How a Chatbot Became My Running Coach

My Turning Point

I’ve Always Wanted to Be Active… But Life Happened

For years, I told myself I’d get in shape “when things calmed down.”
But life with two kids — a toddler and a baby — never really calms down. I work full time as a software developer, and when I’m not debugging code, I’m helping brush tiny teeth, stepping on LEGO, or singing lullabies at 3am, hoping to catch a few more hours of precious sleep.

Deep down, I wanted to feel better in my body. Not to run marathons — just to feel like me again. I was tired of feeling tired. But still, I didn’t start. I didn’t know how. I figured I didn’t have the time, or the energy, or even the right shoes.

A Tiny Step, Thanks to AI

One night, I sat on the couch after the kids were finally asleep. I had that sad kind of feeling — another day had passed, and once again I had postponed working out. Something I had promised myself so many times that I would “totally do tomorrow.”

I felt like I needed to do something, but I was too tired to Google how to start running for beginners. I didn’t have the energy to read long articles or evaluate which advice I could trust. So I did what a lot of people do these days when they can’t think straight: I turned to ChatGPT.

I started typing…
“I am starting on running”
“Feeling out of shape”
“Want a program from beginner to running 10K without stopping”

I don’t know why I wrote “I am” instead of “I want to” — but I did. I guess something in me actually believed I would.

About 15 seconds later, I had an encouraging message and a 10-week plan. Thankfully, I didn’t scroll all the way through. If I had seen Week 6, Day 1, I probably would’ve just shut my phone off and gone back to watching Adolescence.

All I saw were the first two weeks.

Week 1
Day 1: 1 min run, 1.5 min walk — repeat 10x
Day 2: 1 min run, 1.5 min walk — repeat 10x
Day 3: 1.5 min run, 2 min walk — repeat 8x

Week 2
Day 1 & 2: 2 min run, 2 min walk — repeat 7x
Day 3: 3 min run, 2 min walk — repeat 6x

I stared at it and thought: I can do that.
And for the first time, I actually believed it.