3 Apple Watch Running Features I Wish I'd Known About Sooner
A longtime Apple Watch user details three underused running features — Custom Workouts, Pacer, and Race Route — plus Ultra-only tools and a glimpse at the AI-powered Workout Buddy.
Intelligence analysis by Llama
A CNET writer shares the Apple Watch running features she discovered too late: structured custom intervals, real-time pace tracking to avoid going out too fast, and racing against your own previous best times on familiar routes.
Your Apple Watch is like a video game controller for running — it can do way more than just count your steps. With these tricks, it can tell you when to speed up, when to slow down, and even race you against your own past runs on the same path.
Analysis
From Forgotten Setting to Real Training Partner
The article's quiet revelation is that even seasoned Apple Watch owners are likely underusing what the device already offers. Custom Workouts turns the Fitness app into a structured training planner, letting runners build routines based on time, distance, or heart-rate zones, then auto-syncing them to the watch. The wrist buzz at each segment transition removes the cognitive load of counting intervals mid-stride, a small but meaningful shift for runners who default to unstructured miles. For most amateurs, the barrier has never been hardware capability; it has been knowing which menu to dig into.
Race Day Without the Guesswork
The Pacer feature attacks one of distance running's most reliable failure modes: leaving the start line too fast. By entering a target finish time and race distance, the watch calculates the required pace and renders a color-coded progress bar — red for behind, green for ahead. Race Route closes the loop by letting runners race against their own previous bests on familiar loops, turning routine training into repeatable time trials. Stacked together, the three features give recreational runners access to the structured pacing and self-competition tooling that, until recently, pushed dedicated athletes toward Garmin or COROS devices costing as much or more.
The Ultra's Edge and the AI Bet
For buyers willing to spend on the Apple Watch Ultra line, three friction-cutters — Precision Start, the Action Button shortcut, and the any-two-buttons Quick Pause — sharpen the race-day experience further. The article also teases Workout Buddy, an Apple Intelligence-powered voice coach arriving with watchOS 26 that promises personalized in-run encouragement drawn from real workout history rather than generic prompts. The piece cuts off mid-sentence at the mention of watchOS 27 in September, hinting that more is on the way. The implicit message for shoppers: the standard Apple Watch now ships with enough training depth for most amateurs, while the Ultra and the AI layer target the segment that previously looked elsewhere.
Key points
- Custom Workouts lets runners build interval, distance, or heart-rate-zone training plans in the Fitness app that auto-sync to the watch.
- Pacer calculates a target pace from a goal finish time and shows a real-time color-coded progress bar during the run.
- Race Route turns any saved route into a self-competition against a personal best or most recent time.
- Apple Watch Ultra adds Precision Start, Action Button shortcuts, and a two-button Quick Pause.
- Workout Buddy, an AI voice coach arriving with watchOS 26, offers personalized in-run prompts based on actual workout history.
As watchOS 26's Workout Buddy rolls out and watchOS 27 arrives in September, runners gain an increasingly intelligent training partner that adapts to their personal history. The standard Apple Watch now ships with enough structured training depth to justify the device for most recreational athletes, potentially reducing the need for a separate Garmin or COROS purchase.
These features demand careful one-time setup and lean on consistent GPS lock, which can falter in dense urban canyons or under heavy tree cover. Workout Buddy's value hinges on Apple Intelligence, restricting it to iPhone 15 Pro or later owners, which limits how broadly the AI coaching layer will actually reach the running community.
