How Your Program Works
Three programs, three short sessions a week, and a plan that waits for you.
Three Programs, One Ladder
- Gentle Start (4 weeks). Brisk walks first, then short, easy jogs. For anyone who hasn't moved much in a while.
- Just5K, your first 5K (8 weeks). From one-minute jogs between walks to 35 minutes of running without stopping.
- 5K → 10K (8 weeks). From a comfortable 30 minutes to an hour on your feet.
When you finish a program, Just5K offers the next one. You can switch programs any time in your profile. The new program starts from week 1.
Where You Start
When you set up the app, you tell it how long you could run right now. If you can already run a few minutes, the 5K program starts you a week or more in, so the first sessions aren't too easy.
What a Session Looks Like
Every session starts with a 5-minute warm-up walk and ends with a 5-minute cool-down walk. In between: rounds of running and walking, or one steady run later in the plan. There are three sessions a week.
Your Training Days
You pick your training days when you set up the app (Monday, Wednesday and Friday unless you choose others). On those days, Home shows today's session and a Start session button. With notifications on, you get a reminder at 08:00 and a check-in at 20:00.
Changing your training days after setup isn't in the app yet.
How You Move Forward
A week is done when you've finished its sessions, and then the next week opens. There's no calendar to fall behind on: miss a few days and your next session waits for you.
A session counts when:
- You finish it in the run player.
- You tap Mark as done on today's session.
- A run or walk you recorded somewhere else, like the Workout app on Apple Watch, shows up in Apple Health on that training day and lasts at least 60% of the planned time.
If you stop a run early, it's still saved to Apple Health, but the session stays open for next time.
Your History
The History tab shows this month's calendar, how many of this week's sessions you've done, your longest session, your total time and your streak of complete weeks. No pace charts, no scores.
Tip: Showing up three times a week matters more than how fast you go. The history is built to show exactly that.