Frequently Asked Questions

Pacewright generates training plans that adapt to how you're actually doing — not just what the calendar says. Every workout includes an explanation of why it was chosen: what system it targets, how it fits into your progression, and what the science says. If you miss a run, get sick, or have a great week, your plan adjusts automatically. The algorithm is built on published training science, and we show our work.

Most training apps treat their algorithms as proprietary secrets. We think that's backwards. If you're trusting software with your body, you should know what it's doing and why. Every workout in Pacewright comes with an explanation — what energy system it targets, why it's scheduled today, and how it fits the bigger picture. Our algorithm is built on published, peer-reviewed research, and the specific papers are cited right here in our FAQ. Transparency isn't a feature; it's a philosophy. What about copycats? Pacewright's algorithm is built on decades of published sports science — research by Seiler, Gabbett, Daniels, Banister, Foster, and many others. None of that is proprietary to us. It's in textbooks, peer-reviewed journals, and university courses. If someone reads our How It Works page and builds their own app, we genuinely encourage that. The running community is better when more people have access to good training principles. We believe the value of Pacewright isn't in hoarding information. It's in the execution: the daily adaptation, the coaching experience, the safety guardrails, the explanations that meet you where you are, and the ongoing work of turning research into something you can actually use on a Tuesday morning when you're tired and wondering whether to run. Any training system that claims to be science-based should be willing to show how it works. We are.

Pacewright uses the same principles that guide elite training programs — periodization, ACWR safety guardrails, progressive overload — but wraps them in an accessible interface without intimidating jargon. If you're training for your first 5K, we'll build a run/walk plan that progresses safely. If you're chasing a 3:00 marathon, we'll program threshold work and race-specific pacing. The science doesn't change based on your speed; the application does.

Pacewright is built by TwelveTake Studios LLC, a disabled-veteran owned small business. We're self-funded, which means our incentives are aligned with yours: we make money when you find the product valuable enough to pay for, not when we harvest your data or lock you into subscriptions you forgot about. That independence is why we can do things like refuse auto-renewal and commit to never profiting from user data. We answer to our users, not a board.

A few years ago, I weighed 285 pounds, smoked two packs a day, and would be gasping for air after climbing a single flight of stairs. When I finally quit smoking, I downloaded a Couch to 5K app and started run/walk intervals in my neighborhood. I was slow. I was embarrassed. I would only run in the dark so nobody would see me. But I kept showing up. I lost 90 pounds. My blood pressure normalized. My mental health improved in ways I didn't expect — the anxiety and depression that had followed me for years became manageable for the first time. Running gave me that. I want to be clear: I am not an elite athlete. I'm not fast. I don't have a sub-3 marathon or a coaching certification on my wall. I'm just a regular person who discovered that running — done consistently and safely — can genuinely change your life. Pacewright exists because I wanted to build the tool I wish I'd had: one that meets you where you are, explains what it's doing and why, and doesn't make you feel like you need to already be fit to get started. Every design decision in this app comes back to that. No auto-renewal, because I've been the guy who forgot to cancel a subscription he wasn't using. Transparent algorithms, because "trust us" isn't good enough when someone is trusting software with their body. RPE as a first-class data source, because nobody should need a $300 watch to get a real training plan. If Pacewright helps even one person have the experience I had — going from "I can't run" to "I'm a runner" — then it was worth building.

There are several adaptive training apps on the market, and they all have strengths. What makes Pacewright different is transparency: we don't hide our algorithm behind a black box. Every workout comes with an explanation of why it was chosen, what training principle it's based on, and a link to the research. We refuse auto-renewal subscriptions and commit to never profiting from user data. That said, the best training plan is the one you'll actually follow. If another app motivates you to lace up and get out the door, that's a win — for you and for the running community. We built Pacewright because we believe runners deserve to understand their training, but we'd never suggest that ours is the only valid approach.

Pacewright generates structured workouts with specific segments, targets, and recovery periods. Getting those onto your watch so you can just press start and run is a core priority. Garmin Connect: Send structured workouts directly to your Garmin watch from the app. Your workout shows up on your wrist — no manual file transfer, no extra steps. More platforms coming: We want to support every watch and app that has a public API for structured workouts. COROS, Suunto, Apple Watch, and others are on the list. If your favorite isn't supported yet, let us know at support@pacewright.com. No watch at all? That's fine too. Pacewright shows your full workout with targets and coaching right in the app. The watch integration makes things easier, but it's never required.

Pacewright doesn't rely on a single number to assess fitness. It watches several signals: can you sustain a faster pace at the same perceived effort? Are you completing workouts as prescribed, or consistently cutting them short? Is your chronic training load trending upward without ACWR spikes?¹⁰ If you use a heart rate monitor or GPS watch, we also track pace-to-heart-rate ratios — running faster at the same heart rate is a clear sign of improving running economy and aerobic fitness.¹⁵ But device data is supplementary, never required. RPE-based progression works on its own because your perception of effort recalibrates as you get fitter. A pace that felt like RPE 7 two months ago now feels like RPE 5? That's measurable improvement, even without a watch.

Most training apps punish you for missing workouts — red marks, broken streaks, guilt. Pacewright does the opposite. If you miss a run, we'll gently ask why (totally optional) so we can adjust your plan intelligently. "Too tired" means something different than "too busy" — one is a training signal, the other is a life signal, and your plan should respond differently to each. You can also tell Pacewright ahead of time if you have a busy week coming up, and we'll proactively scale your plan back so you can complete what's scheduled instead of falling behind. How the algorithm handles it: Pacewright uses exponentially weighted moving averages to track your fitness and fatigue.¹⁰ When you miss a few days, your acute capacity drops while your chronic baseline starts to decline. Jumping straight back to your original plan would create a dangerous Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio spike — the #1 predictor of running injuries.¹¹ Instead, the algorithm recalculates a conservative ramp-up that keeps your ACWR in the safe zone (0.8-1.3). You'll be back to full load within a week or two, but without the injury risk that comes from "making up" missed training. Your planned workouts are always guidelines, never mandates. If you swap a tempo run for an easy jog, we take what you actually did and adjust from there. No scolding, no failure state — just smart adaptation.

What Pacewright does well: Consistent, evidence-based programming. Daily adaptation based on your actual performance. ACWR safety monitoring that never forgets or gets distracted. Objective progression without emotional bias. Transparent explanations for every decision. Available 24/7 at a fraction of the cost of human coaching. What a human coach does that we can't: Watch your running form and correct biomechanical issues. Read your body language during a workout. Have a conversation about your goals, stress, and motivation. Provide the accountability that comes from knowing another person is invested in your success. Make judgment calls that draw on decades of intuition, not just data. Who Pacewright works well for: Self-motivated runners who want structure and science without the cost or scheduling constraints of human coaching. Runners who want to understand why they're doing each workout. People whose schedules make regular coaching sessions impractical. Who might benefit from a human coach instead (or in addition): Runners with specific biomechanical issues or injury histories that require hands-on assessment. Athletes preparing for very high-level competition where marginal gains matter. People who thrive on personal accountability and relationship-based motivation. Our honest take: If you can afford a good running coach and you want one, get one — and use Pacewright alongside them for the daily programming and data tracking. If coaching isn't accessible (cost, location, schedule), Pacewright provides the same training science in an affordable, always-available format. We're not trying to replace great coaches. We're trying to give everyone access to great training principles.

Streak mechanics — "You've run 47 days in a row! Don't break the chain!" — are borrowed from habit-formation psychology. They work for things like language learning or meditation where daily practice is genuinely beneficial. But in running, daily exercise without rest increases injury risk, accumulates fatigue, and can turn a healthy activity into an anxiety-driven compulsion.²² The Duolingo problem: Apps that use streaks, guilt notifications ("We miss you!"), and social shame ("Your friends ran today, why didn't you?") are optimizing for engagement metrics, not for your health. They want you to open the app every day because that's how they measure success. We measure success differently: are you getting fitter? Are you staying healthy? Are you enjoying running? What we do instead: Pacewright shows your progress — pace trends, fitness curves, volume progression, goal milestones. We celebrate consistency over time (weeks and months, not daily streaks). We explicitly program rest days and never penalize you for taking them. If you miss a run, there's no red mark, no broken chain, no disappointed owl. Just a quiet "How are you feeling?" so we can adapt your plan. The philosophy: Running should add to your life, not become something you do to avoid guilt. If you're running because an app will make you feel bad if you don't, that's not fitness — that's a toxic relationship. We'd rather you run three times a week for ten years than every day for three months before burning out.

We collect two types of data: information you provide directly (goals, fitness level, race history) and data synced from connected services like Strava or Garmin (workout activities, heart rate, GPS routes). We do not and will never profit from user data. Our full privacy policy names every third party we share data with.

Exporting: Any Pacewright user (free or Pro) can export their complete data at any time from the account settings page. You get your full workout history, training plans, goal settings, analytics data, personal records, and account information — in standard formats (JSON and CSV) that you can import into other platforms or keep for your records. Deleting: Account deletion comes with two options: a 7-day grace period (during which you can download a complete data export and change your mind), or immediate deletion for those who want their data gone now. Immediate deletion requires typing your email to confirm — we use multi-step confirmation so nobody accidentally nukes their account. Once deleted, your data is gone from our systems. We don't keep shadow profiles or "anonymized" backups of your training history. Why this matters: Some fitness apps make it difficult or impossible to take your data with you. That's a lock-in tactic. We think it's disrespectful to users who spent months or years building a training history. Data portability is a basic right, not a premium feature.

Ghost Mode is enabled by default for all accounts. It means other Pacewright users can't see your profile, training data, or activity. If you want to participate in social features down the road, you can turn it off. But we'll never flip that switch for you, and anything privacy-related in Pacewright is opt-in. We think the default should always protect your privacy, and you should have to actively choose to be visible.

Prevention (do this now): Set up a passkey (fingerprint, face, or PIN) in your Profile settings. Once configured, you can log in without email. Also add a recovery email in your Profile — if your primary email is ever compromised, we can send a verification code to your backup. If you're already locked out: Contact us at support@pacewright.com. To verify your identity, we'll ask for 2-3 pieces of information only the account holder would know: your payment receipt or transaction ID, account details (goal type, connected Strava username), or the last 4 digits of your payment card. Once verified, we'll initiate an email change — but there's a 72-hour waiting period during which a notification is sent to your old email address. If someone other than you made the request, the real account holder can cancel it during that window. This protects against social engineering attacks. What support cannot do: Delete your account, issue refunds, or export your data. Those actions require being logged in. This is intentional — it prevents anyone from destroying your account by impersonating you.

GPS watches drop signal in tunnels, wrist heart rate monitors spike during intervals, and Strava sometimes loses a sync. Pacewright is designed to handle this gracefully. If a data point looks implausible (a 2-minute mile, a heart rate of 250), it's flagged and excluded from training load calculations. If a sync fails entirely, your RPE-based training log keeps the plan on track. Your plan was functional before you connected any device, and it stays functional if the connection hiccups. Device data makes the algorithm more precise — not dependent. If you notice consistently bad data, check your watch firmware and strap fit, but don't worry about the occasional glitch corrupting your training plan.

We don't track or verify your location for this purpose and rely on your self-attestation during account creation. If we become aware an account is being used from the EU/EEA/UK, we may restrict access. This isn't something we want to do — it's a compliance reality we're working within. If our ability to serve those regions changes in the future, we'll update our policies and make an announcement.

Pacewright includes a Personal Variables feature that lets you track factors that might affect your running. Free users get preset toggles for common factors (caffeine, fasted running, poor sleep, etc.). Pro users can create unlimited custom variables with any name they want — "creatine," "ibuprofen," "2 beers last night," "new orthotics" — whatever you think is relevant. There are no restrictions on what you can type. Over time, Pro users see statistical comparisons: your average pace, RPE, and heart rate on runs with a variable versus runs without it. We require at least 10 runs each way before showing stats, so you're not drawing conclusions from two data points. Here's the important part: all Personal Variable data is stored exclusively on your device using your browser's local storage. It is never transmitted to our servers. We cannot see it, we cannot access it, and it is not included in data exports. We genuinely do not care what you put in there — the system treats every variable identically as a text label with a toggle. If you clear your browser data, this data is gone, because it was never anywhere else. That's the tradeoff for true privacy, and we think it's the right one. We show you the numbers. We never make recommendations, suggestions, or judgments based on what you track. You're an adult — draw your own conclusions.

Your training data, workout history, and any other information in Pacewright are never shared with your employer, insurance provider, or any other third party. Not in aggregate. Not anonymized. Not under any circumstances. We do not have data-sharing agreements with any employer, insurance company, or government agency. We do not provide APIs, feeds, or reports to employers. We do not and will never build this capability. Our business model is straightforward: you pay for Pro, or you use the free tier. That's how we make money. We don't monetize your data in any way — no advertising, no data brokering, no "anonymized insights" sold to third parties. This commitment is in our privacy policy, not just our FAQ.

Auto-renewal is an industry standard designed to extract money from people who forgot they were subscribed. We won't do it. When your subscription period ends, we'll send you reminders at 14 days, 3 days, and the day of expiration — each with a "Do Not Remind Me Again" button. If you don't renew, your account drops to the free tier. Your data stays intact. If you come back six months later, everything is still there. We'd rather lose a subscription than keep one dishonestly.

The Free tier covers everything an everyday runner needs to train for and finish a marathon: adaptive running plans, weather-adjusted paces, the full plan timeline (with this week and next in detail), coach personality selection, Run Together, race-week protocols, basic stats, Strava & Garmin sync with push-to-watch, and achievements — forever, no credit card required. Pro adds power-user depth for $59/year or $7.99/month: multiple race goals trained sequentially, full per-day detail across the entire plan horizon, advanced analytics (pace fade, aerobic efficiency, cardiac drift, environmental impact, spider chart), a stats Deep Dive chart builder, customization sliders, custom workout builder, saved routes, plan adaptation history, and in-app threaded support. See our pricing page for the full comparison.

Free trial ending: When your 30-day Pro trial ends, your account reverts to the free tier automatically. There is no credit card on file (we don't ask for one to start the trial), so there is nothing to charge. No surprise bills, no "forgot to cancel" traps. Pro subscription ending: When your Pro subscription ends — whether you choose not to renew or simply let it expire — your account transitions to the free tier. This is not a downgrade in the punitive sense. It's a feature tier change. What you keep (in both cases): Your complete workout history, all training data, personal records, goal settings, and account information. Nothing is deleted, archived, or made inaccessible. You can continue using the free tier indefinitely — adaptive running plans, weather-adjusted paces, coach selection, Run Together, race-week protocols, Strava/Garmin sync, basic stats, and achievements are all included. What changes: Pro-only depth deactivates — full per-day plan detail collapses back to "this week and next" with the rest of the timeline shown as week summaries; advanced analytics (pace fade, aerobic efficiency, cardiac drift, environmental impact, spider chart), the Deep Dive chart builder, custom workout builder, saved routes, plan adaptation history, and in-app threaded support all become unavailable. Your basic stats, planned workouts, sync, and coach voice all keep working. Customization sliders: Values you set as Pro stay applied and the engine keeps using them — we don't quietly change your plan when your subscription ends. The sliders are just locked from new edits until you re-subscribe. If you'd rather go back to Pacewright's defaults, there's a "Reset to defaults" option in Settings with a 7-day undo window; after that, your sliders stay at default until you re-subscribe. If you come back: All your data is still there. You pick up right where you left off with full Pro features restored. There's no "re-onboarding" or data loss. We don't punish you for taking time to decide. Why we do it this way: Because your training data belongs to you, not to your subscription status. Holding data hostage to force renewals is a dark pattern, and we refuse to use it.

No device at all? Pacewright's algorithm is built from the ground up to work with Rate of Perceived Exertion as a first-class data source.³⁴ RPE is how exercise scientists have measured training intensity for decades. With RPE alone, you get a fully adaptive training plan, ACWR safety guardrails, and every feature that doesn't specifically require GPS or heart rate data. Most running apps effectively require a $300+ device to function. We think that's gatekeeping. Easiest path: Connect Strava. If your watch syncs to Strava — and nearly all of them do (Garmin, Apple Watch, COROS, Suunto, Polar, Fitbit) — connecting your Strava account is the fastest way to get your data flowing. Activities sync automatically within a minute. Direct integrations: We're building direct connections to Garmin Connect, Apple Health, and more. These provide richer data than Strava for some devices. Check Settings → Integrations for the current list. File upload: Every GPS watch can export GPX, TCX, or FIT files. Upload activity files manually after each run or in bulk. Manual entry: After your run, tap "Log This Workout" and enter as much or as little as you want. The only required field is RPE. Add distance, time, and pace if you know them. Skip them if you don't. GPS watches and heart rate monitors add precision — pace trend analytics, race predictions, heart rate zone training, and automatic data sync. But they're enhancements, not requirements.

When your current plan reaches its goal — race day or the end of a training cycle — Pacewright doesn't just stop. It evaluates your current fitness level, asks about your next goal, and generates a new plan that builds on what you've accomplished. If you just raced, it programs a recovery period before the next build. If you hit a maintenance milestone, it transitions to your next objective. There's no "program complete, good luck" moment. Fitness is a continuous process, and the algorithm treats it that way. You can also change goals mid-plan — if you were training for a 10K but decide to sign up for a half marathon, Pacewright restructures around the new target while preserving the fitness you've already built. The plan adapts to your life, not the other way around.

Pacewright places workouts on specific days to optimize the stress-recovery cycle — hard days are spaced with easy or rest days between them, long runs are placed when you have time, and the weekly pattern follows periodization principles.⁷ But these are recommendations, not mandates. What you can safely move: Swapping Monday's easy run with Tuesday's is harmless. Moving a tempo run from Wednesday to Thursday because of a work conflict is fine. Doing your long run on Saturday instead of Sunday doesn't matter. What to be careful about: Stacking two hard sessions on consecutive days (e.g., moving Tuesday's intervals to Wednesday, the same day as Thursday's tempo run). This eliminates the recovery between quality sessions and increases injury risk. The algorithm's spacing exists for a reason — the further you deviate from the hard-easy-hard pattern, the more important it is to pay attention to how you feel.¹⁰ What happens when you move things: Pacewright tracks what you actually did, not what was scheduled. If you move a workout, log it when you do it. The algorithm recalculates your training load based on when the work actually happened, and adjusts upcoming sessions accordingly.

Rotating shifts, 24-hour duty cycles, and unpredictable schedules are common in shift-work jobs and any role with an unpredictable calendar. The algorithm is designed to handle this. How it works: You can mark days as unavailable (on shift, traveling, family commitments) and Pacewright redistributes your planned training across the remaining available days. It maintains the key training principles — hard/easy alternation, adequate recovery, progressive overload — while working within your constraints. Sleep disruption matters: Shift work disrupts circadian rhythms, which impairs recovery. Research shows that chronic sleep disruption increases injury risk and reduces training adaptation.¹³²¹ Pacewright's RPE-based system naturally accounts for this: if you're exhausted after a night shift, your RPE will be higher, and the algorithm responds to that signal by adjusting upcoming workouts. Practical advice: On post-shift days, easy running or rest is usually more productive than hard workouts. Save your quality sessions for days when you've had adequate sleep. Consistency matters more than perfection — three quality runs around a crazy schedule beats five mediocre ones powered by caffeine and willpower.

Running faster or longer than prescribed — sometimes called "cowboying" a workout — changes your training load for the day. Pacewright treats this the same way it treats any deviation from the plan: it logs what you actually did, recalculates your acute training load, checks it against your chronic load, and adjusts accordingly. If the deviation was small: (e.g., ran 5 miles instead of 4, or your easy run was slightly faster than prescribed) — minimal impact. The algorithm absorbs minor overages without significant plan changes. If the deviation was large: (e.g., turned an easy run into a tempo, or doubled the prescribed distance) — the algorithm may reduce the next day's planned workout, substitute an easy day, or flag that your ACWR is trending high.¹⁰ This isn't punishment; it's load management. One hard day doesn't cause injury — but a hard day on top of an already-elevated training load can. The philosophy: Pacewright doesn't lecture you about "sticking to the plan." You're an adult who knows how your body feels. Sometimes you feel great and want to push it. The algorithm's job is to account for what you actually did and keep your overall trajectory safe. Run your run, log it honestly, and let the system adapt.

This is not medical advice. Get clearance from your healthcare provider before starting any exercise program with a chronic condition. That said, regular physical activity is recommended by major medical organizations for the management of most chronic conditions — including asthma, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular disease. The benefits typically outweigh the risks when exercise is appropriately dosed. Why Pacewright may work well for you: The algorithm is RPE-first, meaning it responds to how you actually feel, not to an arbitrary pace target. If your asthma makes a run feel like RPE 7 that would normally be RPE 4, the algorithm treats it as the harder effort it actually was. This self-adjusting quality is important for conditions where day-to-day capacity varies unpredictably.³⁴ Conservative by design: Pacewright's ACWR guardrails, progressive overload principles, and volume caps provide the kind of controlled, gradual progression that most medical guidelines recommend for exercise with chronic conditions.¹⁰ What Pacewright cannot do: Provide condition-specific programming (e.g., blood sugar management around workouts for diabetics, inhaler timing for asthmatics, joint protection protocols for arthritis). These require guidance from your healthcare team. What we can do is provide a sensible, adaptive running plan that respects your body's signals and keeps you within safe training loads. Our recommendation: Talk to your provider, share what Pacewright does (RPE-based adaptive training with conservative load management), and ask whether it's appropriate for your situation. In most cases, the answer will be yes with some individual adjustments.