Easy Pace & Zone 2 Calculator
Enter a recent race result to get your easy pace range. Add your heart rate numbers to get your Zone 2 range too.
Only 1 mile to marathon is listed: VDOT-based estimates aren't reliable below 1 mile or above marathon distance.
Heart rate (optional)
Add your max heart rate for a Zone 2 range. Add resting heart rate too for a more personal range.
Easy pace range
VDOT 38.3
Easy should feel easy: you can hold a full conversation, breathe through your nose, and finish feeling like you could keep going. If a run inside this range feels hard, or your heart rate drifts above Zone 2, slow down. The slow end counts just as much as the fast end.
This estimate uses a generic formula. Connect your Strava/Whoop/Garmin data for a version personalised to your actual training.
Get early accessWhy easy running should feel easy
Most runners run their easy days too fast. Easy running exists to build your aerobic engine: more capillaries, more mitochondria, a stronger heart, and tougher tendons, all without the fatigue that eats into your hard sessions. Those adaptations come from time on your feet at a low intensity, not from speed. Run easy days at a comfortable, conversational effort and you recover faster, stay healthier, and have more to give when a workout actually calls for it.
How the easy pace range is calculated
The calculator first works out your VDOT from your race, using the Daniels & Gilbert model: race velocity v in meters per minute gives VO2 = -4.60 + 0.182258 × v + 0.000104 × v², and VDOT = VO2 ÷ %VO2max, where %VO2max = 0.8 + 0.1894393 × e^(-0.012778 × t) + 0.2989558 × e^(-0.1932605 × t) for a race lasting t minutes.
Jack Daniels defines Easy running as 59 to 74% of VO2max. The calculator takes 74% and 59% of your VDOT and solves the same VO2 equation backwards for velocity, which gives the fast and slow ends of your easy pace range. It is the same model used by our VDOT calculator, whose single Easy pace sits inside this range.
How the Zone 2 heart rate range is calculated
If you enter a resting heart rate, the calculator uses the Karvonen heart rate reserve method: Zone 2 = resting HR + 0.60 to 0.70 × (max HR minus resting HR). Without a resting heart rate, it uses 70 to 80% of max HR. These look like different numbers, but they are the same physiological zone described two ways: 60 to 70% of heart rate reserve corresponds to roughly 70 to 80% of max HR for most people, not 60 to 70% of max HR. Adding your resting heart rate narrows that down to a range personal to you.
If you don't know your max heart rate, the calculator estimates it from your age with the Tanaka formula: max HR = 208 minus 0.7 × age. That is an average across large groups of people, and an individual can sit 10 bpm or more above or below it. A max heart rate measured in a hard race or a max effort test is always better than an age estimate.
Pace or heart rate?
Use both. Pace from a race result tells you what easy looks like on a good day. Heart rate tells you how your body is coping today, with heat, hills, poor sleep, or accumulated fatigue all pushing it up. If you are inside your easy pace range but your heart rate is above Zone 2, slow down and let the heart rate lead.
Sources and limitations: see our methodology.
Worked example
Take a runner who raced a 5K in 25:00 and has a max HR of 190 bpm and a resting HR of 55 bpm.
This runner's easy pace range comes out to 6:03-7:14 per km, well off their 5:00/km race pace, and their Karvonen Zone 2 range is 136-150 bpm. On a hot day or a tired one, heart rate will often push toward the top of that range before pace does: that is the signal to slow down.
FAQ
How do I find my easy running pace?
Enter a recent race distance and time into this calculator. It works out your Daniels & Gilbert VDOT from that result, then converts 59% and 74% of your VDOT back into paces. Those are the slow and fast ends of your easy pace range, following Jack Daniels' definition of Easy running as 59 to 74% of VO2max.
How do I calculate my Zone 2 heart rate?
With a resting heart rate, use the Karvonen method: Zone 2 = resting HR + 0.60 to 0.70 × (max HR minus resting HR). Without one, use 70 to 80% of your max heart rate, not 60 to 70%, which is a different, easier zone despite the matching numbers. For example, a max HR of 190 and a resting HR of 50 gives a Zone 2 of 134 to 148 bpm by the Karvonen method, which lines up with 70 to 80% of max HR (133 to 152 bpm) rather than 60 to 70% (114 to 133 bpm).
Is 220 minus age accurate for max heart rate?
Not very. This calculator uses the Tanaka formula, 208 minus 0.7 × age, which fits research data better than 220 minus age, but any age formula is a population average and can be off by 10 bpm or more for an individual. A max heart rate measured in a hard race or a max effort test is more reliable.
Why should easy runs feel easy?
Easy running builds aerobic fitness, such as more capillaries, more mitochondria and a stronger heart, through time on your feet at low intensity. Running easy days too fast adds fatigue without adding much of that benefit, and leaves you less recovered for the hard sessions that actually need speed.
How much slower than race pace should easy runs be?
Often 1 to 2 minutes per kilometre slower than 5K race pace, though the exact gap depends on your fitness: fitter runners tend to see a smaller gap than beginners. This calculator works out the actual gap from your own race result rather than a generic rule of thumb.
What is the difference between easy pace and Zone 2 heart rate?
Easy pace is a target speed derived from a recent race result; Zone 2 is a target heart rate range derived from your max (and ideally resting) heart rate. They usually line up, but heart rate also reacts to heat, hills, sleep, and fatigue in a way pace alone doesn't. When the two disagree on a given day, let heart rate lead.