Nike Run Club is Nike's free running app, and its training plans also live on Nike's website. Most sessions are written to be run with a Guided Run, where a coach talks you through the workout as you go. The main voice in the app is Chris Bennett, Nike Running Global Head Coach. Every Nike Run Club plan we review is on this page: a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon and a marathon, all free.
Each plan is graded on the same 31 measures we use for every plan, with the research behind each measure linked. The ladder is strict. A C is a decent plan with gaps worth knowing about, and all 4 of these earn one. Open any plan to see what it does well, where it falls short, and who it suits.
- Plans reviewed
- 4
- Goals
- 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon
- Length
- 8–18 weeks
- Run days
- 5 a week
- Peak mileage
- 13–37 miles a week
5K plans
10K plans
Half Marathon plans
Marathon plans
Training with Nike Run Club
Bennett ran at UNC-Chapel Hill and then for the Nike Farm Team at Stanford, and his outlook runs through these plans: you're told to be your own head coach. The plans give you real room to do that. You can rearrange the week, spend a rest day resting or running a few easy miles, and run a session without its Guided Run if you'd rather. The half marathon and marathon plans go further and tell you which runs to protect when a week gets crowded. Paces come from a chart. You pick your row from a recent race, a few tracked runs, or a best guess, and each target is the middle of a range.
All 4 plans run 5 days a week:
- 5K and 10K: 8 weeks each, with 2 hard sessions in most weeks. The 5K's long run grows from 1 mile to 4, and the 10K's from about 3 to 7.
- Half marathon: 14 weeks and 27 speed sessions, no two the same. The long run reaches 12.5 miles three weeks before the race.
- Marathon: 18 weeks in 4 labelled phases, with one hard session a week and a long run that climbs to 22 miles.
The 4 plans share a profile. Variety is the strongest part of every one. The speed sessions change almost every week, from short ladders to hills to tempo runs, so you learn many efforts and practice each until it feels familiar. Getting you ready for race day comes close behind. The gaps sit in the build around those workouts. None of the 4 schedules strength work. The 5K and 10K climb for weeks without a lighter one, and the marathon waits until week 13, though a lighter week every few weeks is when recent training turns into fitness. The printed plans also say little about what a session is for, and in the 5K most of the reasons live in the audio. The marathon plan never asks you to practice marathon effort before race day.
These plans suit a healthy runner who likes variety, enjoys a voice in their ear, and is comfortable making their own calls. If you're coming back from an injury, read the reviews closely before you start. Each one explains what that means for its plan.
Get more out of your running with Buena Vida
Buena Vida was built by a runner to bring the whole job of training into one place: a plan that fits your schedule and your fitness, coaching on every run, and food targets that keep up with the work you do. Members get personal training & nutrition plans, plus full access to the catalog of pre-written plans for every running goal.
In research studies, runners on plans fit to them improved as much as or more than runners on fixed plans, and fewer of them stalled.
Try it FREE for 7 days. After that, it's $99.99 a year or $14.99 a month, and you can cancel anytime.
Scan to get the app on your iPhone