Name: Couch to 5K Coach
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
Author: Tliokos

Nine weeks, three runs a week, twenty-seven workouts that take you from walking to running 5K. The watch tells you when to run and when to walk, so you never have to think about it.

Based on the classic 9-week couch-to-5K plan.

A full app, not a data field. It owns the screen, so the countdown is the size of the watch face, and it records the run itself with one lap per interval, so every run and walk shows in Garmin Connect with its own pace and heart rate.

BUILT TO BE READ ON THE RUN

The coach screen carries three things: the step you are on with its count (RUN 3/8, WALK 3/7), a large countdown to the next change, and your heart rate with a heart in the colour of your zone. No small text. A ring around the bezel fills as the workout goes on. Three more screens hold time and distance, your current pace and cadence, and average pace and calories.

YOU FEEL THE CHANGES

Three sharp buzzes for run, two soft for walk, one long for the cool down, with a 3-2-1 countdown before each. Beeps are off by default.

IT REMEMBERS WHERE YOU ARE

It offers the next workout, lets you repeat any you have finished, and will not let you skip ahead. Already a runner? Hold UP on the start screen and choose Mark Done. It marks the workout shown and moves to the next one, so repeat it until you reach the week and day you want.

CONTROLS

START begins, pauses and resumes. UP and DOWN change the workout or the screen. Hold UP for the menu: skip or restart a step, end the workout, mark a workout done. BACK pauses and offers Save or Discard.

HEART RATE ALERT

Hold UP and choose Heart Rate Alert. Pick one of your five Garmin zones, or set your own Custom range. If your heart rate goes too high or too low, the watch buzzes, with a different pattern for each, so you know which way to adjust without looking.

It only speaks during RUN steps, never on a walk. It stays silent for the first 30 seconds of each run while your heart rate catches up, waits until you have been out of range for 5 seconds, then repeats every 30 seconds until you are back in.

Custom has a Use Custom switch and separate High and Low alerts. Use either or both, set in 5 bpm steps. Your limits are kept while Custom is off.


Based on the 9-week couch-to-5K plan by Josh Clark.

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