VDOT Calculator
Enter a recent race to get your VDOT score, equivalent times at every distance, and training paces.
Enter a recent race
What VDOT actually tells you
VDOT, introduced by coach Jack Daniels, is a single number that captures aerobic running fitness based on a real race performance. It is the input that drives everything else in the Daniels system: equivalent times at other distances, prescribed paces for easy runs, marathon-pace work, threshold runs, and intervals.
Two runners with the same VDOT should be able to race the same time at any equivalent distance — even if their training, weight, or background look very different. That is what makes VDOT useful: it is a fitness summary, not a workout plan.
Use this page to estimate VDOT from a recent race. Then use the training paces it surfaces, or jump to the related tools below for specific use cases.
How this calculator works
VDOT and equivalent training paces
VDOT is a single number that summarizes your aerobic fitness from a recent race performance. Daniels' tables map VDOT to equivalent times at every standard distance and to recommended paces for easy, marathon, threshold, interval, and repetition work. PaceCalc estimates VDOT from your inputs, then surfaces those equivalent paces.
Jack Daniels, Daniels' Running Formula, 3rd edition, Human Kinetics, 2013. Tables for VDOT and zone-based pacing.
Riegel formula
The Riegel formula projects a finish time at one distance (T₂) from a known time at another (T₁) using T₂ = T₁ × (D₂/D₁)^1.06. The 1.06 exponent captures the typical fatigue curve for trained runners. PaceCalc uses 1.06 as the default; you can adjust the exponent on the race-predictor page if you fade harder than average.
R. H. Riegel, "Athletic Records and Human Endurance," American Scientist, vol. 69, no. 3, 1981, pp. 285–290.
Caveats
- •VDOT is most accurate when calculated from a recent (within 4–6 weeks), well-paced race at a distance you trained for. Predictions across very different distances (5K → marathon) carry more uncertainty than near-equivalent ones (10K ↔ half).
- •Two runners with the same VDOT can race the same time at any equivalent distance — but they may need very different training volumes and recoveries to express that fitness.