Half Marathon Training Using Garmin Coach: My Honest Review

When I moved to Tennessee, I left an amazing running group behind. For years I had run with my coach/group, and always had workouts and training plans created for me. After my move, I wasn’t sure where to start or how to push myself to train on my own. I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 245 Music and also a Garmin Venu watch (which I love) and noticed it included a Garmin Coach feature in the Garmin Connect app. I was curious about following a run plan set by my watch and decided to give it a try. It doesn’t cost anything (as long as you have a compatible Garmin), so there was no downside. Keep reading for my guide on half marathon training using Garmin Coach: My Honest Review! 

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Getting Started With Garmin Coach

Setting it up was a piece of cake! I chose the half marathon training plan (they also offer 5k and 10k plans). You choose between three coaches. I’m not sure what the difference between the individuals was, but it seemed like one was more of a beginner coach, while the other two were geared toward seasoned runners. 

Then I was asked about my goals, a certain finish time, or just finishing. I chose a specific time. Then it asked what race I was running, or on what date (good for virtual races). I wasn’t 100% sure when I started the program what race I wanted to run, so I chose a random race around the time I knew I wanted to race. Later, I was easily able to change that race to the Rock’N’Roll Nashville Half Marathon.

Once I had all my goals set up, I was ready to run! They asked me about my current running schedule, which was five days a week, and what days my long runs were. With all that data they created a customized running plan that closely matched my previous routine. 

The Garmin Coach Half Marathon Workouts

My first run was a benchmark run, so it was a very standard short run. I quickly realized that you can keep running after your Garmin Coach workout ends. So, during my first few runs, I was able to keep my mileage up and still do my workouts.

If you need to move a workout to another day, you can do that! Just go to the calendar view of your workouts and click reschedule. I had to move a few runs around and had no issues doing so on the app. 

Note that you can also do your Garmin Coach workouts on the treadmill if needed!

The workout schedule adapts to your performance. I thought this was so smart! If you are struggling with your workouts, the app will adjust your future workouts accordingly. In this way, I could only see about a week or a week and a half out on my workout calendar. 

I would HIGHLY suggest reading your workouts closely before hitting the road. There were a few times when I must have read my workout wrong and at the end of my long run, they threw in speed work! It was not the relaxing last few miles that I was expecting! After a few workouts that I started and didn’t understand what I was supposed to be doing exactly, I learned to read thoroughly and make certain that I had a good grip on my workouts!

Though the schedule varied, for my plan they seemed to have two shorter speed or endurance workouts, one long run (with the occasional speed work), and two recovery runs. The workouts were done all with my Garmin, so there was no need to carry anything else! (Though I always wear my AfterShokz Aeropex headphones!) The watch beeped and let me know what to do next. It was a seamless transition from my previous workout routine, to my Garmin Coach.

Things to Note

It doesn’t take much for me to be motivated to follow a run program, so the Garmin Coach was awesome! Just having my watch beeping at me to run was enough to keep me on track and doing speed work that I would not have done on my own. I imagine that this type of coaching might not work for everyone. While I found it fun and different, you DO need to be self-motivated to follow the workouts!

One gripe I had with the program was that it seemed to think I was a much faster runner for certain workouts than I am. Perhaps it’s because it assumes you are as talented at short distances as you are at long. For me, that is absolutely not true, I am NOT a super speedy short-distance runner. There were several workouts that wanted me to run paces that I can barely reach on a good day, and on some days those paces were 100% out of the question. The beauty of the Garmin Coach is that you can just run your own pace some days (even if you can’t hit the goal they want you to hit) and let it beep at you a bit. That’s what I did, and I still did great in my race! =) 

Extra Coaching Help

Garmin Coach also includes articles and videos as part of their program. I looked at several of these and found them to include really helpful information. For beginner runners, I could see these short reads and videos being amazing! I learned some new strengthening exercises and read about nutrition for runners. Good stuff!  

Race Day

I was nervous about using the program during a real live race. What if it kept beeping at me and telling me I wasn’t on pace? That would drive me NUTS! Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, my race was canceled. I chose to run a virtual half marathon on the day of my canceled race (read all about my virtual half marathon here!). This worked out great since I got to test out the Garmin coach during a race, and not have the in-person race pressure! 

It turned out that the watch was PERFECT on race day! No need to worry. It simply counted down the distance while showing pace and time. It worked great, no beeps!

Is Garmin Coach Half Marathon Training Any Good?

The Garmin Coach Half Marathon program was perfect for what I was looking for! I wasn’t trying to break a time record, I just wanted to feel strong and run a good race. On race day I felt well-prepared and ran a great race. After completing my Garmin Coach half marathon training program, I decided to start the Garmin Coach 5k training! It will be interesting to see the differences between the long-distance and the 5k programs. I also chose a new coach, and so far I like her! I’ll let you lovely readers know my comparison of the two when I complete this one! (I finished the Garmin Coach 5k Training Program, check it out HERE!)  

If you have a Garmin with the Garmin Coach feature, give it a try! It is personalized to any level of fitness, and it’s free as part of the Garmin Connect app. While I miss running with my group back in Austin (they are the best!), it’s nice to have a portable run coach that takes very little planning on my part. It’s user-friendly, adaptable, and will DEFINITELY challenge you if you are willing to put in the effort! Happy Training!  

Are you interested in learning more about the Garmin Coach 10k training program? Read THIS post!

Wondering if the Garmin Coach 5k Training Program is worth it? Check out my review HERE!

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