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Running
Your running paces, calculated from your 10K
Easy run, long run, tempo, intervals: Azetta derives each pace from your 10 km time, estimated from your goal, your recent runs (Riegel formula) or your level. The exact coefficients and the typical sessions.
4 min read Updated October 9, 2026
The principle
Training at the right pace is the key to running: too fast on easy runs and you get tired without progressing; too slow on intervals and you miss the target. Azetta starts from a single reference, your 10 km race pace, and derives four training paces from it using fixed coefficients.
The Azetta method
The four paces
| Pace | Coefficient | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Easy run | × 1.22 | most of your kilometres |
| Long run | × 1.18 | the longest run of the week |
| Tempo | × 1.04 | sustained effort, a little slower than race pace |
| Intervals | × 0.93 | repetitions of 800 m to 1 km |
A coefficient greater than 1 gives a slower pace (more seconds per kilometre). For free intervals, the repetition goes a little faster if it is short: −12 s/km up to 300 m, −6 s up to 500 m, interval pace up to 1200 m, +6 s beyond; recovery is done at easy-run pace + 30 s.
Where your 10 km time comes from
In this order:
- Your race goal, converted to 10 km with the Riegel formula.
- Your recent runs: each run of at least 3 km in the last 90 days is converted to a 10 km time; only values between 27 min and 2 h 30 min are kept; the best is multiplied by 0.96, because a training run is almost never run all out (race effort is about 4% faster). Hikes don't count.
- Your level: beginner 65 min, intermediate 52 min, advanced 44 min.
The Riegel formula links two distances:
The typical sessions of a week
Runs are placed from hardest to easiest: intervals, long run, easy run, tempo, easy run — as many as there are runs in your week.
| Session | Content |
|---|---|
| Intervals | 15 min warm-up, 4 (beginner) or 6 × 800 m, 400 m recovery at easy-run pace + 60 s, 10 min cool-down |
| Long run | 7, 10 or 14 km depending on level |
| Tempo | 10 + 10 min warm-up and cool-down, 3 km (beginner) or 5 km at tempo |
| Easy run | 4, 6 or 8 km |
Over the program's 8 weeks, the long run grows by 10% per week for 5 weeks (× 1.5 at most), intervals gain one repetition every two weeks (up to +2), then weeks 7 and 8 ease off: long run × 0.7, easy run and tempo × 3/4, intervals reduced by 2 repetitions (at least 3).
Why this choice
- The 10 km time is a performance many runners know or can estimate, and it reflects endurance capacity well.
- The Riegel formula is the most widely used for comparing performances over different distances.
- Most programs, and observations of endurance runners, have most of the volume run slowly, with a small share of intensity: two easy runs for one hard session.
- The 0.96 coefficient on history avoids underestimating a runner who never trains all out.
Limits
- The paces take neither elevation nor heat into account: on hills or in strong heat, run by feel.
- There are no heart rate zones and no estimated VO₂max: everything is done by pace.
- Riegel is less reliable for very long distances in less-trained runners (see the article on race plans).
References
- Riegel PS. Athletic records and human endurance. American Scientist, 1981;69(3):285-290.
- Seiler S. What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2010;5(3):276-291.