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Running pace calculator.

One recent race in, every training pace out. Enter a finish time or an average pace and get your VDOT score, what you can run at every common race distance, and the exact pace for easy runs, marathon pace, threshold, intervals, and reps.

Your race

mm:ss or h:mm:ss

Unit

Leave the time empty to use pace.

Use a race or an all-out time trial from the last six weeks. A training run will undersell you.

The numbers

Race times and paces by VDOT

Find the row closest to a recent race and read across. A 25:00 5K sits between 35 and 40. The calculator above gives the exact figure for any result, at any distance from 1500m to the marathon.

Predicted race times and training paces per mile for each VDOT
VDOT5K10KHalfMarathonEasy /miThreshold /mi
3030:411:03:492:21:174:49:4911:48 - 13:3010:18
3526:5956:022:04:134:16:0610:28 - 12:009:07
4024:0650:011:50:543:49:379:25 - 10:498:12
4521:4945:131:40:143:28:168:34 - 9:527:27
5019:5641:201:31:313:10:407:52 - 9:046:51
5518:2238:061:24:162:55:557:17 - 8:246:20
6017:0335:221:18:092:43:226:48 - 7:505:54

Five paces, five jobs

Each pace trains one thing. Easy builds the aerobic base and carries most of the week. Marathon pace rehearses race day. Threshold raises the speed you can hold before fatigue piles up. Intervals push VO2 max. Repetitions sharpen speed and form. Running every day at the same medium effort trains none of them well, which is why a pace chart beats a single target pace.

Hard days need fuel

Threshold, interval, and long-run days burn far more carbohydrate than an easy 30 minutes. Eat the same on every day of the week and the quality sessions run short. The macro calculator splits one weekly target into rest, easy, and hard day macros so the carbs follow the training.

Quick answers

Running pace questions

What is VDOT?
VDOT is a single fitness score worked out from a race result. Jack Daniels and Jimmy Gilbert built it from two curves: how much oxygen running at a given speed costs, and what share of your maximum you can hold for a race of a given length. Run a faster race and the score goes up. It behaves like VO2 max, but it also folds in your running economy, which is why it predicts race times better than a lab VO2 max does.
How accurate are the race predictions?
They assume you are equally trained for every distance. From a 5K they are usually close for the 10K and the half. The marathon prediction is the one most people miss, because it also needs the mileage and the fuelling to hold that pace for over three hours. If your long runs are short or you have never practised fuelling, treat the marathon time as a ceiling, not a target.
Why is my easy pace so slow?
Because easy running is meant to be easy. The range here sits at roughly 62 to 74% of your VDOT, which is a pace you can hold a conversation at. Most runners run their easy days too fast, which leaves them too tired to hit the quality sessions properly. The slow end of the range is not a failure, it is the point.
Should I use a race or a training run?
A race, or an all-out time trial, from the last six weeks. The model expects a maximal effort, so a training run will score you lower than you really are and every pace will come out too slow. Recalculate after each race so the paces follow your fitness.
How often should I run each pace?
Most of the week is easy. As a rough cap per session: threshold work around 10% of your weekly volume, intervals under 8% or 10K, and repetitions under 5% or 8K. Each pace card on this page carries its own guidance under How to use it.
Does the calculator adjust for heat or hills?
No. The paces are for flat ground in mild weather. In heat, at altitude, or on hills, run the effort rather than the number. Threshold should still feel comfortably hard, even if the watch says you are slower.

An independent implementation of the published formulas. Not affiliated with VDOT O2 or the Run SMART Project. Paces are estimates for healthy adults.

Also in the calculators

Racing long: carb loading and gut training. Hills on a belt: the treadmill vert calculator.

This calculator sets your paces. Mero sets your meals: seven days planned around your training, every portion sized, one grocery list. Get Mero on the App Store →

mero

Hit your macros every week.Without planning a meal.

Training is planned. Food is still improvised. Mero builds your week of meals, one grocery list, and a batch-prep plan around your training. Hard days get more. Rest days get less.

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· See your first day of meals before you pay. Free trial on the App Store. iPhone, U.S.

7 free training tools30 kitchen-tested recipesCited articles on training and eatingNo paid membershipReal food, real macros7 free training tools30 kitchen-tested recipesCited articles on training and eatingNo paid membershipReal food, real macros7 free training tools30 kitchen-tested recipesCited articles on training and eatingNo paid membershipReal food, real macros7 free training tools30 kitchen-tested recipesCited articles on training and eatingNo paid membershipReal food, real macros