Create Garmin-ready running workouts with AI in RunSync

RunSync now helps you turn plain-English running workout ideas into Garmin-ready structured sessions, with support for time, distance, pace, and heart-rate guided training.

• running
• garmin
• structured workouts
• ai
• run builder

Building a structured workout should not feel harder than doing the workout itself.

That is the simple idea behind AI workout generation in RunSync.

You can describe the run you want in plain English, review the draft workout, adjust the details, and send it to Garmin when you are happy with it. The important part is that you stay in control. RunSync helps with the first draft, but you still decide whether the session makes sense for your current training.

What is new

This update brings together three improvements that make RunSync more useful for real training:

• AI workout generation from a plain-English prompt
• Distance-based workout steps as well as time-based steps
• Heart-rate targets in Run Builder, alongside pace targets and open effort

Those changes matter because runners rarely think in one format all the time. A useful week might include a 45-minute easy run, 6 x 400 m on the track, 4 x 1 km at 10k effort, and a recovery run capped by heart rate.

RunSync now gives you more ways to turn those ideas into structured workouts that are ready to follow on your Garmin watch.

Start with the session you actually want

The AI workout builder is designed for the moment when you know the shape of the run, but do not want to manually build every warm-up, interval, recovery, and cool-down.

You can start with a prompt like this:

Create a 45-minute 10k threshold session with a 10-minute warm-up, four controlled efforts, short recoveries, and a cool-down.

RunSync turns that into a structured workout draft that you can review before saving.

The aim is not to replace judgement. It is to remove the blank-page friction from creating well-structured sessions.

For me, that is exactly where AI is useful. I do not need it to invent training theory. I need it to turn a sensible idea into a clean structure quickly, so I can check it, tweak it, and move on.

Use distance as well as time

Not every workout is naturally time-based.

Track sessions often make more sense by distance. So do many road sessions, race-specific workouts, and treadmill runs where you want a fixed distance block rather than a fixed duration.

RunSync can now handle workouts such as:

• 6 x 400 m with 200 m jog recoveries
• 4 x 1 km at target pace
• 5 miles easy
• 10 minutes warm-up, then 3 miles steady

That makes the workout builder more flexible for road, track, treadmill, and mixed training weeks.

The key is that the workout can match how you actually think about the session. If the useful unit is distance, use distance. If the useful unit is time, use time. If the workout mixes both, that is fine too.

Add heart-rate guidance when pace is not enough

Pace is useful, but it is not always the best way to control effort.

Heat, hills, fatigue, treadmill differences, poor sleep, and accumulated training load can all change what a pace feels like. On those days, heart rate can be a useful guardrail.

RunSync now supports heart-rate targets in the workout builder, which is useful for sessions such as:

• Easy runs with a heart-rate cap
• Aerobic base runs
• Recovery runs where the aim is to stay genuinely easy
• Controlled tempo or threshold work
• Intervals where pace is the main target and heart rate is used as a check

That does not make heart rate perfect. It can lag during short intervals and it can be affected by plenty of non-running factors. But for easy, aerobic, recovery, and controlled work, it gives you another way to keep the session honest.

Review before you use it

AI-generated workouts should always be checked before use.

RunSync shows the generated workout before you save or send it to Garmin. That review step matters. You can check the total duration, the number of reps, the recovery lengths, the targets, and whether the workout fits your current fitness and training plan.

The feature is there to help you create workouts faster. It is not medical advice, and it is not a replacement for coaching judgement.

1. Read the generated steps.
2. Check the total volume and intensity.
3. Adjust anything that looks too hard, too easy, or too vague.
4. Save the workout only when it matches the session you meant to run.
5. Send it to Garmin when you are ready.

That review loop is the important safeguard. The AI helps you draft. You decide what is appropriate.

Example: from prompt to Garmin-ready workout

Here is a simple example.

Prompt:

Create a 40-minute easy run with 6 x 20-second strides near the end. Keep the easy running controlled.

RunSync can turn that into a structured draft like this:

From there, you can review the details, adjust the steps, add or change targets in Run Builder where needed, and send the workout to Garmin.

That is the workflow I care about most:

The gap between having an idea and having a usable Garmin workout gets much smaller.

Built for real-world training

This update is especially useful if you regularly create sessions like:

• Track intervals
• Tempo runs
• Threshold sessions
• Easy runs with heart-rate caps
• Long runs with structured sections
• Race-specific workouts
• Sessions based on time, distance, pace, or heart rate

It also helps when you want to turn a rough idea into something you can actually follow on the watch.

That is the practical value of structured workouts. You make the decision before the run, when you can think clearly. Then, during the session, Garmin guides the next step.

If you want the broader RunSync workflow, I have written about how I use RunSync to plan my running week and how to sync a structured running workout to Garmin.

Try it now

AI workout generation is now available in RunSync.

Open RunSync, create a new workout, describe the session you want, review the generated workout, adjust anything that needs changing, and send it to Garmin when you are happy with it.

Create the workout. Review the plan. Run the session.