Easy Run Pace Calculator
Find the right easy / recovery run pace from a recent race — because most of your running should be comfortably slower than race pace.
How it works
Race pace = time ÷ distance · Easy pace ≈ race pace + 60 to 90 sec per km (recovery + ~105 s/km)
Easy running builds the aerobic base that makes hard sessions possible, and it only works if it is genuinely easy — a pace you could hold a conversation at. A widely used coaching rule puts easy pace roughly 60–90 seconds per kilometre slower than 5K race pace (about 90–120 seconds per mile). Running easy days too fast is the most common training error, blurring the line between easy and hard and stalling progress.
Worked example
A 25:00 5K is 300 s/km. Easy pace lands at 300 + 60 to 300 + 90 = 360–390 s/km, i.e. 6:00–6:30/km (about 9:39–10:27/mi). Recovery days can be slower still, around 6:45/km.
Frequently asked questions
How slow should easy runs really be?
Slow enough to talk in full sentences and finish feeling you could keep going. For most people that is 60–90 seconds per kilometre slower than 5K pace — often much slower than ego wants.
Why not run every day at a moderate pace?
The "grey zone" — too hard to recover from, too easy to drive adaptation — gives the worst of both worlds. Polarising into easy days and truly hard sessions produces more fitness for the same effort.
How much of my week should be easy?
For most distance runners about 80% of weekly volume should be easy, with the remaining ~20% at threshold, interval or race intensity.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.