Runner's guide

A training plan built around your own Strava history

Since June 2026, Strava has offered a connector that lets Claude, Anthropic's AI assistant, read your running history. In practice: you give it your goal race, it looks at what you've actually run over the past few months, and builds you a race build that starts from your real level, not from a generic plan. It can even hand it back as a file to import into your calendar. It works with COROS too. Here's how, step by step.

1. What is the Strava connector?
2. Turning on Strava in Claude
3. With COROS (and others)
4. Asking for your training plan
5. Putting the plan in your calendar
6. The missing piece: your race course
7. Frequently asked questions

What is the Strava connector?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard for plugging an AI into a data source. The Strava connector is the official “cable” between your Strava account and Claude: once it's plugged in, Claude can look at your activities, your progress, your paces, your gear… directly and live, without you having to export anything.

Three things to know before you start:

• You need a paid Strava subscription. The standard subscription, the Strava + Runna bundle, the Family and Student plans and the discounted plans all qualify. A free trial isn't enough: access opens once it turns into a paid subscription.
• It's read-only. Claude can read your data, but it can't create, edit or delete an activity.
• You stay in control. You can cut access at any time, from Strava or from Claude.

Everything is explained on the official page: What is the Strava MCP Connector? (Strava support).

Turning on Strava in Claude

It's easiest from a computer, on claude.ai or in the Claude app for Mac or Windows. Once connected, the connector also works in the mobile app.

1. Open Claude and expand the sidebar.

   Sign in to your Claude account.

2. Go to Customize → Connectors.

   If your Claude is in French, it's Personnalisation → Connecteurs.

3. Click “+” and search for “Strava”.

   The official connector shows up in the list.

4. Click Connect, then authorise access.

   Strava opens and asks you to sign in and approve. Done: Claude can now see your history.

To disconnect it

In Claude: Customize → Connectors → Strava → Disconnect. On the Strava website: Settings → My Apps → Revoke Access next to Claude.

With COROS (and others)

Training with a COROS watch? COROS has its own official connector for Claude too, and it goes even further on data: sleep, HRV, training load, VO2max, race predictions… Same idea: in Connectors, search for COROS, sign in to your COROS account and approve. Like Strava, access is read-only.

Other running brands and apps are following suit: check the list of connectors in Claude to see if yours is there. And if your watch already syncs its activities to Strava (Garmin, Suunto, Polar…), the Strava connector is enough: your runs are already there.

Asking for your training plan

This is where it all happens: the more precise your request, the better the plan fits your life. Do it in two steps: first let Claude review your history, then ask for the plan.

1. The review

Look at my Strava history for the last 6 months and give me a runner's review:
average weekly volume, consistency, longest long run, paces on my easy runs
and my faster sessions, and my best recent times.
Also tell me if you spot any gaps (injury, break) or spikes in load.

2. The plan

I'm training for [the Boulogne-Billancourt Half Marathon] on [Sunday 15 November 2026].
My goal: [finish under 1:45].
I can run [4] times a week: [Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday].
My long run is on [Sunday morning].
Constraints: [no track, I run in the city in the evening after 7 pm].

Based on my Strava history, build me a week-by-week plan up to race day
that starts from my current volume without ramping it up too fast,
with a lighter week every 3 or 4 weeks and a taper before the race.
For each session: the type, the duration or distance, target paces
(based on my real paces) and a word on what the session is for.

Read the plan before adopting it, and don't hesitate to push back: “week 4 looks too heavy”, “I'm on holiday from the 2nd to the 9th, no watch”, “swap Thursday's intervals for hills”. Claude adjusts the plan accordingly.

Putting the plan in your calendar

The Strava connector is read-only: Claude can't write the plan into Strava. It can, however, make you a calendar file in .ics format, the universal format read by Apple Calendar, Google Calendar and Outlook. Each session becomes an event, with its details in the description.

Create an .ics file of this plan, one session = one event.
Times: [7:30 pm] on weekdays, [9 am] at weekends, time zone [Europe/London].
Event title: the session type and distance (e.g. “Intervals 8 km”).
In the description: the session details and target paces.

On a Mac (Apple Calendar)

1. Download the .ics file Claude generated.

   It lands in your Downloads folder.

2. Create a dedicated calendar (recommended).

   File → New Calendar, and call it something like “Half marathon build”. You can show, hide or delete it in one go without touching anything else.

3. Go to File → Import and pick the file.

   Calendar asks which calendar to add the events to: choose your new one. All your sessions appear, and sync to your iPhone via iCloud.

On iPhone

Tap the .ics file (from Claude or the Files app), then Add All and choose the destination calendar.

In Google Calendar

From a computer: Settings → Import & export → Import, pick the file and the destination calendar. Here too, creating a dedicated calendar first keeps your sessions separate from everything else.

The missing piece: your race course

Strava knows your past. It doesn't know your race yet: where the climbs are, how long they are, at which kilometre they come. And a plan for a flat half marathon and a plan for a half with a hill at km 18 aren't built the same way.

That's what Runcon is for: drop in your race's GPX file and you get an effort-coloured profile, the key sections and an estimated finish time. Then pass that on to Claude (“the race has 3 climbs of 400 to 800 m between km 12 and km 17”) so it can slot sessions into your build that look like what's waiting for you on race day.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to pay for Claude to use the Strava connector?

Connectors are available in Claude, but free plans have tighter usage limits. For a full multi-month plan with plenty of back-and-forth, a paid plan is more comfortable. On the Strava side, a paid subscription is required.

Can Claude see other athletes' data?

No. Access is limited to your own account, and read-only.

Does my plan update itself?

No: the .ics file is a snapshot of the plan when you import it. But you can go back to Claude every two or three weeks: “look at what I've run since the start of the build and adjust the rest”. It rereads your Strava and gives you a new file.

Does it work for a trail race?

Yes. Make sure to mention the race's elevation gain and what hills you have near home: Claude will find what you've already climbed in your history, and adapt the hill sessions and long runs.

And without a Strava subscription?

If you have a COROS watch, its connector does the same job. Otherwise, you can always describe your level to Claude by hand, but you lose what makes this method worthwhile: a plan based on what you've actually run.

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