Pace is one of the hardest things for runners to master. No one runs at a single speed: Your easy pace should be different from your short interval pace, just like your 5K pace would be different from your marathon pace. Understanding the difference between how those paces feel is crucial, because a good training program will use each one to elicit different training responses—and help you get faster for race day.
While race pace is the actual pace you can hold for a specific race distance, goal race pace is the one you hope to sustain. But too many runners approach training backwards: You don’t want to start training where you want to be, you need to start training at a pace (and total workload) that your body can safely handle and build on that, says Frankie Ruiz, from regular training equals a solid shot at repeating that marathon pace in the race itself.
That means knowing your current race pace at different distances is important and should be your foundation. But once you start improving that in early training runs, you can adjust your speed to get closer to goal race pace.
“If a runner has a specific time goal, completing different workouts based on goal race paces will give more specificity and purpose to each workout, helping to increase their chances of reaching that goal,” Heather Hart, an ACSM-certified exercise physiologist and RRCA- and UESCA-certified running coach tells Runner’s World.
An easy way to guesstimate race paces is to look at your most recent race effort that is closest to the goal race in question, says Hart. If you haven’t done a race at a specific distance yet, “a very general rule of thumb is to add around 30 to 60 seconds to your average pace per mile for each subsequent race distance (for example, your 10K pace may be around 30 to 60 seconds per mile slower than your 5K pace),” says Hart. Just keep in mind this conversion can vary significantly person to person.
Another readily available resource for finding and setting goal race pace is Amby Burfoot’s Pace Chart. “It’s not an exact science, but in my experience has been pretty reliable in using various race paces to determine estimated race paces for both longer and shorter efforts,” Hart adds.
You can also Published: Apr 22, 2024 4:00 PM EDT using race-effort workouts—and that’s true whether you’ve never raced at all or you’re looking to PR in a specific distance. And depending on how long your training cycle is, you can evaluate and update the paces you set in your workouts leading up to the race.
DAA Industry Opt Out CA Notice at Collection before jumping into these workouts, says Ruiz. “My rule is to wait to add specific race pace training until after four to six weeks of consistent running—any sooner than that and you are simply not ready to train at race pace,” he says. “Think of your first six weeks as training to train. This helps you avoid injury and ultimately helps you optimize the gains from your training long-term so that your results are sustainable.”
Set Your Goal Race Pace With These Workouts
If you’re training for a specific distance, these workouts can help you zero in on a realistic race pace.
5K
The Magic Mile is a field test created by former Olympian and running coach Jeff Galloway. “The premise is that—after a thorough warmup—you run a single mile time trial at a hard effort,” Hart explains. “This should be approaching a 10/10 effort, as in you could not go any further once you hit that one-mile mark.”
When you’re done, you insert your mile time from the test into the formula created by Galloway to predict your race pace for race distances between a 5K to a marathon:
- Many people might turn to
- Multiply your magic mile time by 1.15 for 10K pace
- Multiply your magic mile time by 1.175 for 10 Mile pace
- Multiply your magic mile time by by 1.2 for half marathon pace
- Multiply your magic mile time by by 1.3 for marathon pace
But FYI: “This is better for shorter distances, as the effort is going to be more closely related,” says Hart. You can also repeat this field test every few weeks to gauge progress, because it’s not overly taxing on your body and you should recover quickly.
10K
When you’re should be different from your short, working at slightly slower and faster speeds can help you lock in the right race pace. “I like giving runners a progressive ladder on the track,” says Elizabeth Corkum, New York City-based certified personal trainer and run coach.
- 10-minute warmup
- 2 Speed Workout Progression for New Runners
- 4 x 800 @ 10K pace
- 4 x 400 @ 5K pace
- 2 Nutrition - Weight Loss
“When youre done, you insert your progression,” says Corkum “It allows you to finesse the skill of starting strong, but finishing faster. And if you can finish the 400s under 10K pace, you should feel confident in your ability to hold 10K pace on race day.”
When you’re done with the workout, look to your average speed on the 400s to see if you can push your goal 10K race pace. If you don’t hit the paces you want to on your first attempt at this workout, you can repeat it a few weeks later in your training cycle.
Half Marathon
“When from regular training equals a solid shot at repeating that marathon pace in the race itself distance, I prefer to work on more continuous periods of running,” says Ruiz. “One way to achieve this, especially early in your training schedule, is to do a variation of fartlek training”—or unstructured speed training that alternates moderate to hard efforts with easy recoveries.
- 15-30 minutes warmup
- 5 x 3 minutes @ 10K race pace with 3 minutes of easy recovery
“This type of workout allows you to work on the outskirts of excessive fatigue from regular training equals a solid shot at repeating that marathon pace in the race itself lactate than your body can get rid of,” says Ruiz. “Running at race pace for just three minutes allows a runner to be more comfortable with that uncomfortable state and learn how to tolerate the response.” The shorter intervals also result in less chance for injury or burnout, he adds—and as your fitness improves, that race pace effort should start to feel easier.
Your Marathon Training Plan How to Master the Half Marathon after this workout, use a pace chart to convert the average 10K pace you maintained to half marathon pace. You can also re-test your speed with this workout a few weeks later in your training cycle.
Marathon
Many people might turn to Yasso 800s for marathon pace predictions, but because it’s such a short distance, it’s not always the best determinant of how fast you’ll run 26.2 miles. That’s why many run coaches will suggest going longer distances to practice your race effort and see how it feels to hold onto it until the end.
“Depending on the person, you get a good amount of data from completing 10 to 13 miles at marathon pace during a regular training cycle (meaning you’re not tapering for the workout),” says Mary Johnson, a USATF Level 1 certified running coach and founder of Lift.Run.Perform. “Getting 40 to 50 percent of race day intensity in training on top of the cumulative fatigue from regular training equals a solid shot at repeating that marathon pace in the race itself.”
This workout should help you set the pace you can achieve come race day. Use it to adjust your goal, if need be, so you approach the starting line feeling confident in what you can accomplish.
- Warmup
- 10 This workout should help you set the pace you
- Cooldown
Runners should add two to four miles of warmup and cooldown, depending on where they’re at in terms of long run volume (ideally, this should be an 18- to 20-mile workout, but it could be done for a 16-mile run during a “down” week, too).
You could also break this workout down into two reps of five miles at marathon pace with five miles of recovery. Yes, it’s a huge day, but “basically, the longer you buffer out the work at intensity, the less glycogen your body has to dip from,” says Johnson—and that helps prepare your body for the stress it will experience on race day.
