Training pace calculator from your 5K

Enter a recent 5K time and get target paces for easy runs, tempo runs, intervals and short repeats. Training at the right pace is how you get faster without getting hurt.

How these paces are estimated

We use the oxygen-cost and time-to-exhaustion equations published by Jack Daniels and Jimmy Gilbert (Oxygen Power, 1979), the same approach behind the training tables in Daniels' Running Formula. Your 5K time gives a fitness score (an estimate of usable aerobic capacity). Each training zone is then a percentage of that score converted back into pace:

• Easy (about 62–70%): most of your weekly running. Conversational.
• Tempo/threshold (about 86–88%): "comfortably hard," sustainable for roughly an hour in a race. Used for 15–25 minute tempo runs or longer cruise intervals.
• Interval (about 97.5%): close to 3K–5K race effort, in reps of 2–5 minutes.
• Repetition (about 106%): fast, relaxed reps of 200–400 m with full recovery, for speed and form.

We calibrated the percentages so that a 20:00 5K gives a threshold pace of about 4:16/km and interval pace of about 3:56/km, matching widely published Daniels tables. Treat them as targets, not rules: on hot, hilly or tired days, go by effort.

Example paces

Health note: this is general training information, not medical advice. If you're new to exercise, returning from injury, pregnant, or have a heart, lung or other medical condition, check with a doctor or qualified professional before you start a plan or hard workouts. Stop and get help if you feel chest pain, faintness or unusual shortness of breath.