Question 1

How do I connect my AI?

Accepted Answer

You don't need to pay for an AI. PB-Runner works with Claude's free plan: create a free account and add the PB-Runner connector in Claude's settings, and your AI can read your training history and write your next session. On the Connect your AI screen, link your AI, then just ask — for example, “Build me a 5×1km interval session for Thursday and put it on my watch.”

It also works with paid Claude plans, and with ChatGPT on Plus and above (not the Free or Go plans). The Claude connector is added in Claude's settings, in the browser at claude.ai or in the Claude desktop app — the phone apps can't add one; ChatGPT is added as an MCP server in the ChatGPT desktop app, and the step-by-step for that is at pb-runner.com/guide/chatgpt. The full step-by-step walkthrough, from creating a free Claude account to your first training plan, is at pb-runner.com/guide, which also covers the rest of the setup: getting Apple Watch and iPhone runs syncing through Apple Health, bringing in runs you record with Strava, Garmin or another app, and setting up a Garmin watch.

Connecting is tied to your account, not your device, so it works the same wherever you sign in. On iPhone the Connect your AI screen is reachable from Home, the Training Hub and Custom Runs; on Android it's on Home and in your Profile.

Question 2

Can I create custom workouts with AI?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On the Connect your AI screen, link your AI, then just ask — for example, “Build me a 5×1km interval session for Thursday and put it on my watch.” Your AI creates the session and it appears on your watch and phone, ready to run with live guidance and cues.

You don't need to pay for an AI — it works with Claude's free plan and with paid Claude plans; you add the connector in Claude's settings, in the browser at claude.ai or in the Claude desktop app (the phone apps can't add one). It also works with ChatGPT on Plus and above, added as an MCP server in the ChatGPT desktop app; the step-by-step is at pb-runner.com/guide/chatgpt.

Question 3

Can someone else coach me on PB-Runner?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you have a coach, or a friend who helps with your training, you can give them access to your running data. You generate a connection code and pass it to them, and they enter it on pb-runner.com. That is what connects you.

We don't check coaches. There's no vetting and no accreditation, and we don't verify anyone's qualifications, identity or right to coach. Treat a connection code like a key to your training history and only give it to someone you know. Whoever enters it first gets the access, and generating a new code makes the old one useless.

A connected coach sees your training: runs, splits, pace, heart rate, training load, personal bests and your plan. Your recovery data — resting heart rate, HRV, sleep and VO₂max — is separate and only shared if you choose to share it. They can add sessions to your plan and leave you notes if you allow that, and turning that off stops both. If your coach uses PB-Runner through their own AI connector, the AI they chose reads your training data too.

You stay in control. You can revoke a coach at any time from your settings on the website or in the app, on iPhone or Android, and it stops immediately. On the website you can also see what each coach has looked at, and when. The code, the coach list and the access log are all on one settings screen, at pb-runner.com/settings or in the app.

Question 4

How do guided runs work, and what cues do I get?

Accepted Answer

A scheduled or AI-authored session — or one you build yourself in Custom Runs, the local interval builder — plays as a guided run: the app advances each rep and fires cues at splits, segment boundaries and off-target pace. You can choose the split-cue style (off, beep or spoken), turn pace alerts on, and mute mid-run. Spoken cues work in English and French, and after a guided interval run you get a rep-by-rep breakdown.

On iPhone the session plays on your Apple Watch, so you can leave the phone behind, or on the iPhone itself; spoken cues work on both. Defaults are haptics on and sound off. On Android the guided run plays on the phone with spoken and beep cues, and the full guided guide and the split alerts on a normal run are toggles you set once, so they persist across runs.

On a Garmin watch there are no spoken cues, because Garmin doesn't let watch apps use voice. The PB-Runner Garmin app cues by vibration and the watch's own alert tones: a buzz and a tone at each step change, pulses with a low tone if you're too slow or a high tone if you're too fast, and a buzz and a tone at each kilometre or mile on a session with one main block. If alert tones are off in the watch's Sounds & Vibe settings, you get the buzzes alone. Do Not Disturb can silence both, so check it's off.

Question 5

How do training plans work?

Accepted Answer

Training plans are authored by your connected AI today — you ask it to plan, and it proposes and commits scheduled sessions (there's no manual in-app plan builder yet). Your sessions show in the Training Hub's Schedule, and a completed run is matched automatically against the planned session, so your adherence and progress reflect what you actually ran.

On iPhone the Schedule is in Training Hub → Schedule, with a week bar and a past-weeks consistency history. On Android the Schedule is in the Training Hub too, showing the week's sessions and your consistency.

Question 6

I scheduled a run but it isn't ready to play

Accepted Answer

A scheduled session has to reach the device you'll play it on before you can start it.

On iPhone, to play a session on your Apple Watch, open the iPhone app with your watch nearby before the run — the day's session syncs from the phone to the watch over that connection. If the phone hasn't been opened near the watch since the plan was set, the watch won't have the session yet; open the phone app, give it a moment, then it's ready on the wrist.

On Android the phone app plays a scheduled session on the phone: open the app and today's session is there, ready to run.

On a Garmin, open PB-Runner on the watch with your phone nearby and Garmin Connect running: it picks up today's session when it opens. If the phone is out of range it offers the session it loaded earlier in the day.

Question 7

How do I join a race and get my results?

Accepted Answer

You can join a race from the app — pick a listed race from the race picker, or type a race code or name into the join field (an exact code matches first, then a name search). Joining features the race on your Home screen, where its schedule, course and information pages stay up to date. Race-day alerts arrive as push notifications, so it's worth allowing those. When the organiser publishes results, your finish is delivered back to you in the app.

On iPhone you're offered the race picker at first launch and can add more later from Races → Add another race. On Android you join the same way from the Races area; on aggressive OEM skins, allow the app's background delivery so alerts arrive (see notifications).

Question 8

I'm not getting race or push notifications

Accepted Answer

Push notifications are set up when you first launch the app, after joining a race — allow notifications when prompted.

On iPhone, allow notifications when asked, or turn them on later in Settings → PB-Runner → Notifications. On Android, allow notifications when prompted; on aggressive OEM skins — for example Xiaomi's HyperOS/MIUI, such as Redmi phones — background delivery also needs the app's Autostart turned on and its battery usage set to unrestricted, otherwise the system stops the background service and pushes don't arrive. Both are in the system app settings for PB-Runner. On Samsung, also keep PB-Runner off the Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps lists.

Question 9

How do I log how a run felt?

Accepted Answer

After a run you can record how it felt — your effort, how tired you were afterwards, and how much you had in reserve — on the How it felt card. It's stored with the run and available to your connected AI, so coaching can weigh how the run actually felt, not just the numbers. It's especially useful on a phone-only run with no heart rate, where perceived effort stands in for heart rate. You can add or change it anytime, on iPhone or Android.

Question 10

Is my data mine? Can I get it out?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your runs are yours. PB-Runner is built to be the connection between your training data and your own tools, not a place that locks your data in. Connecting your own AI gives it direct read access to your full training history, and you can download your run list and training overview as a single file at pb-runner.com/export, signed in on the website.

Question 11

How do I delete runs I imported?

Accepted Answer

On the website, go to pb-runner.com/settings/history (Settings → Running history once you are signed in). You can delete all the runs you imported from other apps and devices, all your runs, or just the runs from one source, such as Strava or a particular watch. The page shows how many runs each choice removes and asks you to type DELETE before anything happens.

Runs from Apple Health can be imported again from the app's Sync Runs screen, a Garmin CSV can be uploaded again, and your own PB-Runner recordings can be re-synced one by one with Allow syncing on the Sync Runs screen. Run-type labels, your answers about how a run felt, manual runs your AI added and the link between a run and a scheduled session do not come back with a re-import, so download your data from pb-runner.com/export first if you want a copy. Single runs can still be swiped away in the app.

Question 12

Do I need a subscription?

Accepted Answer

Not right now. PB-Runner is free while we launch — recording on Apple Watch and iPhone, sync across your devices, your full history and the dashboard are all included. Connecting your own AI is free for now too, and may become a paid option later; your recording and history stay free.

Question 13

Which of my runs sync to PB-Runner?

Accepted Answer

PB-Runner reads your runs from Apple Health, so a run has to be in Apple Health first. Any running workout there — from PB-Runner, an Apple Watch, Garmin, Strava or another app — can sync.

New runs arrive automatically once you're signed in. To bring in your older runs from other apps, use the Sync Runs screen — import everything in one go, or pick runs one by one. Runs that were recorded on an Apple Watch — in any app — usually come across close to complete.

Question 14

What do I get from an Apple Watch run?

Accepted Answer

Everything, at full resolution: your GPS route and map, heart rate second by second, pace, distance and elevation, plus cadence, stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation and running power. Guided intervals come with a rep-by-rep breakdown afterwards.

This is the richest data PB-Runner can hold. Older Apple Watches simply leave out the metrics they don't support — nothing breaks, you just see fewer fields.

Question 15

Can I record on my iPhone without a watch?

Accepted Answer

Yes. PB-Runner records on the iPhone alone and keeps going with the phone in your pocket — you get your route, distance, pace and elevation, plus your cadence and stride length, worked out from the phone's motion sensors.

What the phone can't measure on its own is your body. Heart rate and the deeper running-form metrics — running power, ground contact time, vertical oscillation — come from sensors on a worn Apple Watch. Wear an Apple Watch while recording on the phone and those fill in too, through Apple Health. A Garmin can't fill these in during the run: for heart rate with a Garmin, play the session on the watch with the PB-Runner Garmin app, which records the watch's heart rate and GPS.

Question 16

Can I record treadmill runs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Choose Treadmill when you start a run on your Apple Watch or iPhone. Without GPS, distance comes from your motion, so when you finish we ask what the treadmill said and you can set the run to the belt's number: pace and splits update to match. You can also adjust the distance later from the run's detail screen. Corrected runs count toward your volume, consistency and schedule, but they don't set personal bests or move Race Fitness; that keeps your records honest.

PB-Runner's Garmin watch app has no treadmill mode. A session played on a Garmin indoors still records, with a distance the watch estimates from your wrist and no map, and PB-Runner can't yet tell it apart from an outdoor run. For a treadmill session, record it on an Apple Watch or iPhone with Treadmill, or log it through your AI.

Question 17

Can my AI log a run I didn't record?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you ran without recording, say on a gym treadmill, tell your connected AI something like “log my treadmill run, 8k in 42 minutes”. It confirms the details with you, then the run lands in your history and counts toward your volume and schedule. Manually logged runs don't set personal bests or move Race Fitness.

Question 18

What about Strava?

Accepted Answer

Strava works both ways. You can share any PB-Runner run to Strava with one tap, so you keep your feed, your friends and your kudos — there's no need to switch.

Coming the other way, we never read from Strava directly. A run you recorded in Strava reaches PB-Runner once Strava writes it to Apple Health — and what it carries depends on where it was recorded. Strava runs recorded on an Apple Watch usually arrive close to complete, route, heart rate and form metrics included. Strava runs from a Garmin or another device carry whatever that device shared.

Question 19

I use Nike Run Club, Runna or another app — does it sync?

Accepted Answer

The same rule applies to every app: if it writes your run to Apple Health, PB-Runner can read it, carrying whatever that app chose to share. What arrives depends mostly on where the run was recorded. Apps that record on an Apple Watch usually write the full detail to Apple Health — route, heart rate and form metrics — so that history imports rich. Runs from non-Apple devices like Garmin carry the basics only. Recording with PB-Runner on an Apple Watch remains the surest way to get everything, per-rep guided detail included.

Question 20

Why didn't my run show up?

Accepted Answer

A few things worth checking, in order:

Permissions — PB-Runner needs permission to read your workouts from Apple Health. Open the Health app, tap your profile picture, then Privacy → Apps and Services → PB-Runner, and make sure the running and workout categories are turned on.

It hasn't reached Apple Health yet — if the run came from Garmin, Strava or another app, open that app and let it sync first, then check again.

It's an older run — runs recorded before you joined PB-Runner don't sync by themselves; bring them in from the Sync Runs screen.

A new run needs a moment — give Apple Health and the sync a short while to catch up.

Question 21

My older Garmin or Strava runs aren't showing up to import

Accepted Answer

PB-Runner can only see runs that made it into Apple Health, so the fix is almost always on the source app's side.

First, check the source app is allowed to write to Apple Health: open the Health app, tap your profile picture, then Privacy → Apps and Services → the app in question, and make sure the workout categories are turned on. Garmin Connect and Strava also each have their own Apple Health toggle inside their settings — check that too.

Then check what's actually arrived: in the Health app, go to Browse → Activity → Workouts and look for the runs. If they're there, they'll appear on PB-Runner's Sync Runs screen. If they're not, the source app hasn't written them yet — most apps only write new runs from the day the permission is switched on, so older history may never arrive from their side.

Question 22

My watch run has no map or no heart rate

Accepted Answer

Two usual causes. If location permission wasn't granted, the run records with no GPS route and no map — re-check that PB-Runner has location access and that Screen Time isn't blocking changes to Location Services. And indoor or treadmill runs have no GPS by nature; you still get time, pace, heart rate and, on a worn Apple Watch, your form metrics.

Question 23

What permissions does PB-Runner need, and why?

Accepted Answer

Apple Health, to read your runs — this is the essential one; without it there's nothing to show. Location, so the watch and phone can record your route during a run; 'While Using the App' is enough. Motion & Fitness, which supports the on-device metrics while recording.

You can change any of these later — Health permissions live in the Health app under Privacy → Apps and Services; Location and Motion live in iOS Settings under PB-Runner.

Question 24

What is the PB-Runner Android app?

Accepted Answer

PB-Runner on Android is a phone app: it records your runs with your phone's GPS, capturing your route, distance, pace and elevation, plus your cadence and stride length worked out from the phone's motion sensors.

Heart rate and the deeper running-form metrics come from a sensor worn on the body, which a phone in your pocket doesn't have, so phone-only runs don't include them. A Garmin or a chest strap you're wearing doesn't fill them in either, because the app doesn't read heart rate from other devices. If you run with a Garmin, play the session on the watch with the PB-Runner Garmin app instead, and the run comes back with the watch's heart rate and GPS. Android doesn't use Apple Health — there's nothing like it on the platform. Your runs record in the app and sync straight to your PB-Runner account, where your dashboard, history and any AI you connect can use them.

Question 25

Can I log a treadmill run on Android?

Accepted Answer

The Android app doesn't record treadmill runs yet. You can log one through your AI instead: connect your AI, then tell it something like “log my treadmill run, 8k in 42 minutes”. It confirms the details with you, then the run lands in your history and counts toward your volume and schedule. Manually logged runs don't set personal bests.

PB-Runner's Garmin watch app has no treadmill mode either. A session played on a Garmin indoors still records, with a distance the watch estimates from your wrist and no map, and PB-Runner can't yet tell it apart from an outdoor run.

Question 26

How do I sign in on Android?

Accepted Answer

Tap Continue with Google on the sign-in screen and choose your Google account. That's the sign-in on Android. It's the same PB-Runner account you'd reach any other way, so your history, schedule and coaching all follow you in.

Question 27

On Android, my runs stop recording in the background, or I'm missing notifications

Accepted Answer

Some Android phones are aggressive about shutting background apps down to save battery, which can pause a run while the screen is off, cut back its GPS so the pace and distance come out wrong, or hold back notifications. If that happens, allow PB-Runner to run freely.

On most phones that means two settings: turn on Autostart for PB-Runner, and set its battery use to Unrestricted. On Xiaomi and HyperOS phones, for example, that's Autostart switched on plus battery saver set to No restrictions for PB-Runner. On Samsung phones, set PB-Runner's battery to Unrestricted (Settings → Apps → PB-Runner → Battery), and keep it off the Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps lists (Settings → Battery → Background usage limits). The exact names can shift a little between One UI versions. Other makers, such as Oppo, have their own version of the same switches, usually under the app's battery or background settings.

Question 28

I use PB-Runner on Android and iPhone — does everything stay in sync?

Accepted Answer

Yes. It's one account, so your history, schedule, coaching and races live with your account rather than on any single device. Sign in with the same account on Android and on iPhone and everything stays in step — a run you record on one shows up on the other, and a plan your AI writes reaches whichever device you're carrying.

The difference between devices is what each run can capture, not where your data lives.

Question 29

Why do my Android runs show fewer metrics than my Apple Watch runs?

Accepted Answer

It comes down to the sensors on the device that recorded the run, not anything PB-Runner leaves out. A phone records your route, distance, pace and elevation, plus cadence and stride length from its motion sensors. The deeper detail — heart rate, running power, ground contact time, vertical oscillation — comes from sensors worn on the body, which a phone can't provide on its own. A Garmin or a chest strap you're wearing doesn't feed a phone run either.

So an Android phone run carries the essentials your training load and progression are built on, and an Apple Watch run adds the body and form metrics on top. Both sync to the same account and sit side by side in your history. If you run with a Garmin, play the session on the watch with the PB-Runner Garmin app, and the run comes back with the watch's heart rate and GPS.

Question 30

What permissions does the Android app need?

Accepted Answer

On Android, PB-Runner asks for Location, so the app can record your route during a run; Notifications, so you get race alerts; and physical-activity access for the on-device metrics. You can change these in the system settings under PB-Runner. For background recording and push on aggressive OEM skins, see the background-recording and notifications notes above.

Question 31

My run didn't show up on Android

Accepted Answer

On Android, a recorded run syncs to your account directly — there's no Apple Health step. Make sure you're signed in and online, then give it a moment. If it still hasn't appeared, reopen the app so it can finish syncing.

Question 32

How do I delete my account on Android?

Accepted Answer

Open the Profile tab and tap Delete Account, then confirm. This permanently removes your account and everything PB-Runner holds for you — there's no undo, so only do it when you're sure. Runs stored in any other app you use aren't affected.

Question 33

Can I run PB-Runner sessions on my Garmin watch?

Accepted Answer

Yes. PB-Runner has its own Garmin watch app, on the Connect IQ store. Your scheduled session goes to the watch, the watch guides you through it rep by rep with buzzes and the watch's own alert tones, and what you actually ran comes straight back to PB-Runner. That closes the loop without depending on what Garmin passes to Apple Health, so the run arrives with its route, heart rate, splits and per-rep detail. What it does not carry are the running-form metrics an Apple Watch records, such as ground contact time and running power.

The watch can't speak, because Garmin doesn't let watch apps use voice. You get a buzz and a tone at each step change, pulses with a low tone if you're too slow or a high tone if you're too fast, and a buzz and a tone at each kilometre or mile on a session with one main block. If alert tones are off in the watch's Sounds & Vibe settings, you get the buzzes alone. Do Not Disturb can silence both, so check it's off.

Runs your Garmin records in its own apps are unaffected; on iPhone they still arrive through Apple Health as described below.

Pace and distance on the watch follow the watch's own units setting, not PB-Runner's: change them in Settings → System → Units on the Garmin. The coaching works in speed, so the session is the same either way.

When the last step ends the watch buzzes twice and shows DONE, and it keeps recording until you stop it: press the top-right button to pause, then the button below it, then choose Confirm at End run & save. Garmin watches print different words next to those two buttons, and some print none at all, so what matters is where they are, not what yours calls them. Garmin's own workouts behave the same way.

Question 34

How do I connect my Garmin watch?

Accepted Answer

In the app, Settings → Garmin → Connect Garmin walks you through it. You can also do it from the website at pb-runner.com/garmin if you're at your desk. In short: install PB-Runner on your watch from the Connect IQ app, generate a link code in PB-Runner, then in the Connect IQ app tap the watch you installed it on → My Watch Apps → PB-Runner → Settings, enter the code and save.

Keep your watch nearby while you do it. The code travels to the watch over Bluetooth, and an install or a setting can take a moment to arrive. If nothing seems to reach the watch, open Garmin Connect and Connect IQ and sync it from there. Then open PB-Runner on your watch: it links the moment it starts, and once it's connected it simply shows today's session, with no separate confirmation.

A code lasts an hour and can be used once. If the watch shows a message instead, that message is the real answer: generate a fresh code, save it again, and open the app on your watch, which retries every time it starts.

Question 35

How does the Garmin watch app work, start to finish?

Accepted Answer

Open PB-Runner on the watch and press the top-right button to start. It counts you through the session step by step, with a buzz and a tone at every change and your target on screen. When the last step ends the watch shows DONE and keeps recording, so you end the run yourself: press the top-right button to pause, then the button below it, then choose Confirm at End run & save.

When a step ends the watch shows for a few seconds how it went: your average pace, how that compares with the target pace if the step had one, and the step's time and distance. On a session with one main block, such as an easy run, a tempo or a race between a warm-up and a cool-down, it also buzzes and sounds a tone at every kilometre, or every mile if that is your watch's setting, and shows that kilometre's time. Interval sessions get the step results but no kilometre buzz.

The run comes back to PB-Runner the moment you stop, if your phone is nearby. If it was not, open PB-Runner on the watch again and it sends anything waiting.

The full manual, with screenshots, is at pb-runner.com/guide/garmin-watch.

Question 36

I got a new Garmin watch. How do I move over?

Accepted Answer

Connect the new one the same way: Settings → Garmin → Add another watch (or pb-runner.com/garmin), generate a code and enter it in the Connect IQ app under that watch's My Watch Apps → PB-Runner → Settings. Both watches keep working and both are listed.

Connecting a new watch doesn't disconnect the old one, so if you've sold it or put it in a drawer, tap Disconnect next to it. That's also where you fix a watch showing as expired: a watch left unused for three months needs a fresh code.

Question 37

How do I import my Garmin history?

Accepted Answer

If your older Garmin runs never reached Apple Health, or you're on Android, you can bring them in from a Garmin Connect export.

In Garmin Connect on the web, open your running activities: https://connect.garmin.com/app/activities?activityType=running. Scroll down until every run you want has loaded, because the export only includes what's on the page, then click Export CSV at the top right of the list. You get a file called Activities.csv.

Then sign in at pb-runner.com/import with the same Apple or Google account you use in the app, choose the file, check the preview and confirm. What comes across is summary-level: distance, time and pace, average and max heart rate, elevation, cadence, stride length, calories and the run's title. A CSV has no route, no splits and no per-second data, so these runs count toward your history and training load but carry no map and no running-form metrics.

Runs that already reached PB-Runner through Apple Health are recognised and topped up rather than duplicated, and a run you recorded with PB-Runner itself is never imported twice.

Question 38

Why do my Garmin runs look thinner?

Accepted Answer

It comes down to what Garmin shares with Apple Health, not anything PB-Runner does. Garmin passes across the basics: distance, duration, pace, calories and usually a coarse heart-rate summary (a handful of readings, not the second-by-second trace). It does not pass across your GPS route, your cadence or the running-form metrics, so a Garmin run has no map and a coarser heart rate than an Apple Watch run.

This applies to runs your Garmin records in its own apps. Sessions played through our own Garmin watch app (above) don't use that bridge at all and arrive complete. Meanwhile your distance, pace and heart-rate trends all come through, so your training history stays useful.

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On a Garmin watch