I've been running for 3 years. Last year I paid $200/month for a running coach — custom training plans, weekly check-ins, run data analysis, race pacing strategies.

It was worth every penny. My half marathon time dropped by 12 minutes.

But then I realized something: 90% of what my coach did could be replicated with AI if you prompted it correctly.

So I spent weeks engineering the perfect prompt. Not a generic "act as a running coach" — a real, structured system prompt that produces actual coaching behavior:

→ Progressive overload with the 10% rule

→ Polarized 80/20 training distribution

→ Strength training built into every plan (most runners skip this and get hurt)

→ Heart rate zone prescriptions for every session

→ Injury protocols that are conservative-first

→ Run data analysis when you paste your Garmin/Strava stats

The result? A coach that remembers your profile, adjusts week-to-week based on how you're feeling, builds periodized training blocks, and gives you race-day pacing plans.

I packaged the whole system — the master prompt, 10 copy-paste commands, setup guides for ChatGPT and Claude, a Google Calendar export tool, and run data templates.

If you're training for a 5K, 10K, half, or marathon and want coaching without the $200/month price tag — this is it.