Easy, Tempo, and Interval Paces
Three paces, three purposes. Set each zone from a recent race time and stop guessing on every run.
Easy pace: 60-90 sec/mi slower than 5K pace, conversational. Tempo: 25-30 sec/mi slower than 5K pace, comfortably hard. Interval: ~5K race pace, hard. Keep 80% of volume easy; the zones only work if easy stays easy.
Setting zones from a race time
Take a recent 5K or 10K race, or a hard time trial. Easy pace is roughly 60 to 90 seconds per mile slower than 5K pace. Tempo pace is about 25 to 30 seconds slower. Interval pace is approximately 5K race pace itself.
Example: a 25:00 5K runner (8:03/mi) trains easy around 9:05 to 9:35/mi, tempo around 8:30/mi, and intervals at 8:03/mi. Recalculate after every race; zones move as fitness moves.
Easy: the foundation
Easy running should feel genuinely comfortable: full sentences, nasal breathing possible, finishing refreshed. It builds capillaries, mitochondria, and durability without meaningful fatigue.
The most common training error is running easy days too fast. If your easy pace creeps toward tempo, you are converting recovery into junk stress and sabotaging the hard days.
Tempo: the threshold
Tempo runs target lactate threshold: the fastest pace clearable aerobically. Twenty to 40 minutes at comfortably hard effort, where speaking is limited to short phrases.
Threshold pace predicts race performance from 10K to marathon better than any other single marker. One weekly tempo session is the highest-leverage workout most runners can do.
Intervals: the ceiling
Intervals at 5K effort with recoveries train VO2 max and economy: 400 to 1600 meter repeats with equal-time jogging rest. The effort should feel hard but controlled, never a sprint.
Keep hard running under 20 percent of weekly volume. Intervals deliver the smallest share of fitness per mile and the largest share of injury risk, so dose them carefully.
Putting the week together
A balanced week: one interval session, one tempo run, one long run, and easy miles filling the rest. Hard days hard, easy days easy, never in between.
Rotate emphasis by phase: base phase favors easy volume, build phase adds tempo, peak phase sharpens with intervals, then taper. The zones stay the same; their proportions shift.
Skip the arithmetic
Calculate your exact training paces with the free running pace calculator.
Training zones
What is tempo run pace?
Tempo pace sits about 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than your 5K race pace. It should feel comfortably hard: sustainable for 20 to 40 minutes, with speech limited to short phrases. This effort targets your lactate threshold.
How slow should easy runs be?
Easy pace is about 60 to 90 seconds per mile slower than 5K race pace. The talk test rules: you should be able to speak in complete sentences. Most runners run easy days too fast, which is the single most common training mistake.
What is the 80/20 rule in running?
The 80/20 rule says roughly 80 percent of running volume should be low intensity and 20 percent moderate to high. Research on elite endurance athletes shows this polarized distribution outperforms training mostly in the middle, which is tiring without being easy or hard enough.