VDOT calculator and training paces
One race result turns into the five paces you should be training at, and, if you add your age, the heart rate zones that go with them.
Your VDOT
38.3
From a 25:00 5K. Equivalent to a 51:53 10K or a 1:55:04 half marathon at the same fitness.
Your training paces
Easy and marathon are real ranges; run anywhere inside them. Threshold, interval and repetition are narrow on purpose: the benefit comes from being at that intensity, not near it.
| Zone | Pace | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| E Easy / long run | 6:03–7:14 | Builds capillary density, heart stroke volume and mitochondria — most weekly volume lives here. 30–150 minutes continuous, conversational the whole way. |
| M Marathon | 5:28–5:59 | Rehearses goal marathon effort and fuelling; a steadier alternative to threshold work. 40–110 minutes, or long runs finished at this pace. |
| T Threshold / tempo | 5:16–5:22 | Raises the pace you can hold before lactate accumulates — the single biggest lever on 5K time. 20 minutes continuous, or 5–15 minute cruise intervals with 1–2 minutes jog. |
| I Interval | 4:45–4:57 | Maximises time spent at VO2max. This is roughly your current 3K–5K race pace. 3–5 minute repeats (800 m–1200 m) with equal or slightly shorter jog recovery. |
| R Repetition | 4:24–4:34 | Improves running economy and speed. Not an aerobic session — recover fully between reps. 200–600 m repeats with full recovery (jog 2–3× the rep duration). |
Heart rate zones
Enter your age above to get zones from an estimated maximum. Add a resting heart rate and these switch to the Karvonen heart rate reserve method, which tracks effort considerably more closely.
Equivalent race times
What the same VDOT is worth at every distance, assuming you are equally well trained for each. For a distance far from the one you raced, see the race time predictor, which shows how much the models disagree there.
| Distance | Time | Pace /km | Pace /mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1500 m | 6:51 | 4:34 | 7:21 |
| Mile | 7:24 | 4:36 | 7:24 |
| 3K | 14:34 | 4:51 | 7:49 |
| 2 miles | 15:42 | 4:53 | 7:51 |
| 5K | 25:00 | 5:00 | 8:03 |
| 8K | 40:58 | 5:07 | 8:15 |
| 5 miles | 41:14 | 5:07 | 8:15 |
| 10K | 51:53 | 5:11 | 8:21 |
| 12K | 1:03:00 | 5:15 | 8:27 |
| 15K | 1:19:56 | 5:20 | 8:35 |
| 10 miles | 1:26:11 | 5:21 | 8:37 |
| 20K | 1:48:42 | 5:26 | 8:45 |
| Half marathon | 1:55:04 | 5:27 | 8:47 |
| 25K | 2:17:47 | 5:31 | 8:52 |
| 30K | 2:46:57 | 5:34 | 8:57 |
| Marathon | 3:57:55 | 5:38 | 9:04 |
| 50K | 4:43:02 | 5:40 | 9:07 |
How VDOT is calculated
Two curves do all the work. The first gives the oxygen cost of running at a given speed; the second gives the fraction of maximum a trained runner can sustain for a given duration. Your VDOT is the first divided by the second:
VO₂(v) = −4.60 + 0.182258v + 0.000104v², for v in metres per minute%max(t) = 0.8 + 0.1894393e^(−0.012778t) + 0.2989558e^(−0.1932605t), for t in minutes
Run those backwards and a VDOT becomes a pace: multiply by the intensity fraction for the zone you want, then solve the first equation for speed. That is where every number in the training pace table comes from, and it is why the paces move together when your VDOT changes.
The intensity fractions
Each training zone is a fraction of VDOT, as published in Daniels' Running Formula:
| Zone | % of VDOT |
|---|---|
| E — Easy / long run | 59–74% |
| M — Marathon | 75–84% |
| T — Threshold / tempo | 86–88% |
| I — Interval | 95–100% |
| R — Repetition | 105–110% |
Where VDOT is least reliable
The %max curve rises above 1.0 for efforts under about five minutes, because a runner at that duration is drawing on anaerobic capacity as well as aerobic power. That is a real property of the fit, not an error, but it does mean a VDOT taken from a 1500 m result reads high for someone with good basic speed and a modest aerobic base. Use a 5K or longer if you can.
In the other direction, VDOT from a marathon assumes you were well fuelled and well trained for the distance. A marathon run badly gives a VDOT that understates your actual aerobic fitness, and training off it will leave every session too slow.
Putting the paces to use
Training paces are only useful inside a structure that says how much of each to do and when. The 5K plan generator takes the VDOT from this page and builds a week-by-week block around it, with every session prescribed at one of these five paces.
Common questions
What is VDOT?
VDOT is Jack Daniels and Jimmy Gilbert’s "VO2max equivalent": the VO2max a runner would need to have produced the race they actually ran, given how long they held it for. It is not a lab measurement; it is inferred from a race result, and it bundles VO2max, running economy and lactate threshold into one number. That is what makes it useful: two runners with the same VDOT should train at the same paces regardless of which of those three qualities got them there.
What is a good VDOT score?
For reference: a 30:00 5K is about VDOT 30, a 25:00 5K is about 38, a 20:00 5K is about 50, and a 15:00 5K is about 71. Elite male marathoners sit around 80 to 85. The number only means something relative to your own previous races. A two-point gain over a training block is a real improvement.
How fast should my easy runs be?
Considerably slower than most people run them. Daniels puts easy running at 59 to 74% of VDOT, which for a 25:00 5K runner is roughly 6:30 to 7:30 per kilometre, about 1:30 to 2:30 per kilometre slower than 5K race pace. The purpose is aerobic adaptation without fatigue cost, and running easy days slightly hard is the single most common training error in recreational running.
Why is my interval pace nearly my 5K race pace?
Because that is what interval pace is for. Daniels’ I pace sits at 95 to 100% of VDOT, which is very close to the pace you could race for about 12 minutes, which is 3K to 5K race pace for most runners. Running intervals faster than this does not produce more VO2max stimulus; it just produces more fatigue and shorter sessions.
Do I need a heart rate monitor if I have these paces?
No. Pace is the more precise instrument for a road or track session, because heart rate lags the effort by a minute or more and drifts upward over a long run at constant pace. Heart rate earns its place on hills, in heat, on trails and on easy days, where it catches you working harder than the pace suggests. Use pace to set the session and heart rate to sanity-check it.
How often should I retest my VDOT?
Every four to eight weeks, from an actual race or a hard time trial, not from a training run. Updating it more often than that mostly captures day-to-day noise. If a race comes out well below your established VDOT, look at conditions and fatigue before rewriting your training paces downward.