Run-walk intervals on your Apple Watch
Alternating running and walking is one of the best ways to start running, come back from a break or finish a long race fresh. Your Apple Watch can guide you through it with a tap and a voice cue at every switch, so you never have to look at a stopwatch.
Which ratio fits you?
Start easier than you think. You can always shorten the walks next week.
- Just starting: 1 minute running, 1 minute walking, 10 times. Open in the planner
- A few weeks in: 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking, 8 times. Open in the planner
- Building up: 4 minutes running, 1 minute walking, 6 times. Open in the planner
- By distance: run 1 km, walk 1 minute, 5 times: a 5 km with built-in breaks. Open in the planner
With the built-in Workout app
In the Workout app you can make a custom workout with work and recovery steps on time or distance and repeat them. That works well for a fixed ratio. What it does not do is end a step on heart rate, repeat until you decide to stop, or show you how this repeat compares with the previous one.
With RunSpan
- Install RunSpan from the App Store; the watch app comes with it.
- Tap one of the workouts above on your iPhone (it opens in the planner), or build your own on the iPhone under Create: a run block, a walk block, a repeat.
- Start on the watch. At every switch you hear "Walk" or "Run" and feel a tap; the big number shows what is left of the block.
- Repeat until I stop: set the repeat to ∞ and just keep going until you feel like stopping.
- See if you run evenly: from the second repeat your previous one runs along as a grey line behind the numbers, with a grey dot where you were last time.
- Works with your music: the voice coach lowers your music, pauses it or only plays a chime, as you prefer.
- Saved in Apple Health with route and heart rate, so it counts towards your rings.
Questions
Is walking during a run cheating?
No. Many runners finish marathons faster with planned walk breaks, and for beginners it is the way to run longer without getting injured.
What does it cost?
The free run is always free. Interval workouts are part of the subscription, €0.99 a month or €9.99 a year, first week free. The web planner is free.