Suggested workouts: 3 weeks of base only

Not sure how the workouts are really tailored. Maybe it's a linear program. My watch also suggested roughly 3 weeks base runs only, with the longest of 1 hour. Suddenly today it suggests intervals of 8x2min@4:05min/km. Wait and see.

Three weeks does seem long. For the first few weeks I would get rest (for upcoming harder workouts) I didn’t. I’m running six days a week. The day after my rest day I’d get a base workout of only 40 mins. I usually run about twice that at easy pace. 

This week it’s given me intense workouts. Got a base on Sunday and on Tuesday gave me a hard tempo workout that absolutely wiped me! Got a VO2 boost at the end. Next day I did a 45 min easy run. My choice. Today, Thursday has given me another killer workout. 24 min at threshold pace! About 15K pace.  

The watch may well be preparing you for tougher workouts. Stick with it for a while longer and see. 

Do you wear your watch all time time? I wear mine for about 4-6 hours after so it knows I’m resting (I only run don’t do anything else)

Thanks, encouraging to hear. I'll give it a little longer. I usually just wear the watch for my run then take it back off again

eggraces I think everything depends on your general fitness level, certainly also on your current VO2Max development. With increasing VO2Max you should get more challenging suggestions. 

I admittedly only tried for just over a week but gave up on the suggested workouts after endless base runs. These were 48 min on weekdays and a longer one on weekend. I couldn’t get it to suggest any other type of workout, VO2 at 53 and run about 40-50km per week. 

How has this changed for you guys now two months later?

Same issue for me since starting using suggested workouts earlier this summer some 8 weeks ago. Have only had one tempo workout suggested, a handful recovery runs but other than that just base runs. Ive done at least four workouts per week, typically around 43 minutes. vo2 of 54. With  2-3 exceptions of higher tempo I followed. Since three weeks also no pints on the weekends, and since then body battery at 100 or very near 100 every morning. Now I intend to mix in harder workouts for a week or two and see if pattern is changed. 

For me there were more tempo runs and intervals later in the program. By following this suggested workouts I was able to increase my VO2 steadily from 52 to 58. Tougher workouts came beyond the 55-56 VO2 which I think is the main driver for suggestions, plus also its progression. After reaching 58 I took a longer break from exercising and it started again with low VO2 and predominantly base runs.

With the upcoming 8.x firmware there are some improvements to workout suggestions. Let's see. Looking forward to it.

Generally speaking I would say for starters the workouts are a good way to improve running results. Advanced runners will likely have their own program and will do more intervals/ tempo runs. Just my thoughts.

Still the same for me, I've given up on it to be honest. My VO2 is 51 and I've definitely lost some of my top end speed following the suggested workouts so I'm now using a structured spreadsheet instead

It didn’t. I’ve never had anything other than base run suggested, with some rest days and I think once I had a recovery run.

I’m trying a coach plan now for a sub 1:32 HM, 2 weeks in and all I have had are easy runs heh. Not much of a training plan if the plan is just go and run. VO2 is 53 not sure if that makes any difference, averaging about 200km a month, I do a lot of trail running but that shouldn’t matter. Will give the coach plan one more week but it looks like the plan is three short easy runs and 1 long easy run every week till race day. 

To all on this thread:

I do not know all of your fitness level nor your activity level or mileage. However, if you are serious about running and trying to improve, from my personal experience I can recommend the Self-Guided Garmin training plans which you can find on Garmin Connect under 'Training<Training plans' and which you can simply download to your Forerunner. You can choose an intermediate or advanced HM or M plan and schedule it to your calendar. It is better to choose one of the heart-rate based plans, not the pace based plans. The key is to do more than less (e.g. 5 days per week). I haven't tried Garmin Coach, I guess both daily suggestions and Coach are similar and feeds on your stats from the watch, while the pre-defined Garmin training plans follow a weekly program.