Every run reads itself in
The moment a run lands in Garmin Connect, it flows into Vertical. No export, no CSV. Your coach sees the pace, heart rate and effort of the session and factors it into what comes next.
Connect Garmin once. Vertical reads every run as it lands, builds your plan from the training you actually do, and sends each workout to your watch. Then it talks you through what comes next, by chat or voice.
The gap
Every run, your Garmin captures pace, heart rate, running dynamics, HRV, sleep and training load. It is one of the richest data streams any runner owns. The built-in guidance stops at a daily suggestion and a readiness score: numbers on a screen, with no coach behind them who knows what you are training for.
So it all piles up in Garmin Connect and reading it falls to you. Is this week’s training load a good sign or a warning? Push through the fatigue or ease off? Garmin stays quiet, because it does not know your goal race, your history, or how last week actually felt.
How Vertical works with Garmin
The moment a run lands in Garmin Connect, it flows into Vertical. No export, no CSV. Your coach sees the pace, heart rate and effort of the session and factors it into what comes next.
Vertical derives your paces and zones from your Garmin history, then builds a periodized plan toward your goal. As your fitness moves, the plan moves with it, checked against more than 500 peer-reviewed studies rather than a fixed template.
Each planned session goes to your Garmin as a structured workout. Follow the pace and heart-rate targets on your wrist, run it, and the finished activity flows straight back to your coach.
Ask anything in plain language, from "why was that run so hard?" to "can I move my long run to Sunday?", and get an answer built on your own Garmin data. Onboard by voice, then chat whenever you need.
The short version
Your Garmin synced your tempo run. You held 4:15/km at 152 bpm, five beats lower than the same session three weeks ago. Your threshold is climbing. I have queued Thursday intervals to your watch.
In practice
You finish an interval workout on your Garmin. Before you have taken your shoes off, Vertical has read it, compared it to your recent sessions, and told you whether you are progressing or need more recovery.
A work trip cuts your week short. Tell your coach and it reworks the plan around the days you can actually run, so your goal stays on track and you are not left abandoning a rigid schedule.
Your training load spikes and Garmin flags it. Ask Vertical what it means for your plan and get a real answer that weighs the number against your goal race and how the block has gone.
Setup
Talk through your running background and goals out loud in a short voice onboarding, or by chat. No forms.
Authorize Garmin Connect once. Your recent history flows in and every future run syncs automatically.
Vertical reads your history against the research and shows you where your fitness stands, then a plan aimed squarely at what is holding you back.
Workouts go to your watch, runs come back, and your coach checks in and adapts as you progress.
Yes. Connect Garmin once and Vertical reads every run automatically through Garmin Connect, capturing pace, heart rate and effort, with no manual uploads. It also sends your planned workouts back to your watch as structured sessions.
Any Garmin that syncs to Garmin Connect works, since Vertical connects at the account level rather than to a specific model. If your Forerunner, Fenix, Enduro or other Garmin already logs runs to Garmin Connect, it will work with Vertical.
Yes. Each planned session is pushed to your Garmin as a structured workout with pace and heart-rate targets you can follow on your wrist. When you finish, the completed run flows straight back to your coach.
They solve different problems. Garmin Coach gives you a free canned plan and the daily suggestion offers a single next workout. Vertical is a coach you talk to: it plans your whole season toward a goal, reads each run in context, and answers questions in plain language grounded in your own data.
No. Vertical derives your paces and zones from your real Garmin history. If you are brand new, talk through a recent race or your typical efforts during voice onboarding and it works from there.
Take the free assessment: connect Garmin, or answer a few questions, and get a clear read on where your running stands in about two minutes. No card required.
Get started
Connect Garmin and get your free assessment in about two minutes. No card required.
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