more ambitious goal.
The adaptive plans don’t include a confidence gauge, which is something I personally miss. However, watches that are compatible with these plans typically feature a race predictor. This feature can be accessed through the app or directly on the watch via a ‘glance,’ allowing you to check your predicted time at any point. Keep in mind, though, that this doesn’t factor in future training progress. For example, if I’m aiming for a 24-minute 5K but I’m currently running 26-minute splits, the race predictor will show 26 minutes.
What to expect from the first few workouts
Here’s another key difference. With every expert program I’ve used, it always starts with a ‘benchmark run,’ and no future workouts are planned until that’s completed. That’s what’s happening right now on my Coach Greg 5K plan. In the past, when I started a 10K training plan with Coach Amy, I had to do both the benchmark run and a one-mile time trial in the first week.
The adaptive plans, by contrast, just recommend workouts based on your current fitness level and objectives. There are no benchmarks or time trials involved. To verify, I began an adaptive training plan today, and my first scheduled workout was a one-hour ‘base’ (moderately easy) run.
Overlap with daily suggested workouts
Here’s a fun tidbit: if you’re using an expert plan, you can also access the daily suggested workouts on your watch. They’re just tucked away. On the 265, press the middle left button, select Training, and you’ll find your suggested workouts.
With the adaptive plan, your daily suggested workouts are the plan itself. In essence, the adaptive plan is a way to view these workouts on your phone, which wasn’t an option the app offered until recently.
Rescheduling
With the expert plans, if you don’t like your weekly schedule, you can tap the three dots menu to move a run on your calendar. This is useful, for example, if you have hill repeats planned for tonight but can’t get to your favorite hill until tomorrow.
For the adaptive plans, rescheduling future workouts isn’t possible. However, you can do a future workout today. And if you skip today’s workout, it’s likely it will pop up again in your schedule later on.
Other races on your calendar
The daily suggested workouts (and by extension, the adaptive plans) take into account any races you’ve added to your calendar. You can choose one as your primary race for the training season, but others can be marked as 'supporting' events, and your workouts or adaptive plan will factor them in.
From what I can tell, this feature isn’t available in the expert plans. They’re designed specifically for the race you set them up for.
Race distances
Expert plans are available for 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon races. Adaptive plans, on the other hand, can be tailored to a race or personal goal of any distance.
Heart rate-based training
In expert-led training plans, workouts are usually assigned with specific pace targets. For instance, you may be asked to run at 10:30 minutes per mile. While these targets can't be modified in your settings, you're free to adjust individual workouts if you wish.
Adaptive plans allow you to set workout targets based on either pace or heart rate, and you can easily toggle between the two. For example, when running on a hilly road, I prefer using a heart rate target since I know my pace will slow down on the inclines. Once this switch is made, the majority of runs in the plan will be set to heart rate targets instead of pace targets—unless I choose to revert it.
How to effectively follow workouts from your training plan
The instructions I’ve shared apply equally, no matter which coaching plan you follow. To understand more about the experience of using various Garmin workouts, take a look at my Forerunner 265 review.
Each day of training, simply click the Run button as usual, whether it's Treadmill Run, Trail Run, or Track Run. Your assigned workout for the day will appear. After finishing the workout, you will receive an execution score, reflecting how well you stuck to the day's plan. Anything above 66% is considered a solid result.
There are no consequences for a low execution score or even skipping a run. However, the app might schedule a similar workout later if it believes you could benefit from more of that type of run in your training.
My Approach for the Race
I didn’t select a race immediately when I began using a Garmin watch. My goal was just to build up my mileage and stay consistent with my running routine. Initially, I chose a 10K plan with Coach Amy, but honestly, it wasn’t the right fit for me at that stage. The plan had threshold workouts requiring me to maintain a pace that was too fast for too long, and I just couldn’t stand them. (Looking back, they were probably appropriate, but the heat made it difficult, and I wasn't accustomed to that type of workout.)
I eventually abandoned the plan and instead followed the daily suggested workouts for a while. I didn’t strictly adhere to them; if a workout seemed enjoyable or intriguing, I would do it. If it looked too grueling, I skipped it. You’d think this lack of structure would lead to poor results, but I had a mileage goal in mind each week, set by myself rather than the Garmin app. As long as I hit 20 miles that week (or 25, or 30—I gradually increased it), I felt I was on track.
The strategy paid off. My predicted 5K time steadily improved, dropping from the low 30 minutes to 29, then 28, and kept going down. I thought to myself, 'You know… there’s a half-marathon in a great location this October. I don’t plan to run a half this year, but they offer a four-mile option. Maybe I’ll sign up for the four-miler.' I added it to my calendar, adjusted my workouts, and soon started predicting times for that race as well. The thought of winning an age-group medal began to feel within reach.
With an actual target race now set, I decided to revisit the coaching plan. This time, I selected the adaptive plan and asked it to train me for a 5K (though I didn’t realize I could have opted for the four-miler specifically) and added a mock 5K race on the same day as the four-miler. From that point on, about two months out if I recall, I worked hard to complete as many workouts from the plan as I could.
I did skip some of the tougher threshold runs. 18 minutes at 5K pace? Not for me. But that fun little sprint session with 15-second bursts and long rest periods? That one I enjoyed, and I would happily repeat it every time.
Even with some missed workouts, my predicted 5K time continued to improve. Then, disaster struck the week of the race: a family event I couldn’t avoid was rescheduled for the same day. Instead of driving to the mountains for my race on an abandoned highway, I used the Garmin 'find an event' feature to locate a 5K happening that same weekend, on Saturday instead of Sunday. I was lucky to find two options. I chose the 'fast and flat' one, since the other was labeled as 'challenging' (which means hilly).
The night before my race, my watch predicted I’d finish in 25:50. I ran the race and finished in 26:04. Unfortunately, the GPS measurement from my watch showed 3.09 miles, so it didn’t officially count as a new 5K personal record. (It wasn’t my all-time PR, but it would have been Garmin’s PR for me. My best ever 5K time was 25:20, and that was thirteen years ago, so I still consider this a pretty great achievement.)
My recommendation for using Garmin's coached plans (any of them) is straightforward and worth considering.
Here, I’ll share a few aspects that I’m not fond of, along with my tips on how to navigate those issues. Everyone has their own preferences, so what bothers me might not be an issue for you. However, this is just my personal take.
One thing that annoys me is that you can’t preview the entire training plan. No matter which plan you choose, you can't see what lies ahead. For instance, you can’t know what Week 8 holds when you’re just starting in Week 1. I'm okay with a flexible approach for 5K training since 5Ks are relatively low-pressure races. They're quick to recover from, and the entry fee is only about 25 bucks. If something goes wrong in a 5K, you can learn from it and run another one the following weekend.
However, if I had a major race like a marathon coming up, I wouldn’t leave everything to an app that might change things unexpectedly. There’s always someone on Reddit wondering what to do when their marathon is only a couple of months away, and they haven’t run more than an hour yet. That’s a nightmare scenario, even if it turns out they might have configured the plan wrong or missed so many runs that the app didn’t know what to assign. It's not something you should discover the hard way.
My advice would be to set a few broad targets, like a weekly mileage goal. Mileage plays a crucial role in improving your running performance. No matter what my app suggested, I always made sure to stay within my weekly mileage range (for me, it was between 20 and 30 miles). It's fine to follow the program even if some weeks feel tougher or easier than expected, but having a rough target ensures you're not overtraining or undertraining week after week.
When preparing for a longer race, like a marathon or half-marathon, it's helpful to have a general idea of how long your long runs should be and what your weekly mileage should look like, particularly during the peak weeks. Take a look at a well-established program, such as one of the free options from Hal Higdon, to ensure you're roughly on track. For example, about one to two months before race day, you should aim for several runs in the 16 to 20-mile range.
Another important reminder is that you know your body better than any app ever could. If you feel the need for an extra rest day or an easier run instead of a scheduled workout, take it. The program will adjust. And if you need to add a specific workout that isn’t listed—like hill repeats for an upcoming hilly race—go ahead and swap it in. No one will be upset, and any solid plan can handle a little disruption from real life.
