I Still Don’t Enjoy Running, But Thanks to Fitbit and the Pixel Watch 3, Now I Don’t Detest It
A runner I am not. I invest a significant amount of time at the gym, exercising and lifting weights multiple times each week, but cardio and running are my nemesis. I never fully grasped how and why anyone would find joy in running. Why put yourself through that?
Nonetheless, for the last few months, I’ve been utilizing the Pixel Watch 3 and the Fitbit app to do just that. Against my better judgment, I resolved to alter my routine, spending almost every morning running to discover how I could enhance the duration and distance of my runs.
To achieve this, I’ve been employing the AI-driven daily run suggestions in the Fitbit app. I was intrigued to find out whether these suggestions are genuinely beneficial or just another exaggerated AI feature lacking any real rhyme or reason in its advice. It appears that this could indeed be a marvelous tool for novices like me, making the couch-to-5K transition a bit less intimidating.
Getting Started
It’s crucial to point out that daily AI run recommendations are exclusively available to Fitbit Premium subscribers. If you purchase a new Pixel Watch, you likely received a free trial, so it would be wise to verify that if you’re not currently a subscriber.
Following that, AI-run suggestions should begin appearing in the Coach tab. However, you can always modify your preferences by tapping the See all button adjacent to Today’s run, then tapping the three-dot menu in the upper corner. Here, you can deactivate daily run workouts, adjust your running level or focus, and alter your distance days to emphasize longer runs.
Slow and Steady
I was initially apprehensive about embarking on a running “plan.” My prior experience with a Garmin plan was somewhat too demanding for me, and I struggled to keep pace, so I approached this with caution. It’s important to clarify that this isn’t a running “plan” in the traditional sense, so I couldn’t anticipate what my runs would entail. The Fitbit app would take my prior workout information along with my target load to generate a new recommendation for me each day.
While having a visible workout plan of some sort would be beneficial, what I appreciate about this feature is that the workouts feel like they’re perfectly customized to me and my abilities. At the start, I could only comfortably run about a mile before I would tire and need to stop. Therefore, based on what Fitbit understands about me and my goals, it was able to launch me into some very easy runs.
These runs would change each day, typically alternating between an easy run and a tempo run, with the former keeping me at a relatively moderate heart rate and the latter pushing me into a more vigorous heart rate zone. The duration of the runs also fluctuated, from shorter 18-minute runs to longer 40-minute runs.
That said, even the shorter runs posed a challenge, as my previous average was about 10 minutes before I called it quits. However, this was a manageable challenge, as I had a target heart rate range to maintain. This helped me manage my breathing more effectively while also reminding me that I do not need to run as fast as I can all the time; I can take my time at a steady pace to sustain my endurance for a longer period.
Furthermore, Fitbit would also introduce variety so that the intervals were consistently different from day to day. Occasionally, it would have me do a single run for a designated amount of time, or it would divide my run, starting me off at a slower pace and gradually encouraging me to run faster, or maintaining a quicker pace but for brief periods with even shorter rest breaks in between. This aided me in acclimating to pacing myself while helping me build my stamina and distance.
The most advantageous aspect is that you aren’t required to adhere to each run precisely as it appears. There’s a Customize run button at the bottom of each recommendation, allowing you to remove warm-ups and cool-downs, rearrange or delete intervals, insert intervals, and even adjust the intensity of each interval. That said, I seldom found a need for this and simply followed each recommendation as it was presented to me.
As I mentioned earlier, when I commenced this journey just a couple of months ago, I could hardly run beyond one mile without exhausting myself. Now, I’m consistently and comfortably running two to three miles each day, and my pace has also improved to just under 12 minutes per mile.
Do I enjoy running now? Certainly not. But I don’t loathe it as much as I did before.
Where Google Can Improve
While each suggested run outlines its benefits before you begin, I would appreciate a built-in AI summary for post-run assessments. You can view and compare charts as well as perform analysis to evaluate how efficient your running is, but
