How it works
Everything hangs off threshold pace: roughly what you could race for an hour. For most trained runners that is close to 10K pace; a 5K is run about 13 s/km quicker, a half marathon about 8 s/km slower, a marathon about 18 s/km slower.
The zones are ranges around it, following Jack Daniels’ training paces: most of a week at easy, a little at threshold, and short, sharp work at interval and repetition pace.
A worked example
A 5K in 22:30 puts threshold at about 4:43 per km, and the zones at:
| Zone | Pace per km | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery | 6:53–6:18 | Conversational. Slower than feels natural. |
| Easy | 6:08–5:38 | The bulk of the week lives here. |
| Marathon | 5:05–4:55 | Marathon race effort. |
| Threshold | 4:49–4:39 | Comfortably hard — about one hour race pace. |
| Interval | 4:31–4:21 | VO2max work, 3–5 min repeats. |
| Rep | 4:15–4:03 | Short, fast, full recovery. |
More free tools
- Race time predictor — a realistic time and pace for every distance from one race you have run.
- Running pace zones — six training paces from one recent race, anchored on threshold.
- Cycling power zones — six Coggan power zones from Functional Threshold Power.
- Swim pace zones — critical swim speed from a 400 m and a 200 m time trial, and four pool paces.
Pricing · Compare with Trainerize, TrueCoach, Everfit and TrainingPeaks · Free tools