Marathon Training Pace Calculator
Calculate your marathon training paces for easy runs, tempo, long runs, and intervals from your goal race time or recent race result.
Effective marathon training uses different paces for different workout types. Running everything at the same speed is the most common mistake in amateur training. It builds fatigue without improving the energy systems that actually decide your finish time.
The 5 core marathon training paces (based on McMillan / Daniels methodology):
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Easy / Recovery pace (65–75% effort): The bulk of your mileage. Builds aerobic base, promotes recovery, and strengthens connective tissue. You should be able to hold a full conversation.
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Long run pace (about 40–60 sec/km, or 60–90 sec/mile, slower than marathon goal pace): Trains fat utilisation and mental resilience. Done weekly, it is the single most important marathon workout.
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Marathon race pace (MP): The goal pace you want to sustain for 42.195 km / 26.22 miles. Practising at this pace trains your body to run it efficiently.
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Tempo / threshold pace (approximately 30–40 sec/mile faster than MP, or roughly 10K race pace): Raises your lactate threshold, the pace at which lactate starts accumulating faster than you can clear it. Usually done in 20–40 minute blocks.
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Interval / VO2 max pace (approximately 5K race pace or faster): Short, hard efforts (e.g. 400m–1,600m repeats) that improve maximum oxygen uptake and running economy.
How to use these paces: A typical marathon training week has ~80% of miles at easy/long pace and only ~20% at harder paces. This polarised approach produces better results than running every session at moderate intensity.
Example for a 4:00 marathon goal (5:41/km or 9:09/mile):
| Workout | Per km | Per mile |
|---|---|---|
| Easy / recovery | 6:50 | 10:59 |
| Long run | 6:22 | 10:15 |
| Marathon pace | 5:41 | 9:09 |
| Tempo / threshold | 5:17 | 8:31 |
| Interval / VO2 max | 4:57 | 7:58 |
Two sanity checks on those numbers, because a training-pace table that does not agree with your race times is worse than none. Feed a 4-hour marathon through the Riegel formula and it predicts a 52:10 10K, which is 5:13/km, right beside the 5:17 tempo pace above. The same runner projects to a 25:01 5K, or 5:00/km, against an interval pace of 4:57. The paces line up with the races, which is the whole point of setting them from a goal time rather than from feel.
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