Runkeeper Review: How I Trained for My First Half-Marathon

I was never a runner but started running this year when some friends recommended doing a 10K together. (I was incredulous that I not only started running but that I paid to run!) For years I told myself I couldn’t be a runner. (I didn’t have the stamina. I wasn’t “good at” cardio. I got tired running to catch the crosstown bus.) Turns out, if you silence that nagging negative inner dialogue and just start, you can do a lot more than you thought you could.

After the 10K, I downloaded Runkeeper and started the 16-week Beginner to Half-Marathon Training Plan. At that point, running a half-marathon still sounded slightly insane to me, but breaking it into individual workouts made it feel much more manageable. Here’s my honest Runkeeper review.

What Is Runkeeper?

Runkeeper is an app that you can use to choose a training plan and keep track of your progress and personal records. You can see your stats—like distance, pace, and number of activities—by week, month, or year.

I liked being able to look back at my earlier runs and see how much progress I had made. When you’re training for months, it can sometimes feel like you aren’t improving that much, so it’s motivating to actually see the numbers.

How Do You Use Runkeeper During a Run?

When you’re running, you get updates on your projected time, pace, and splits. I usually set up notifications for every mile. You can also click on any of your runs to see a map of your route, which is fun! I especially liked this when I was running outside and trying different routes.

The mile-by-mile updates were helpful because I didn’t have to constantly look at my phone to figure out how far I had gone or what pace I was running.

Can You Use Runkeeper on a Treadmill?

Yes! Now that it’s getting colder, I’ve been running on the treadmill and figured out that you can still track those runs by going into “Stopwatch” mode.

At the end of the workout, you put in the number of miles you ran, and it will compute your average pace and other stats. I like being able to keep everything in one place instead of having some runs tracked in the app and others completely separate.

What’s the Runkeeper Beginner-to-Half-Marathon Training Plan?

I used the Beginner to Half-Marathon Training Plan. I ran four days a week (every other day) for four months and gradually increased the number of miles per run, with my longest run of the week on Sunday.

My longest runs gradually increased:

Month 1: 6 miles
Month 2: 8 miles
Month 3: 12 miles
Month 4: 13 miles

Breaking the training down this way made the half-marathon feel much less intimidating. I didn’t need to worry about running 13.1 miles when I was only a few weeks into the program. I just needed to complete whatever run was on the schedule that day.

I didn’t work out on my rest days, but this time around I am adding in strength training and hopefully getting back into BBG.

Would I Recommend Runkeeper?

Yes! I liked having a training plan to follow instead of having to figure out how quickly to increase my mileage myself. I also loved being able to track my pace, distance, and personal records and see how much progress I made over the course of the training plan.

The biggest surprise, though, was that I actually started to enjoy running. I spent years thinking that I simply wasn’t a runner, and then I trained for a half-marathon. It was a pretty good reminder that sometimes you can do a lot more than you think you can.

Now I enjoy running! (And I accomplished something I never thought I would!)