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The gears

Personalized running zones, measured on you

The gears are your personalized running zones: Walk, Easy (Gear 1), Steady (Gear 2) and Hard (Gear 3), each a pace range placed from your own running. Every run with heart rate refines them, and your heart stands guard so an easy day stays easy.

The Your gears screen: three gears on an arc, easy pace learned from 23 runs, and each gear's pace range

What are the gears?

Three running efforts plus Walk, each with its own color and pace range. Easy is relaxed, slower than you think. Steady is working, but in control. Hard is strong, but controlled. Walk covers walk breaks, recoveries and run-walk runs, and is never shown as a numbered gear.

  1. Walk

    Recover

    Feels
    Brisk walking, between efforts or to start.
    Talk test
    Full conversation.
    Builds
    Recovery between efforts, and the bridge into running for new runners.

  2. Gear 1

    Easy

    Feels
    Relaxed. Slower than you think.
    Talk test
    Full sentences.
    Builds
    The aerobic base: most of your running, most of your gains.

  3. Gear 2

    Steady

    Feels
    Working, but in control.
    Talk test
    Short phrases.
    Builds
    Strength that lasts: tempo, long-run finishes, race rhythm.

  4. Gear 3

    Hard

    Feels
    Strong, but controlled.
    Talk test
    A few words at most.
    Builds
    Speed and the top of your engine: intervals, hills, sprints.
The run screen takes your gear's color, always with its number or name beside it.

The check is the talk test: full sentences in Easy, short phrases in Steady, a few words in Hard. A good week is mostly Easy, some Steady, a little Hard. The coach puts it more briefly:

  1. Introducing Gear 1Gear one. Full sentences. Easy.
  2. Introducing Gear 2Gear two. Short phrases. Comfortably hard.
  3. Introducing Gear 3Gear three. A few words at most. Rare.
  4. How a week is shared outMostly one. Some two. A little three.
First launch, as the gears are introduced.

Are the gears the same as heart rate zones?

They do the same job, with one difference: each gear is a pace range you steer by, and your heart rate guards it. Easy is the conversational effort many runners call zone 2, which makes Gears a natural zone 2 running app.

Five zones to memorize become three efforts and a walk. For a new runner, Easy can be a brisk walk and Hard a quick jog; for a seasoned one, easy, steady and fast running. The words stay. The paces are yours. The effort scale is explained in RPE for runners.

Should I train by pace or heart rate?

Both: pace leads, heart rate guards. You run to a pace range, and your heart rate can only make a gear easier, never harder. If an easy or steady stretch costs too much, on a hot day or a tired one, the coach eases the pace and tells you why.

  1. Easy, the effort costing more than usualIt's costing more than usual today. I've eased your pace. Keep the effort.
  2. Steady, after the guard eases the targetSame effort, slower pace today. That's the right trade.
The pace target comes down; the effort stays right.
  • Outdoors with heart rate: pace leads, heart rate guards.
  • Indoors with heart rate: heart rate leads; pace comes from your steps.
  • No heart rate (iPhone, no strap): pace alone. The coach never pretends to know your heart rate.
  • Neither: haptics guide the run.

Heart rate comes from Apple Watch, a Bluetooth chest strap or a Garmin's Broadcast Heart Rate: see chest strap and Apple Watch heart rate.

How are my pace zones set?

Automatically, from the best source you have. No fitness test.

  1. Placed from what you have

    Your Apple Health running (pace with heart rate), a race time, your fastest recent run, Cardio Fitness (VO2 max), a Gear Discovery Run or, with nothing to go on, an estimate.

  2. Refined as you run

    Each run with heart rate sharpens the ranges. The app names the source, such as “Learned from 12 runs” or “From your race time”, with a confidence figure.

  3. Tuned by how they felt

    After a run, rate each gear Easy, Right or Hard. Each answer tunes your gears.

Get fitter and the ranges move. The coach tells you once:

  1. The run after your gears moveYour gears have moved. Same effort, faster paces. That's fitness.
  2. Or, on another dayYour easy pace got quicker. The work is showing.

Is there a test to set my zones?

Yes, if you want one. The optional Gear Discovery Run measures your gears directly in about twenty minutes: easy, harder and hard efforts, with recovery between. It suits experienced runners who want a clean re-test. New runners start with Meet your gears, a short session that teaches all three.

  1. At the startThis run teaches me your gears. Run by feel, I'll do the numbers.
  2. Into the Steady blockNow a bit harder. Gear two means short sentences only.
  3. At the endYour gears are set from today. They'll sharpen with every run.
The Gear Discovery Run.

Can I see and change my zones?

Yes. On iPhone, You → Your gears shows each range and its source. The watch shows them read-only and says “Set them on your iPhone.”

  • Method: Automatic, From a race time (5K, 10K, half marathon or marathon) or Manual.
  • Nudge any range five seconds at a time.
  • Lock my gears, Adjust for hills, Adjust for heat or Reset to automatic.
  • Easy pace over time: how your easy pace has changed.

It all starts from Easy: “The pace you could hold for an hour and still talk. Your gears start from it.”

What Gears doesn't do

  • No diagnosis. The gears are training guidance, not a medical reading. Read the health disclaimer before you run.
  • Heart rate never makes a gear harder. It can only ease one.
  • No invented heart rate. On an iPhone with no strap or Garmin, it coaches by pace and says nothing about your heart.
  • No five zones to juggle. Three gears and a walk, on purpose.
  • An estimate is only a start, and the app says so: “Estimate: run with heart rate to sharpen it.”

Questions runners ask

What are the running zones in Gears?

Easy (Gear 1), Steady (Gear 2) and Hard (Gear 3), plus Walk, each a pace range from your own running. A good week is mostly Easy, some Steady and a little Hard.

Should I run by pace or heart rate?

Both: pace leads and heart rate guards. If an easy or steady stretch costs too much, the pace eases. Indoors heart rate leads; with no heart rate, pace leads alone.

Do I need a fitness test to set my zones?

No. Your gears are placed from your Apple Health running, a race time, your fastest recent run or Cardio Fitness, then refined by every run with heart rate. The Gear Discovery Run is there for a direct re-test.

Can I set my running zones manually?

Yes. In Your gears on iPhone, choose Automatic, From a race time or Manual, nudge any range five seconds at a time, lock them, or reset to automatic.

Do my zones change as I get fitter?

Yes. Every run with heart rate refines them, and when they move the coach tells you: “Your gears have moved. Same effort, faster paces. That's fitness.”

Last updated

Your next run, in the right gear.

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