Training Pace Calculator
Find your optimal training paces from a recent race result.
Enter MM:SS or H:MM:SS
Enter a race result above to see your training paces.
About the training pace calculator
Jack Daniels' VDOT method turns a recent race result into a set of training paces matched to your current fitness, rather than generic paces based on age or experience level. It is one of the most widely used frameworks in distance-running coaching, underpinning training plans from beginner 5K programmes to elite marathon build-ups.
What is VDOT?
VDOT is a single number derived from a race performance that reflects your current running fitness: a blend of aerobic capacity and running economy. It is the basis for looking up the training paces below, and for predicting equivalent times at other distances.
The five training paces
Easy paces build aerobic base with low strain. Marathon pace trains race-specific endurance. Threshold pace improves your lactate threshold, the fastest pace you can sustain for about an hour. Interval pace targets VO2 max at a hard-but-controlled effort. Repetition pace is the fastest of the five, developing running economy and speed with full recoveries between reps.
Worked example
A 22:00 5K works out to roughly VDOT 44.5. At that VDOT, easy pace sits around 5:29–5:57 min/km, marathon pace around 4:54–5:09 min/km, threshold around 4:33–4:40 min/km, interval around 4:13–4:18 min/km, and repetition around 3:51–4:03 min/km. Enter your own result to get ranges tailored to your fitness rather than these illustrative figures.
Choosing which race result to enter
VDOT is most accurate from a recent, honestly-paced race or time trial of 3K–half marathon, run in reasonable conditions. Avoid using times from races run in extreme heat, on hilly courses, or well below your current fitness (for example, a marathon PB from two years ago) — recompute from something recent instead.
Applying the paces in training
These are ranges, not fixed targets: run at the slower end on tired legs or in poor conditions, and the faster end when you are fresh. As your fitness improves, re-enter a new race result every few months to keep the paces current — training at outdated, too-easy paces is one of the most common ways progress stalls.