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Training Paces and Heart Rate

Most marathon training should feel easy, and the hard sessions only work if the easy days really are easy. Enter a recent race (or your goal marathon time) to get four training paces, and add your age or max heart rate to see a heart-rate range for each. All numbers are estimates to start from, not rules.

Recent race or goal

How it works

  1. Enter a recent race (5K, 10K, half or marathon) or a goal marathon time. A race you have actually run gives more honest paces than a goal you hope for.
  2. Add your max heart rate if you know it from a hard race finish or a test. If not, add your age and we estimate it.
  3. You get a pace range per km and per mile, and a heart-rate range, for four intensities: easy, marathon, threshold and interval.
  4. Use the paces in your plan. Each of our marathon training plans uses these four intensities.

Update the numbers after each tune-up race. As you get fitter, the paces move; the heart-rate ranges don't.

The four training paces

Intensity What it feels like Used for Pace (share of VDOT) Heart rate (% of max)
Easy You can talk in full sentences Easy runs, long runs, warm-ups, recovery 59–74 % 65–79 %
Marathon Steady and controlled Marathon-pace blocks inside long runs Your predicted marathon pace 80–90 %
Threshold "Comfortably hard", a few words at a time Tempo runs and cruise intervals of 5–15 minutes 83–88 % 88–92 %
Interval Hard; you can't talk Repeats of about 3–5 minutes with easy jogs between 95–100 % 98–100 %

The pace and heart-rate percentages are the ones published with Daniels' training intensities (Daniels' Running Formula). The marathon and threshold heart-rate bands overlap a little; that overlap is in the published ranges.

How the numbers are worked out (estimates)

Your fitness score (VDOT). Jack Daniels and Jimmy Gilbert (1979) wrote two equations. One gives the oxygen cost of running at a speed v (metres per minute):

VO₂ = −4.60 + 0.182258 × v + 0.000104 × v²

The other gives the share of your maximum you can hold for a race lasting t minutes:

% max = 0.8 + 0.1894393 × e^(−0.012778 × t) + 0.2989558 × e^(−0.1932605 × t)

Your race gives VDOT = VO₂ ÷ % max. It works like an "effective VO₂ max" from your races, so it can differ from a lab test.

Paces. For each intensity we take the share of VDOT in the table above and solve the first equation backwards for speed. Marathon pace is the marathon time the same VDOT predicts, divided by 42.195. To check how realistic that marathon time is, use the marathon time predictor.

Heart rates. Each range is your max heart rate × the percentages in the table. Without a measured max we use 208 − 0.7 × age (Tanaka, Monahan and Seals, 2001). That formula comes from a meta-analysis of 18,712 people and gives the average for an age. Your own max can be well above or below it, so a measured max is better.

Worked example: 10K in 50:00, age 50

A 10K in 50:00 gives a VDOT of 40.0. Estimated max heart rate: 208 − 0.7 × 50 = 173 bpm.

Intensity Pace /km Pace /mile Heart rate (est. max 173) Heart rate (measured max 180)
Easy 5:51–6:59 9:25–11:15 112–137 117–142
Marathon 5:26 (3:49:34) 8:45 138–156 144–162
Threshold 5:05–5:20 8:12–8:35 152–159 158–166
Interval 4:36–4:47 7:23–7:42 170–173 176–180

The last column shows why a measured max matters: with the same age, a runner whose real max is 180 would run the easy range about 5 beats higher.

Pace or heart rate: which should I follow?

Both, for different sessions.

  • Easy and long runs: heart rate and talk are the best guides. Stay in the easy range and slow down when it climbs.
  • Long runs and hot days: expect your heart rate to drift up over time even at the same pace. During long exercise the heart pumps less blood per beat and makes up for it with more beats, and heat and dehydration make it worse (Coyle and González-Alonso, 2001). Slowing down to stay in range is the right call.
  • Threshold runs: use pace and effort; heart rate is a useful check in the second half of a tempo run.
  • Intervals: use pace and effort. Heart rate rises slowly and often only reaches the range at the end of a 3–5 minute repeat.
  • Hills, wind and trails: run by effort or heart rate and let the pace go.

If your easy-run heart rate is higher than usual at your normal easy pace, or your morning resting heart rate is up, that can be a sign that you need an easier day. Our daily check uses that and your sleep before every key session. vo2max.io goes deeper in recovery-guided marathon training.

Questions and answers

What pace should my easy runs be?

At 59–74 % of your VDOT, which for a 50-minute 10K runner is about 5:51–6:59 per km (9:25–11:15 per mile). Most days, use the slower half of the range and make sure you can talk in full sentences.

What is threshold pace?

"Comfortably hard": roughly a pace you could hold for about an hour in a race. In this calculator it is 83–88 % of your VDOT, or about 88–92 % of max heart rate. For a 50-minute 10K runner that is about 5:05–5:20 per km.

What heart rate should I run my marathon at?

The published range is 80–90 % of max heart rate. Heart rate drifts upward late in a marathon, so use it to hold back in the first half rather than to chase in the second.

How do I find my max heart rate?

The most reliable way is a test or a hard race finish. The age formula 208 − 0.7 × age is only an average. If you have a health condition or haven't trained hard for a long time, ask a doctor before an all-out effort.

Why are my easy runs so slow?

Because they are meant to be. Easy running builds the endurance a marathon needs without taking the energy you need for the long run and the key sessions. If the easy pace feels too slow, check the heart-rate range instead.

Should I use a goal time or a recent race?

A recent race. Paces from a goal you haven't proven yet will make every session too fast. Enter a new race when you run one.

Sources

  • Daniels, J. & Gilbert, J. (1979). Oxygen Power: Performance Tables for Distance Runners.
  • Daniels, J. Daniels' Running Formula. Human Kinetics. (Training intensities as a share of VDOT and of maximum heart rate.)
  • Tanaka, H., Monahan, K. D. & Seals, D. R. (2001). Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 37(1), 153–156.
  • Coyle, E. F. & González-Alonso, J. (2001). Cardiovascular drift during prolonged exercise: new perspectives. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 29(2), 88–92.

Health note: these are general calculators, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or an injury, check with a doctor before hard training.

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