In-depth review of Strava’s running training app, Runna. A look at our favourite features of the Strava-owned company, and the reasons we still think it’s the best running training platform for beginners looking to get a taste for training, as well as intermediate to advanced runners hungry for their next PB.

Strava, the global archive of human suffering, without which your run may as well not have happened, seems to be in its acquisitions stage. Last year (2025), they acquired both Runna — the #1 running coaching app I reviewed two years ago — and The Breakaway — apparently some sort of cycling app. I wanted to see what, if anything, had changed since Strava’s acquisition. Was it headed in the same direction? Had improvements been made? And is it still the best running training app?

What’s New?

• Strava now offers a joint subscription, giving you access to everything in Strava Premium plus Runna Premium for a discounted price. If you use both, then really it’s a no-brainer (although, you do have to pay for the year upfront.) Personally, I’ve never seen the value in, or utility of, Strava Premium, so I’d just be paying more for something I don’t want or need.
• Strava: Instant Workouts. This isn’t a new feature on the Runna app, but rather one of the first signs of the acquisition trickling into Strava’s platform. They’re supposedly weekly suggested workouts based on your Strava history, but I can’t personally comment on them as a non-premium member!
• Runna has now been rolled out in multiple languages, hinting at the platform’s maturation with Strava’s resources.

While the Runna app itself might not have changed much since Strava’s acquisition, there’s certainly a whole host of new features since our last review was published. Here’s a few favourites, and why I think it’s the best — and even better than before — running training app:

Suitable Plans for Every Level

Runna have continued to expand their plans to suit the demands of the changing running landscape. Where previously there were only a few categories, now, one of the best things about Strava’s running training app, is the breadth of their plans. Whether you’re contemplating your first few miles, looking to get a taste of what running training entails, or searching for that elusive PB, there’s something to suit you.

Here are the categories of Runna’s plans:

• Race
• Run a specific distance
• Start running
• Get back into running
• 5K improvement plan
• General training
• parkrun improvement plan
• Postnatal plan
• Functional fitness
• Post-injury recovery
• Post-race recovery
• Train for a triathlon
• Help me choose my goal

Within each category, plans differ in terms of their prerequisites, duration, and level of customisation. While I haven’t tried them all, I have both used and played around with my fair share, everything from race, specific distance, 5k improvement, and post-injury recovery. Each has delivered something a little different, and I’ve enjoyed the process of working through each plan.

What I’d like to see next from Runna — and feel free to hit me up for some advice, Ben Parker — is a category dedicated to running for mental wellbeing, as well as — in a similar vein — something accessibility focused that helps individuals with physical or mental constraints stay active. It’s probably a bit too much to ask — and it’s certainly not Runna’s modus operandi — but, having lived experience here, I know there’s much more we can do.

Variety

If you’re anything like me, you may sometimes find your motivation lacking. It’s totally normal not to be psyched for running all of the time, but one of the benefits of having a training plan in your pocket, particularly one with as vast a database as Runna’s, is the shear number of workouts available. Sometimes, all you need in order to regain that desire, passion, or enjoyment of the sport is to shake things up a little bit.

With Runna, it couldn’t be easier. Plans will naturally be programmed with variation in mind, but you can also add to your plan, with a

Maybe that means introducing speed-focused workouts, or maybe it’s trying one you’ve never done before. It could also just be switching up the pace on long runs, adding quicker and slower segments to shake things up.

Injury-Proofing Features

If you’ve ever spent any amount of time on social media — particularly Threads — you may have seen a few people slating the Runna platform for what they say is its propensity to cause injury. Now, nobody’s denying that users of Runna get injured. They are, after all, runners, and therefore susceptible to the usual injuries that come with the territory. But having seen and read most of their complaints, it’s very apparent that none of these people have ever actually used the app. Instead, their complaints are based on hearsay, sometimes jumping on the bandwagon because it’s good for engagement. Other times, it’s motivated by a personal loss to their coaching business. Understandable? Sure. But certainly not motivated by either truth or good intentions.

Strava’s running app has injury prevention embedded into the platform. It doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get injured, but nor is that the case if you pay a coach for 1:1 training. For starters, Runna doesn’t just provide you with a running training plan. There are detailed warm-ups, optional but highly recommended strength training, and even Yoga, Pilates, and Stretch & Stability plans. When you start a plan with Runna, you’re able to tweak things like training volume, and even how hard you want your plan to be: everything from comfortable, balanced, and challenging; changing how many hard workouts you receive each week and determining whether your long runs have pace targets or not.

Then there’s the adaptation. When the app recognises that you’re missing pace targets, it recommends slowing them down. When it notices you’ve not been completing workouts, it suggests heading back to an earlier week, or restarting the plan altogether, to lessen the load. Fundamentally, whether you do that is up to you. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink.

If used correctly, there should be very few differences in injury rates between using a coach and using Runna. Don’t get me wrong, even though I’m making the case for Runna, I would always recommend going with the human option. But what some people fail to recognise is that not everyone can afford to do so. More than that, running doesn’t always take centre stage in an individual’s life. They may have the means to pay for 1:1 coaching, but be unwilling to do so. And, if that’s you, I wouldn’t worry too much about the scaremongering. Runna presents an ideal middle ground if uses correctly.

There are ways of reducing the likelihood of injury, too. Having used the app for a couple of years, I can see a number of areas where ego might get in the way. The first is on that initial setup page. The plan is only going to be suitable if you’re actually honest with those questions. From memory, it asks for a recent time over X distance. Recent being the operative word. I’ve been guilty myself of inputting what I think I could run because of what I’ve previously run, and naturally that’s going to assume a better current level of fitness than you really have. Trying to stick to paces that are beyond your current abilities is a surefire way of getting hurt. Drop the ego and be honest with yourself and you won’t find this a problem.

On top of that, the way most people come to Runna is via social media. That’s to be expected in this day and age, but it in itself is fraught with issues like social comparison. You might look up to one or more of these so-called “Runfluencers” and aspire to complete an event or distance they’ve done. So, you subsequently dive in at the deep end. Again, this is your time to pause. Pump the brakes. Just because they’ve run a marathon doesn’t mean you have to — particularly if you can barely scrape together a 5K. I’m all for setting bold goals, but the marathon distance and beyond needs to be respected. It doesn’t matter if it takes you years to get there. The reality is, it should take you years to get there. The goal being to get there in a healthy, proficient state.

And again, I’m not saying this to be a “party pooper.” I’m saying it because I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Make your marathon debut a good one, rather than the last one (unless you really hate it and never want to run one again).

Sometimes, runners get injured. Are we likely to see more people who use Runna getting injured? Absolutely. But that’s not because the app does a bad job of prevention. Their user base is mind bogglingly huge. People are flooding to the sport because of them. Correlation doesn’t equal causation.

Virtual Community

One of the more unique features of the Runna app is the ability to interact with the huge community of Runna users. There’s a few elements to it. The first is basically a big, friendly running forum where you can ask general questions and get advice from others using the app. Perhaps you’d like to know more about a certain shoe or piece of running tech. Or maybe you simply want to celebrate a recent win — a particularly tricky run you didn’t think you were capable of, for example! But the other side of it — and the one I find most useful — is the ability to join the respective group of the event you’re training for. Perhaps you’d like advice about tricky segments to watch out for and see how others are likely to pace them. Or maybe you’d just like to know a great spot to celebrate with a few post-race beers. It’s all there, on the Runna app.

Programmed, So You Don’t Have To

The final reason for choosing Runna is that all sessions sync effortlessly with your smartwatch or fitness tracker. While programming your own sessions has become easier to do on things like Garmin Connect or the Suunto app, it’s just nice to remove that process from run training.

One of Runna’s strongest points is how flawless the technology is. In under 5 minutes, you can go from downloading the app to having your next session ready on your watch.

When I first wrote my review of Runna, I spoke about removing the thought process from running training. That’s still true, but with the caveat that you do still use your brain, your own sense of what’s right or wrong for your body — something that may change daily — before blindly following a plan.

I’ve never personally experienced this — in fact, I’m not sure how it’s possible if you’re inputting the correct figures — but some of those earlier complaints I mentioned were of Runna giving members sessions that were too fast for them. I’m not being funny, but if you think something is way beyond your reach, don’t do it because an app tells you to. Question it. But, as I say, I’m not sure how that would be possible should you have entered a correct time when first setting up the app. Runna’s suggested paces correspond with the VDOT calculations, which are reasonably good predictors of capability.

Strava x Runna Discount Code

For two weeks free (instead of the usual one), either enter code GRITTY in the Runna app or click this link to download it with the code entered for you.

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