How Run Training Paces Calculator works

Scope

Returns Daniels-VDOT training paces (Easy, Marathon, Threshold, Interval, Repetition) from a recent race result.

Formula

VDOT = f(race_distance, race_time). Each pace = pace_factor(VDOT, zone).

Coefficients

Data sources

1. Daniels J. Daniels' Running Formula. 4th ed. Human Kinetics, 2021. — Publisher page for the current edition; source of the VDOT tables and pace coefficients.
2. Daniels J, Gilbert J. Oxygen Power: Performance Tables for Distance Runners. Tempe, AZ, 1979. — Original VDOT tables; self-published monograph with no stable online source.
3. Daniels JT, Yarbrough RA, Foster C. Changes in VO2 max and running performance with training. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1978;39(4):249-254. — PMID 710390. Underlying physiology that Daniels later compiled into the VDOT framework.

Assumptions

• Reference race was all-out and recent (<6 weeks old).

Approximation range

VDOT under-estimates fitness for athletes coming off a training block and over-estimates during heavy load.

Limitations

• Daniels' system is calibrated on middle-to-long-distance track and road runners; ultra-endurance athletes should use different pace prescriptions.
• Pace is not the same as effort — heat, wind, and terrain override the table.

Reproducibility

5K in 22:00 → VDOT ~45. Easy pace ~5:15–5:40/km. Threshold pace ~4:25/km.

Change log

• 2026-04-24: methodology page first published.

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