Running Training Paces Explained: Easy, Tempo, Interval

Easy running should feel conversational. In Jack Daniels’ training definitions, this category includes easy days, recovery running and many long runs. A long run can still be demanding because of its duration.

This is the pace you expect to sustain in a marathon. A prediction from a shorter race needs to be considered alongside your endurance training and race conditions.

Daniels describes threshold effort as roughly what you could race for an hour under good conditions. It is used for sustained efforts or repetitions with brief recovery, not an all-out effort.

Interval sessions use hard efforts separated by recovery. Shorter repetitions emphasize controlled fast running with enough recovery to repeat the effort. Follow the session’s intended duration and recovery rather than treating every fast run as a sprint.

Anystride’s calculator uses a Daniels–Gilbert model for training pace estimates. Enter a recent race result where possible. Its predictions are estimates, not laboratory measurements or promised race results. Slow down or shorten a session when the intended effort and suggested pace do not agree.