Does Magic Training replace a coach?

For many runners, yes: you follow a proven method, with paces calculated for your level and every workout ready on your watch. If you'd rather have someone adjusting each week and talking through each session, Magic Training works for coaches too: your coach can prescribe and follow everything through Coach Mode.

Do I need a GPS watch?

No. You can see the day's workout on your phone or computer and log your activity manually. With Garmin, Apple Watch or Wear OS, the workout goes to your wrist; with Garmin, Polar or Strava connected, your run comes back on its own and slots into the plan.

How are the paces calculated?

With the magic calculator: you enter a recent race (5K, 10K, half or marathon) or the result of a 3 km test, and it finds the matching row of the pace table, your Magic Index. That gives the pace for each zone, which the plan uses in every workout.

Is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. There are plans for running your first 5K, with a gradual build and truly easy paces. When your goals grow, the 10K, half marathon and marathon plans are all in the same place.

Can I combine running and strength training?

Yes. You can keep a running plan and a strength plan active together, on the same calendar. Strength workouts include sets, reps, load and rest, and they go to your watch as well.

How much does Magic Training cost?

$9.99 per month or $90 per year, with access to every plan, the magic calculator, workouts on your watch, sync and analytics. No commitment: cancel whenever you want.

Does it work on my phone and in my language?

Yes. Magic Training runs in the browser, on iPhone, on Android and on Wear OS, and the interface is available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Korean.

Why Magic Training

The methods of the great coaches, at your pace and on your watch.

Plans from Jack Daniels, Pete Pfitzinger, Stephen Seiler and the other names who wrote the books on running. Every pace comes from your race time, and every workout lands ready on your Garmin, Apple Watch or Wear OS.

Find my plan Browse the plans

+248 training plans·+7,934 runners·+1,295 workouts in the last 30 days

A generic training plan was written for someone else.

It doesn't know how fast you run today, which day you have time for the long run, or whether yesterday's session went well. Magic Training does.

Generic planMagic Training

Paces
Generic plan: The author's paces, or none at all
Magic Training: Calculated from your race time, zone by zone
On your watch
Generic plan: You copy every workout to your watch by hand
Magic Training: The structured workout lands ready on Garmin, Apple Watch or Wear OS
Logging
Generic plan: You type what you ran into a spreadsheet column
Magic Training: Your run syncs on its own and slots into the day's workout
Your week
Generic plan: Long run on Saturday, even if Sunday is the only day you have time
Magic Training: You choose your long-run day and your goal race date
Strength
Generic plan: Gym work in another notebook, disconnected from your running
Magic Training: Strength and running on one calendar, with workouts on your watch
Progress
Generic plan: You only find out whether you improved on race day
Magic Training: Fitness, fatigue and adherence tracked week by week

Six reasons to train with Magic Training.

None of them is a standalone feature. Together they become a plan you can actually follow all the way to the finish line.

Method

Plans from the people who wrote the books on running

Jack Daniels, Pete Pfitzinger, Stephen Seiler, Matt Fitzgerald, Hal Higdon. The methods that shaped generations of runners, laid out week by week, from the 5K to the ultramarathon.

248+ plans for 5K, 10K, half, marathon and ultra
From your first 5K to a sub-3 marathon, with every plan's level in plain sight
Polarized 80/20, high mileage or a gentle build: you pick the method

Meet the coaches

Magic calculator

Every pace calculated from you

Enter a recent race or run a 3 km test. The magic calculator finds your Magic Index and returns your recovery, easy, marathon, threshold and interval paces, which feed every workout in the plan. Try it with a 10K time.

Easy runs that are truly easy, not hard sessions in disguise
Predicted times for 5K, 10K, half and marathon
New race result? Update your time and the whole plan follows

Calculate my paces

Your 10K time

Magic Index

PredictionsHalf 1:40:20Marathon 3:28:26

Recovery5:55-6:36 /km
Easy5:23-6:03 /km
Marathon pace4:57 /km
Threshold4:38 /km
Interval4:16 /km

Watch

The workout lands on your wrist and comes back on its own

Warm-up, reps, target pace and recovery, sent to your Garmin, Apple Watch or Wear OS. Done? The activity comes back through Garmin, Polar or Strava and slots into the day's workout, no typing required.

Structured workouts with a target pace for every rep
Sync with Garmin, Polar and Strava
Apps for iPhone, Android and Wear OS

See how it works on Garmin

6 × 800 m

Rep 3 of 6

4:16 /km

target pace

Sent to your watch

Shows up on your Garmin calendar, ready to start

Synced

Matched to Tuesday's workout, with pace and heart rate

GarminApple WatchWear OSPolarStrava

Your routine

The plan fits your week, not the other way around

Pick your long-run day, set your goal race date and the calendar arranges itself around them. Want to get stronger too? A running plan and a strength plan run side by side.

Long run on Saturday or Sunday, your call
A plan lined up to finish on race day
Running and strength training on one calendar

See strength training for runners

Goal race in 12 weeks

Long run on

Mon: Rest
Tue: Intervals10 km
Wed: Easy8 km
Thu: Threshold12 km
Fri: Strength
Sat: Easy6 km
Sun: Long run24 km

Progress

Know you're improving before race day

Fitness, fatigue and form calculated from every workout, next to plan adherence and weekly volume. With your watch connected, daily readiness tells you whether to push or hold back.

A fitness curve built from your whole history
Plan adherence and weekly volume on one dashboard
Reports on what you actually ran

See inside the app

Fitness

Last 12 weeks

Fitness

45+14

Fatigue

Form

Adherence

92%

Illustrative values

Motivation

One more reason to get out the door tomorrow

Monthly challenges with live rankings, a weekly league with divisions and badges for every milestone. Motivation is easy in month one. Month four is when you need it.

Distance challenges ranked by your best segment
Weekly league: train your way up a division
Badges and levels that tell your story

See how challenges work

This week's league

Gold league

Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Diamond

XP this week640 XP

Monthly challenge: fastest 10K

#4 of 58 in the ranking

500 km run

50 workouts

12 weeks in a row

Abner Santana, creator of Magic Training, running beside a reservoir

Built by a runner

Created by a marathoner, for runners who take their goals seriously.

Magic Training was created by Abner Santana, a competitive marathoner from São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, and a software developer. He brought together in one place what he used to keep scattered across books, spreadsheets and his watch: the classic methods, the pace tables and the workout on the wrist.

Marathon: 2:30:44
Half marathon: 1:11:22

Read the story