Can an Apple Watch Track a Run? (No Phone Needed)

Yes, an Apple Watch can track a run, and you don't need to download anything or bring your phone. Open the Workout app, press Outdoor Run, and it records your miles, average pace, time and heart rate. When you're done, the whole run shows up in the Fitness app. I use the Apple Watch SE.

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How to track a run with the Workout app

1. Open the Workout app on your watch. It's the little icon with the running man.
2. Press Outdoor Run. The timer starts, which means the workout is recording.
3. Run. The main screen shows how many miles you've gone, your average pace, rolling time and heart rate, everything you need to know.
4. Scroll down one screen to see your heart rate zones. Scroll down another for your splits, elevation gained and your activity for the day.
5. To stop, swipe right and press End. That saves your workout. Exit out and it's saved automatically.

On newer versions of watchOS, the watch asks you to rate your effort after you press End. Rate it, then tap End at the top to save.

Set pace and heart rate alerts

The Apple Watch has a lot of cool features to help during a run. To find them:

1. In the Workout app, tap the three dots on your outdoor run.
2. Scroll all the way down to Preferences and tap it.
3. Under Alerts, you'll see pace, heart rate, cadence, power, time, splits and track lap.

A couple of examples:

• Target pace: tap into pace, choose Target Pace, and set how fast you want to be running per mile. The watch shows it while you run.
• Heart rate zone: set a heart rate zone to run in. I have mine set to zone 3, so when I go above it, drop below it or I'm in it, the watch shows me while I run.

Apple moves these menus around between watchOS updates. On newer versions, you set alerts inside a custom workout: turn the Digital Crown to Outdoor Run, tap the Goals button, tap Custom, then add your alerts.

If you want the step by step for zone alerts, including how to turn them off, I wrote a separate guide on Apple Watch heart rate zone alerts during a workout.

How to review your run

On your phone, open the Fitness app (the one with the circles), scroll down to Sessions and tap it. Your outdoor run shows up there with all the stats you recorded. Tap to see a list of all your sessions.

For example, the run I did the day before filming was 1 hour and 38 minutes and 10.5 miles. The Fitness app showed my calories, elevation, power, pace and average heart rate, all in graphs, plus a map. It's a very useful app to have.

You can also check it right on your wrist: open the Fitness app on the watch, scroll all the way to the bottom, and tap your outdoor run to see all your stats.

Using Strava (or another app) instead

The Workout and Fitness apps come with the Apple Watch, but you can also download other apps. My favorite is Strava.

1. Download the Strava app on your phone.
2. Open the Watch app on your phone and install it from the available apps.
3. On your watch, open Strava from your apps. You can choose outdoor run, trail run or ride.
4. Tap outdoor run and it's recording. It shows your map and average pace.
5. To stop, it's just like the Workout app: swipe right, hit Finish, and you're done.

If you search "running tracker" in the App Store, there are an endless number of options: Strava, Asics Runkeeper, Under Armour MapMyRun, Nike has one, and lots more. Download any of them if you like. I like using the one that comes on the Apple Watch.

Do you need your phone?

No. For both the Workout app and the Strava app, you don't need your phone with you. You can go out with just your watch, so you don't have to worry about carrying your phone on your runs.

If you're using your watch to train, one of my training plans is a great place to start. Any questions? Leave them in the comments on the video.