Critical Pace Calculator for Runners

Below we’ve provided a calculator to help you work out your critical pace (also known as critical speed or critical velocity).

The benefit of the High North calculator over other available calculators is that it allows you to input test data from THREE efforts, which helps to improve the model accuracy, and provides an indication of the accuracy of your critical pace estimates. However, the calculator also works with just two test efforts. The calculator also allows you to tweak the pace for your test efforts to see what effect this has on your critical pace estimates, which can be useful if you think you under-paced one of your efforts, for example.

This calculator also allows you to estimate pace/duration for short races or efforts lasting 20-mins or less.

If you’d like to learn more about critical pace and power, then we have a full article on this here.

  1. Critical Pace Calculator

    Instructions

    1. To determine your critical pace and D’ (which is an indication of your capacity to run faster than your critical pace - sometimes referred to as ‘anaerobic work capacity), complete 2-3 maximal efforts, each between 500m and 5km. We recommend testing at 1000m, 1500m and 3000m (if you can run a sub-18 minute 5km or a sub-3 minute 1000m, then we’d recommend extending these efforts slightly). The efforts need to be performed on flat tarmac or smooth, hard-packed trail, and ideally on a day with minimal wind. You should try to pace the efforts so that you hold a consistent speed, avoiding a hard start or finish for example.

    2. Record the time taken for each effort.

    3. Enter your test data into the calculator below. Be sure to enter the test duration in seconds and not minutes.

    4. Your results will then be automatically calculated. There are two sets of results based on whether you completed two or three tests. Make sure you’re looking at the correct section, depending on how many tests you did.

    5. In the Pacing Calculator section, you can generate estimates of the time taken to cover a given distance, which is useful for pacing races or intervals in training. This only works reliably for efforts between roughly 800m and 5000m.

Critical Pace and D' Calculator

Test 1:
 
Test 2:
 
Test 3:
 
 
Input your test results in this section. Make sure you enter duration in seconds, and not in minutes!

If you only did two tests, then just enter results for Test 1 and Test 2.

Results - Two Test Solution

Critical Pace (m/s):
Critical Pace (minutes/mile):
Critical Pace (minutes/km):
D' (m):
If you did two tests, your results will appear in this section. If you did three tests, you should read the results from the next section ('three test solution')

Results - Three Test Solution

Critical Pace (m/s):
Critical Pace (minutes/mile):
Critical Pace (minutes/km):
D' (m):
Goodness of Fit (%):
If you did three tests, you should read your results from this section. We ideally want the 'goodness of fit' to be above 97%, which indicates your test efforts were all well-paced.

Pacing Calculator - Fixed Duration

Use this section to estimate the pace you can hold, or distance you can cover for a particular duration. This only works for durations between 3-mins and 20-mins (180-1200 seconds). Make sure you look at the appropriate section (two test solution if you did two tests, and three test solution if you did three tests).
Enter Target Duration (s):

Two Test Solution

Estimated Distance (m)
Estimated Pace (min/mile)
Estimated Pace (min/km)

Three Test Solution

Estimated Distance (m)
Estimated Pace (min/mile)
Estimated Pace (min/km)

Pacing Calculator - Fixed Distance

Use this section to estimate the pace you can hold, or length of time it would take you to run a given distance. This only works for durations between 3-mins and 20-mins (roughly 1000 - 5000m depending on pace). Make sure you look at the appropriate section (two test solution if you did two tests, and three test solution if you did three tests).
Enter Target Distance (m):

Two Test Solution

Estimated Duration (s)
Estimated Pace (min/mile)
Estimated Pace (min/km)

Three Test Solution

Estimated Duration (s)
Estimated Pace (min/mile)
Estimated Pace (min/km)