Running Pace & Training Zones Guide for All Levels

Understanding Running Pace

Pace is measured in minutes per kilometre (min/km) or minutes per mile (min/mile). A 5K in 25 minutes means 5:00 min/km pace. Knowing your pace helps you train effectively and set realistic race goals.

Training Zones

Zone 1 (Easy/Recovery): 60-70% max heart rate. Conversational pace. Used for recovery runs and warm-ups.

Zone 2 (Aerobic): 70-80% max heart rate. Comfortable but purposeful. Most training (60-80%) should be here. Builds endurance.

Zone 3 (Tempo): 80-87% max heart rate. "Comfortably hard" — you can speak in short sentences. Improves lactate threshold.

Zone 4 (Threshold): 87-93% max heart rate. Hard effort, can only speak a few words. Used for interval training.

Zone 5 (VO2max): 93-100% max heart rate. Maximum effort. Short intervals only (30 seconds to 3 minutes).

Race Time Predictions

A rough guide: your 10K time is roughly double your 5K time plus 1-2 minutes. Half marathon is roughly 10K time x 2.2. Marathon is roughly half marathon time x 2.1-2.2.

Common target times:

• 5K: Beginner 30-35 min, Intermediate 22-28 min, Advanced sub-20 min
• 10K: Beginner 55-70 min, Intermediate 45-55 min, Advanced sub-40 min
• Half marathon: Beginner 2:15-2:30, Intermediate 1:45-2:00, Advanced sub-1:30

Key Training Principles

80/20 rule: Run 80% of your training easy (Zone 1-2) and 20% hard (Zone 3-5). Most runners train too hard too often. Increase weekly mileage by no more than 10% to avoid injury. Include one rest day minimum per week.