The Pace You Can Talk At
Easy running builds capillaries, mitochondria, and tendon resilience, and it happens at a conversational pace. If you can't speak in sentences, you've left the zone that should make up roughly 80% of weekly volume.
Running every session at medium-hard effort is the classic amateur error: it fatigues without optimally building either endurance or speed.
Tempo, Threshold, Race Pace
Threshold (tempo) pace is the fastest you can hold for about an hour, the 'comfortably hard' zone that raises the speed you can sustain before fatigue forces a slowdown.
Race pace sits below threshold for most distances. A recent race result, fed into VDOT-style tables, predicts sensible training and race paces for every distance from 5 km to the marathon.
Race Day: Start Slower Than You Feel
Starting at goal pace feels easy for the first kilometres, and that's the trap. Athletes who run the first third of a race too fast pay with a disproportionate slowdown later.
Plan a slightly negative split: run the first half 1–2% slower than the second. Nearly every world record from 5,000 m upward has been set with negative splits.
Sources
FAQ
What is a good running pace?
Personal, most recreational runners sit between 5:30 and 7:00 per km. The best benchmark is your own trend at a fixed effort.
How slow should easy runs be?
60–90 seconds per km slower than 5 km race pace, fully conversational. Easy days that feel 'too easy' are usually exactly right.
Why do negative splits work?
Starting slower spares glycogen and avoids early lactate accumulation, so you finish faster than you started, the pattern behind most record performances.
Important disclaimer: Results are educational estimates, not a substitute for professional advice. Review your numbers with a qualified advisor before acting on them.