Every run club has the same problem. Tuesday night brings a first-time 5K runner, a couple of half-marathoners and one person training for a sub-3 marathon. You have one session to give them and about ten minutes to explain it.
Writing three plans every week isn't realistic. Giving everyone the same paces doesn't work either. Here's how to write one session that works for the whole group.
Write the session in effort, not numbers
Start with what the session is for, not the paces:
- Easy run: conversational, every runner at their own easy pace
- Intervals: "6 × 3 min at 5K effort, 90 s jog"
- Tempo: "20 min comfortably hard, the pace you could hold for about an hour"
Effort scales on its own. Six reps at 5K effort is the same session for a 30-minute 5K runner and a 17-minute one. The only thing that changes is the number on the watch.
Split the group into pace groups
Effort alone works for experienced runners. Newer runners usually need a number. Pace groups give them one without a separate plan:
- Sort runners by a recent race or time trial. A 5K time is the most useful, because most club runners have one.
- Make three to five groups. More than five is hard to manage; fewer than three leaves too much of a gap inside each group.
- Give each group a pace for each effort you use: easy, tempo, 5K pace and so on.
| Group | Recent 5K | Easy | Tempo | 5K pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | under 20 min | 5:00–5:30 /km | 4:10 /km | 3:55 /km |
| B | 20–25 min | 5:45–6:15 /km | 4:50 /km | 4:35 /km |
| C | 25–30 min | 6:45–7:15 /km | 5:45 /km | 5:30 /km |
| D | over 30 min | 7:30 /km or slower | 6:30 /km | 6:15 /km |
These are starting points, not rules. Move a runner up or down after a few weeks of watching how they handle the sessions.
Make recoveries fair
The most common mistake in mixed groups is recoveries set by distance. "400 m jog" takes the fastest runner 2 minutes and the slowest nearly 4. Then the fast group stands around while the slow group gets no rest.
- Set recoveries by time: "90 s jog" gives everyone the same rest.
- Set reps by time too, if the gap is big: "3 min at 5K effort" finishes together; "1 km at 5K effort" doesn't.
- On a loop or track, send the slower groups first, so everyone finishes the warm-up and the session at about the same time.
Change it for the few who need it
Some runners need something different from the group session. They might be coming back from injury, tapering for a race, or just starting out. Don't change the whole plan for them: give them their own version of that one session and leave everyone else on the group plan.
Keep a short list of these changes and review it each week. Most should end after a week or two.
Check who actually did it
A plan only works if you know what happened. After each session, check:
- Who came and who didn't, and whether the ones who missed it said why
- Whether the easy runs were actually easy. In mixed groups, the slower runners often run easy days too hard to keep up.
- Anyone who mentioned pain, before it turns into an injury
Reading watch screenshots in a group chat works for ten runners. It doesn't work for forty.
How Athelista handles this
Athelista is built around this way of coaching:
- Pace groups: you write "6 × 3 min @ 5K pace, 90 s jog" once, and each athlete gets their own group's pace, in the app and on their Garmin watch. Change a group's pace and the coming workouts update.
- Batches: each group that trains at a set time and place gets its own calendar, so the 6 am and the 7 pm crowd can have different weeks.
- Changes for one athlete: give one runner a shorter or easier version of a session; everyone else keeps the batch workout.
- Today view: see who has done the session, who missed it and who reported pain, without asking for screenshots.
Read more about pace groups and changing a workout for one athlete, or set your zones with the free heart rate zone calculator.
Coaching a club? Start free with up to 5 athletes.