Frequently Asked Questions

Pacewright builds your training plan from your real fitness and rebuilds it as your training changes. You tell it your goal, it reads your runs, and it prescribes the next workout that moves you toward that goal safely. Miss a run, get sick, or have a great week, and the plan adjusts from where you are. From your first walk-run intervals to your fastest race, it runs on one engine. Every session also carries a short note on why it's there, for the times you want it.

Most training apps treat their engines as opaque black boxes. 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. The science it's built on is published, peer-reviewed research, cited right here in our FAQ. The optimization layer on top (how we weigh and combine that science into your best next week) is ours, but it's never hidden. Every workout shows its reasoning. What about copycats? The science is built on decades of published research, by Seiler, Daniels, Banister, Foster, and many others. None of that science is ours; 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 published science should always be open. What's hard to copy is the optimization layer: the specific objective function that decides what counts as your best next week, and the daily adaptation that turns research into a workout you can do on a tired Tuesday morning. Pacewright's value is in executing that science well and explaining every decision, not in hoarding information.

Each day, the engine looks at the workouts that are safe and appropriate for you right now and scores each one. The scorecard is built around the five dimensions of your Run Fitness Index (aerobic, speed, endurance, consistency, recovery), weighted by your goal, plus race-specificity as your event approaches and a check that the week looks sensible. The option that scores highest is the one you get. Then Pacewright tells you which factors mattered most and what the runner-up was, so the decision is never a mystery. The full scorecard is laid out in What Counts as a Better Week.

A lot of training tools lean on ACWR, the acute:chronic workload ratio: your recent training divided by your longer-term baseline, with a 0.8 to 1.3 band often called the "safe zone." Pacewright doesn't use it, and you can check why for yourself. The band was never validated. The pooled evidence is a weak trend with a confidence interval wide enough to tell you almost nothing, and the methodologists who took the ratio apart concluded it should be "dismissed as a framework and model."²³ In runners specifically the relationship even runs backwards: one prospective cohort found the highest injury probability at the low end of the ratio, not the high end.¹¹ So Pacewright builds safety on what the runner-specific research supports instead: a single-session spike cap, which is the strongest injury signal in runners,¹⁰ plus weekly volume caps and your own post-run feedback. Whether you're training the right amount is a separate question, answered by DIAL, which describes your dose and never gates a workout.

Pacewright uses the same principles that guide elite training programs (periodization, per-session and weekly load limits, progressive overload) but wraps them in an accessible interface without intimidating jargon. A first 5K gets a run/walk plan that progresses safely. A 3:00 marathon goal gets 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. Four things set Pacewright apart. It adapts to you instead of handing you a fixed schedule. It trains you toward the most your body can safely absorb, not a number you're told to hit. Your runs are yours, stored so the app works on its own, never sold. And one engine covers every level and distance, so the coaching and the safety are the same whether you're starting out or chasing a PR. Every workout also comes with a short note on why it was chosen, for when you want it. We refuse auto-renewal and never profit from your data. That said, the best training plan is the one you'll actually follow. If another app gets you out the door, that's a win, for you and for the running community. We built Pacewright because we think this approach is a good one, not because it's the only valid one.

Pacewright generates structured workouts with specific segments, targets, and recovery periods, and shows them in the app so you can follow along on any run. Today: your full workout, with targets and coaching, lives in the app. Runs sync in from Strava automatically, and you can log by hand. No watch is required. Planned: Garmin sync arrives at the public beta, and sending a structured workout straight to a Garmin watch, so you can press start and run, comes at the 1.0 release. More watch and app support will follow.

Pacewright doesn't rely on a single number to assess fitness. It watches several signals: whether you can sustain a faster pace at the same perceived effort, whether you're completing workouts as prescribed rather than consistently cutting them short, and whether your training load is trending upward without load 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. An effort that felt like RPE 7 two months ago now feels like RPE 5, and that's measurable improvement, even without a watch.

Most training apps punish missed workouts with red marks and guilt. Pacewright takes a different approach. 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 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 tracks your recent training load against what you were doing before the break. Time off shrinks your weekly total and your longest recent run, so jumping straight back to your original plan means a single run lands far beyond anything you've done in weeks. That per-session jump is the pattern with the strongest evidence behind it in runners: the largest study to date, following 5,205 runners, found that sessions exceeding about 10% of a runner's longest run in the previous 30 days predicted overuse injury.¹⁰ So instead of dropping you back into the old plan, the algorithm caps each session to a modest step over your longest recent run, keeps your weekly volume from leaping, and checks both against the effort you report. You'll be back to full load within a week or two, without the injury risk that comes from "making up" missed training. Your planned workouts are guidelines you can change anytime. If you swap a tempo run for an easy jog, we take what you did and adjust from there.

What Pacewright does well: Consistent, evidence-based programming. Daily adaptation based on your actual performance. Load 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.

We collect two types of data: information you provide directly (goals, fitness level, race history) and data synced from Strava (workout activities, heart rate, GPS routes); a direct Garmin connection comes at the public beta. 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. Everyone gets preset toggles for common factors (caffeine, fasted running, poor sleep, etc.) and can create unlimited custom variables with any name they want ("creatine," "ibuprofen," "2 beers last night," "new orthotics"). 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. On-device only: Personal Variable data is stored exclusively on your device using your browser's local storage. It is never transmitted to our servers. We can't see it or access it, and it is not included in data exports. 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. We show you the numbers. We never make recommendations, suggestions, or judgments based on what you track. 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, and no selling "anonymized insights" 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 and 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.

Right now Pacewright is in closed beta, invite-only. When pricing begins at the public beta, it splits into two tiers. The Free tier is the core coach: the full adaptive plan, DIAL and the safety guardrails, weather-adjusted paces, predicted race times, your Run Fitness Index, one primary race at a time (with secondary and tune-up races around it), Strava sync and manual logging, the run briefing with what to wear, a "why this workout" note in one coach voice, your full plan timeline with per-day detail for the next few weeks, and export or delete of your data. No credit card required. Pro adds depth for $59/year or $7.99/month: more than one primary race at a time, full per-day detail across your entire plan horizon, and deeper analytics and finer tuning as they roll out. See our pricing page for the full comparison.

This is how the tiers work once pricing begins at the public beta. 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. Pro subscription ending: When your Pro subscription ends, whether you choose not to renew or let it expire, your account transitions to the free tier. It is a tier change, with no loss of your data. 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 keep using the free tier indefinitely: the full adaptive plan, DIAL and the safety guardrails, weather-adjusted paces, predicted race times, your Run Fitness Index, Strava sync, the run briefing, and your "why this workout" notes are all included. What changes: the Pro depth switches off. You go back to one primary race at a time, full per-day plan detail collapses to the next few weeks with the rest shown as week summaries, and the deeper analytics and finer tuning become unavailable. Your plan itself keeps adapting exactly as before. 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 and no data loss. 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, the same per-session and weekly load limits everyone else gets, 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.⁴ 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, measures the session against your longest recent run and your accumulated weekly volume, 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 the session ran well past anything you've done recently.¹⁰ This isn't punishment; it's load management. One hard day doesn't cause injury, but a run that jumps far beyond your recent longest, or one stacked on a week that's already climbing, is the pattern worth catching. 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.

Pacewright's Training Status shows DIAL (Dose In Adaptive Limits): a plain reading answering a single question, am I training the right amount? It places your current training between the least that still moves you forward and the most you can safely absorb, and reads as dial it up, dialed in, or dial it back. Where your Run Fitness Index tells you how fit you are, DIAL tells you whether you're loaded right. That reading leans on your training history, and in your first few weeks there isn't much history to lean on. So rather than show a reading it can't stand behind, your card reads "Establishing your base — ease in". It isn't hiding anything. It's being honest that the number isn't meaningful yet, and pointing you at what actually matters early on: showing up consistently and letting your body adapt. Your safety limits stay fully active the whole time. DIAL describes your dose and nudges the plan; it isn't the thing that keeps you safe. That job belongs to the single-session spike cap, the weekly volume caps, and your post-run feedback, and all three run from day one. So if you dramatically overreach in these early weeks (say, a spontaneous 20-miler in week one), Pacewright still notices and eases you back. It uses the size of the effort itself, not a ratio of recent load to baseline: that ratio is unreliable early on, and in runners the evidence behind it is weak enough that we don't lean on it at all.¹¹²³ Once you've built about four weeks of history, DIAL appears and adds its context from there.

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 health authorities such as the World Health Organization and the American College of Sports Medicine for managing many chronic conditions, including asthma, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular disease, with benefits that generally 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 single-session spike cap, progressive overload principles, volume caps, and post-run feedback provide the kind of controlled, gradual progression that suits exercising with a chronic condition. 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.