Race pacing with a coach that knows when to speak

How do I set a goal time for a race?

Pick the distance, set the goal time, choose a strategy. The goal starts from your gears.

1. 01

   Pick the distance

   Choose a race distance on Find a run.

2. 02

   Set a goal time

   It starts at what your gears say you'd race the distance at, shown as a pace per kilometer or mile. Change it to the time you're aiming for.

3. 03

   Choose a strategy

   How you'll spend the effort over the distance. The options are below.

Which race pacing strategies can I choose?

Seven, each a different way to spend the same goal time. Three of them:

The other four are Fast start, Three parts, Surges and Run-walk race, for runners who race with walk breaks. Not sure? Even pace and Negative split are the patient choices.

What is the glide?

The glide is the controlled opening of a race. Race mode assumes you've warmed up, then eases you onto goal pace instead of letting the start line and the crowd set it for you. Go off too fast and the coach still says so. A controlled opening costs a few seconds you can win back later; a fast one tends to be paid for in the second half, with interest.

How does the coach talk during a race?

By pace, with words timed to the race, not to a clock.

• Pace words: on pace, a little quick, a little slow.
• Encouragement held back until halfway, then building over the last fifth.
• Marks at halfway (“on plan” only when it's true), the last kilometer or mile, the last hundred meters, and the finish.
• Breathing that follows your race pace.

Does race mode use my gears or my pace?

Your pace. On everyday runs, the gears, your personalized running zones, set the effort. In a race you've chosen a goal, so the coach holds you to goal pace and tells you plainly where you stand. Your gears still matter before the start: they set the suggested goal time.

Race mode runs on iPhone alone or on Apple Watch with no phone, with no connection needed. Pace comes from GPS, so outdoor races are the place for it.

How do I train for a race with Gears?

With a plan for the weeks before and race mode for the day itself. Choose a 5K, 10K, half marathon or marathon goal, and your personalized running plan builds to your race date through Base, Build, Peak and Taper, with a lighter week every fourth week and the long run growing week by week.

In Find a run, the Race pace target rehearses your goal pace before you need it, and Finishing speed trains running faster when you're already tired, which is what the last part of any race asks.

On the morning, warm up before you start race mode. It assumes you have, and opens straight into the glide.

What Gears doesn't do

• No per-kilometer or per-mile splits during the race yet. Splits are planned.
• No indoor races yet, and your plan's race day doesn't yet start in race mode on its own.
• No finish-time prediction beyond the goal it suggests from your gears, and no promise you'll hit it.
• No overriding your body. Safety lines, such as a very high heart rate, speak in a race as on any run.

For pacing ideas before race day, read the training plan and lactate threshold.