Stop Using Generic Running Plans (Here's How to Actually Personalize Yours)

Let me tell you about Sarah.

Sarah is 34 years old, runs about 15 miles per week, works full-time, has two kids, a creaky left knee from college soccer, and can only run 4 days per week max.

She wants to train for a half marathon.

She Googles "half marathon training plan" and finds a "Beginner Half Marathon Plan."

Perfect! She's a beginner at half marathons. This must be for her.

Except the plan assumes:

• She's currently running 20 miles per week (she's at 15)
• She can run 5 days per week (she can do 4)
• She has zero injury concerns (she has that knee)
• She's training for her first race ever (she's actually run several 10Ks)

So she either:

1. Tries to follow the plan exactly and gets injured
2. Spends hours adapting the plan herself
3. Gives up and wings it

There's a fourth option: actually personalized training. But first, let's talk about why the running industry's version of "personalization" is mostly BS.

The "Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced" Scam

Here's how most running plans work:

You answer one question: What's your experience level?

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Based on that single answer, you get routed to one of three pre-written PDFs.

This is not personalization. This is categorization.

It's like walking into a shoe store and the salesperson asking "Are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced walker?" and then handing you shoes based solely on that answer.

Would you buy those shoes? No. Because shoes need to fit YOUR feet, not a category.

Training plans are the same.

What "Beginner" Doesn't Tell You

Let's say you select "Beginner Half Marathon Plan."

That could mean:

• You've never run before in your life
• You run 5Ks regularly but never a half marathon
• You ran in high school, took 10 years off, and are coming back
• You've been running casually for years but never followed a plan
• You're recovering from an injury and rebuilding

These are all "beginners" at half marathons. But they need completely different training plans.

The 18-year-old coming off cross country season can handle way more volume than the 45-year-old who just started running.

The person currently running 20 miles per week can start at a higher base than someone running 5 miles per week.

But generic plans lump them all together.

The Variables That Actually Matter

If you want a plan that works for YOU (not a generic "person like you"), here's what actually matters:

1. Current Weekly Mileage

Not "are you a beginner?" but "how much are you actually running right now?"

A plan that starts you at 25 miles per week when you're currently doing 12 is a recipe for injury.

A plan that starts you at 15 miles per week when you're currently doing 30 is boring and won't help you improve.

Your starting point should match your current fitness, not some arbitrary category.

2. Training Frequency

How many days per week can you realistically run?

Some plans assume 6 days. Others assume 5. A few assume 4.

If you can only run 3 days per week because of work, family, and life, a 6-day plan isn't "challenging" for you. It's impossible.

A truly personalized plan asks: How many days can you commit to running? And then builds around that answer.

3. Injury History

Do you have a wonky knee? Shin splints that keep coming back? Plantar fasciitis?

Generic plans don't care. They give you the same mileage ramp-up and intensity whether you're injury-prone or bullet-proof.

A personalized plan should account for injury risk by:

• Ramping mileage more conservatively
• Including more recovery days
• Suggesting cross-training alternatives
• Flagging high-risk weeks

4. Schedule Constraints

When can you actually run?

Do you work nights? Have kids? Travel frequently for work?

A plan that requires you to run at 6am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays doesn't work if you work night shifts.

Personalization means the plan fits YOUR schedule, not you bending your life around an arbitrary schedule.

5. Age and Recovery Capacity

A 22-year-old recovers faster than a 45-year-old. That's just biology.

Older runners need more recovery time between hard efforts. Younger runners can handle higher frequency.

Generic plans ignore this. They give the same plan to everyone in the "intermediate" bucket regardless of age.

6. Goals Beyond Finish Time

Are you training to finish? Or training for a specific time?

Are you training for multiple races? Or just one big goal race?

Do you care more about avoiding injury or maximizing performance?

These are different goals requiring different approaches.

What Personalization Actually Looks Like

Real personalization means your plan considers ALL these variables, not just one.

Here's the difference:

Generic "Intermediate Half Marathon Plan":

• Week 1: 25 miles (5 runs: Easy, Tempo, Easy, Easy, Long)
• Tuesday 6am, Thursday 6am, Saturday 7am schedule
• Assumes zero injury history
• Same plan for everyone who clicks "intermediate"

Actually Personalized Plan:

• Week 1: 18 miles (based on YOUR current 15 miles/week)
• 4 runs per week (because that's what YOU can commit to)
• Tuesday evening, Thursday evening, Saturday morning, Sunday morning (YOUR schedule)
• More conservative mileage ramp-up (because of YOUR knee history)
• Focus on finishing strong (because that's YOUR goal)

See the difference?

The Questions Your Plan Should Be Asking

If a plan generator isn't asking these questions, it's not personalizing:

1. How many miles per week are you running RIGHT NOW?
2. How many days per week can you run?
3. Which days of the week work best for your schedule?
4. Do you have any current or recurring injuries?
5. What's your age? (For recovery capacity)
6. What's your primary goal? (Finish, specific time, multiple races, etc.)
7. Have you trained for this distance before?
8. How much time do you have until race day?

Bonus points if it asks:

• Do you prefer morning or evening runs?
• Do you have access to a track for speed work?
• Do you have hills available for hill training?
• Are you comfortable running alone or need group runs?

The "Good Enough" Trap

I know what you're thinking: "But isn't a generic plan better than no plan?"

Maybe. But also maybe not.

A generic plan that doesn't fit your life leads to:

• Skipped workouts (because the timing doesn't work)
• Injuries (because the volume jumps are too aggressive for you)
• Burnout (because it's too much too soon)
• Frustration (because you're constantly adapting it yourself)

At that point, you might as well make your own plan.

OR—and here's a crazy idea—you could use a plan that's actually built for you.

How to Actually Personalize a Generic Plan

If you're stuck with a generic plan, here's how to adapt it:

Step 1: Match the starting mileage to your current mileage

If the plan starts at 25 miles and you're at 15, scale down the first few weeks proportionally.

Step 2: Adjust the number of runs per week

If the plan has 5 runs and you can only do 4, combine or skip the least important runs (usually one of the easy runs).

Step 3: Move workouts to days that fit your schedule

Don't try to run at 6am if you're not a morning person. Move it to evening. The plan doesn't care.

Step 4: Slow down the mileage progression if you're injury-prone

The 10% rule (don't increase weekly mileage by more than 10%) is a good guideline. If the plan violates it, adjust.

Step 5: Replace high-impact work with low-impact alternatives

Bad knees? Replace one run per week with biking or swimming. You'll still build aerobic fitness without the pounding.

But here's the thing: if you're doing all this work to adapt a generic plan, you're basically writing your own plan anyway.

Might as well start with something personalized.

The AI-Personalization Promise (and Reality)

A lot of tools now claim "AI-powered personalized plans."

Some are legit. Most aren't.

Here's how to tell the difference:

Fake AI Personalization:

• Asks 2-3 questions
• Generates a plan in 2 seconds
• The plan looks suspiciously similar no matter what you input
• Doesn't explain WHY you're doing specific workouts

Real AI Personalization:

• Asks 8-10+ questions about your current fitness, schedule, goals, etc.
• Takes 10-30 seconds to generate (because it's actually thinking)
• Generates noticeably different plans for different inputs
• Explains the reasoning behind workout types and progression

Test it: Submit the same plan request twice with slightly different inputs. If the output is identical, it's not really personalizing.

What I Built (and Why)

Full disclosure: I built CreateRunPlan because I was frustrated with generic plans.

I wanted a tool that actually asked the right questions:

• Current weekly mileage
• Available training days
• Injury history
• Age and experience level
• Specific goals
• Race distance

And then built a plan around those answers.

Not "here's the intermediate plan, good luck adapting it."

But "here's a plan specifically for YOU, based on YOUR current fitness, YOUR schedule, and YOUR goals."

It takes 2 minutes to fill out the form. The AI generates a plan in 30 seconds. You can export it to PDF or your calendar.

Is it perfect? No. But it's a hell of a lot better than "pick beginner, intermediate, or advanced."

The Bottom Line

You are not a category.

You're not "a beginner" or "an intermediate."

You're you. With your specific fitness level, schedule, injury history, goals, and constraints.

Your training plan should reflect that.

Stop trying to force yourself into a generic plan that was written for a hypothetical average person who doesn't exist.

Either:

1. Use a tool that actually personalizes (test it by varying inputs)
2. Hire a coach who will build a custom plan for you
3. Spend the time to properly adapt a generic plan to your needs

But please, stop downloading "Beginner Half Marathon Plan.pdf" and expecting it to work just because you clicked the right category.

You deserve better than that.

Your knees definitely deserve better than that.

And your goals are too important to trust to a plan that doesn't even know your name.