Training paces
What is your easy run pace?
Easy pace is the pace of most of your running. It is slower than most runners expect, often one and a half to three minutes per mile slower than 5K race pace.
Easy pace by 5K time
| Your 5K time | Easy pace /mile | /km |
|---|---|---|
| 20:00 | 7:56 – 8:56 | 4:56 – 5:33 |
| 22:30 | 8:52 – 9:58 | 5:31 – 6:12 |
| 25:00 | 9:48 – 10:59 | 6:05 – 6:50 |
| 27:30 | 10:42 – 12:00 | 6:39 – 7:27 |
| 30:00 | 11:37 – 13:00 | 7:13 – 8:04 |
| 35:00 | 13:24 – 14:57 | 8:20 – 9:17 |
Calculated with Jack Daniels' VDOT formulas, for a flat route in cool weather. For any other race time, use the pace calculator.
How to tell you are going easy enough
You can speak in full sentences without gasping. You finish feeling you could go again. If you have to choose between the top and the bottom of the range, take the slower end: an easy run that is a little too slow still does its job, one that is too fast eats into your next hard session.
Why it is a range, not a number
Heat, humidity, hills and fatigue all change what easy feels like. On a hot, humid day the same effort is slower, sometimes by a lot. That is why Masir adjusts the paces of each session to the weather instead of asking you to hold a fixed number.
These paces, on every session of your plan
Masir reads up to twelve months of runs from Apple Health, sets your paces from your current fitness and reorganizes the plan when you miss a run, get sick or go on vacation. Each time, it tells you what changed.
Download Masir on the App StoreiPhone, iOS 17 or later · no account, no ads · free beginner program · full plans with Masir Plus, two-week free trial
Questions
Can easy runs be too slow?
Rarely. Below the range you still build endurance. The common mistake is the opposite: running easy days at a moderate effort, every day.
My easy pace feels hard. What now?
Your paces are probably set from a race time that no longer matches your fitness. Enter a recent time in the pace calculator.