Free calculator · The Saltmarsh Pace Scale
1600m Training Pace Calculator
Enter one recent race. Get every training pace as a P number, a percent of the athlete’s current mile, plus the split for every rep from 100m to 3000m.
Built by Coach Jason Saltmarsh · USATF Level 2 Endurance Coach · 31 state champions coached
Training zones
How a session is written
- 6 × 800m P80, 60 s jog: reps × distance, zone, recovery.
- P90–95: start at the slower end, finish no faster than the faster end.
- relaxed: shoulders, arms and face loose; it should feel repeatable.
Stop rule
End the set when a rep misses its pace by more than 2 s per 400m, or when a relaxed rep visibly tightens. Reset P100 only from a race.
Rep times
Reps up to 400m in seconds; longer reps in minutes and seconds, rounded to the nearest second.
How to use the calculator
- Enter a real race. Use the athlete’s most recent 1600m or mile. Any race from 800m to 3200m converts to a 1600m equivalent.
- Read the zones. Each zone shows its pace per 100m, per 200m and per mile, with how it should feel.
- Get the workout splits. Open Rep times for every rep from 100m to 3000m in every zone. Print or copy the pace card for the clipboard.
What the P numbers mean
P100 is the athlete’s current 1600m race pace, from a race they actually ran. Every other zone is a percent of it. P90 is 10% slower than mile pace. P110 is 10% faster. Easy running is P62 or slower.
For a 5:00 1600m runner, P100 is 75.0 per 400m. P80, threshold, is 90.0. P90 is 82.5. P110, speed, is 67.5. One scale covers every pace from an easy run to a sprint, so a session written for the whole team reads the same for every athlete.
Sample 1600m workouts, with splits
Real sessions from a 12-week 1600m plan. Splits shown for a 5:00.0 1600m. Change the time above and they update.
- 6 × 800m P80, 60 s jogThreshold3:00
- 3 × 1600m P80, 2:00 jogThreshold6:00
- 3 × (800m P90, 200m jog, 300m P105), 3:00 between setsAlternations2:4553.4
- 2 × (6 × 200m P110, 200m walk)Speed33.8
- 6 × 100m P90–95 relaxed, on an easy dayStrides19.7–20.6
Using the paces
What race time should I enter?
The athlete’s most recent race, ideally a 1600m or mile from the last month or so. Use a race they actually ran, not a goal time or a workout. Any race from 800m to 3200m converts. 800m conversions are the least reliable, especially for speed-type runners.
How fast is easy pace?
P62 or slower. For a 5:00 1600m runner that is about 6:56 per mile or slower. Easy has no slow limit. Conversational is the test.
When should I update the time?
Only after a race: a time trial, a meet or a new PR. Never from a workout. Enter the new time and every pace and split updates.
Does it work for the mile and the 1500m?
Yes. Pick Mile or 1500m and enter the time. The calculator converts it to a 1600m equivalent, so P100 is still mile race pace.
How the P-Scale compares
How is the P-Scale different from Daniels or Canova?
Daniels supplies the physiology and the safety limits. Canova supplies the percent-of-race-pace ladder and how to progress it. The P-Scale puts both into one number for every pace, a percent of the athlete’s current mile, with workouts written in laps high schoolers already know.
| Daniels | Canova | P-Scale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What 100% is | No single anchor; a recent race sets a fitness score and his tables give each zone its own pace | Race pace for the event the athlete is preparing for | Current 1600m race pace, all year, set from a race the athlete actually ran |
| How paces are named | Letters: E, M, T, I, R | Percentages of race pace | Easy, P80 to P115, and G for goal pace |
| Between threshold and mile pace | No zone between I and R | 85%, 95% and 105% are central | P85, P95 and P105 are zones of their own |
| Session limits | Capped by weekly mileage | Not published; built for elite adults | Daniels’ limits, set for each level’s peak mileage |
| Built for | All levels, organized around physiology | Elite professionals, months-long build-ups | High school runners, 12-week seasons |
Why one scale for cross country and track?
Every pace in either season is a P number off the same mile. 5K race effort lands in the high P80s, so athletes keep one set of numbers from August to June instead of learning a new scale each season.
Isn’t it just Canova with a new name?
Same math, different anchor and a different job. Canova’s 100% moves with the event being trained; the P-Scale stays on the mile and adds Daniels’ session limits and volumes sized for high schoolers. The relaxed cue and the sets with easy reps between them come from Iglói.
Why do P80 and P90 run a little slower than Daniels’ T and I for some runners?
For milers at about 5:45 and slower, P80 and P90 come out 2–3 seconds per 400m easier than Daniels’ threshold and interval paces. The scale keeps one number per zone and accepts that small, conservative difference.
Is the P-Scale backed by research?
Not as a package. No study tests the P-Scale itself, as none tests most coaching systems. Each part comes from methods with long track records: Daniels’ race-based paces and limits, Canova’s percent-of-pace progression and Iglói’s set structure.
Twelve weeks in four levels, built on these zones. Every day written out with each athlete’s split next to every rep, rolling 200s at goal pace, team sheets, and warm-up, core and plyometric routines.
More pace tools
- Canova Race Pace Calculator: zones as a percent of goal race pace.
- Training Pace Calculator: VDOT, LT1 and LT2 from a race.
- Workout Split Calculator: splits for any interval session.
- The rolling 200s workout: goal-pace rhythm for 1600m runners.
- Jack Daniels’ VDOT system: where race-based paces started.
The Saltmarsh Pace Scale (the P-Scale) sets every zone as a percent of current 1600m race pace: pace = race pace × (2 − P/100). Other race distances convert with the Daniels–Gilbert race-equivalence equations; 800m conversions are the least reliable, especially for speed-type runners.