Runna has relaunched its training plans for beginners and runners jumping back into running in a move to help users better build progression and limit injury risks.
According to the to company, almost half of the runners on the platform consider themselves as a beginner runners or new to the sport.
The changes, formally announced last week, impact the New to Running and Return to Running plans which have been rebuilt from scratch with key feature that will also address specific area for novice runners.
The New to Running plan gets a length customization option from six to sixteen weeks, while Return to Running can be scaled down to four weeks but also boosted to sixteen weeks.
More importantly, the company has addressed issues that can be common to newer runners who might be tempted to ramp up mileage too quickly, lose motivation during a training plan and now includes detailed guidance to reduce injuries. The retooled plans aim to build confidence and consistency by including personalized briefings that Runna claims will never be the same for any two users.
A new feature, Not Feeling 100%, will let users pull back on training due to sickness, nagging aches or simply being too busy to fulfill a complete block. Runna will now allow for adjustments to help the runner resume the plan once they feel they are able to commit to training.
Outside of the changes to the beginners plans, a new mileage insight tracker will keep tabs on how closely runners stay to weekly goals and will suggest reasonable refinements. Meanwhile, Plan Replay, which launches this month, will be a deep dive interactive recap of a completed training.
The UK-based Runna has seen some changes since it was acquired by Strava last April for a rumored $200 million.
Despite some speculation of the app’s features being fully integrated into Strava, a joint subscription plan was unveiled for both services in July with customers paying $149.99 annually — but having no option for a monthly tier. The move saved customers of both apps 60 percent by opting into the bundle pricing since an existing Strava subscription is $79.99 a year and Runna costs $119.99.
Some Runna data was included in Strava’s year-end recap in December particularly when it came to what skill level runners classified themselves and insights about prioritizing fitness over other forms of recreation.
Runna’s parent Strava, however had an aggressive 2025 with a pair of acquisitions and is in the process of completing its initial public offering after reportedly bringing Goldman Sachs on board to facilitate the listing.
