Guide
How do you find your threshold pace and threshold heart rate?
Run 30 minutes as hard as you can hold on your own. Your average heart rate over the last 20 minutes is a good estimate of your threshold heart rate, and your average pace a first estimate of your threshold pace. Check it later with 4 × 1000 m just under your threshold pace, with your heart rate below your threshold heart rate. A watch can also give an estimate. You base all your paces and heart rate zones on those two values.
In short
- Your threshold is the highest effort you can hold steadily for a long time.
- Test 30 minutes solo; the last 20 minutes give your threshold heart rate.
- Check your threshold pace with 4 × 1000 m.
- Your heart rate zones are percentages of your threshold heart rate.
- Adjust the values after every threshold test.
What is your threshold?
Your threshold is the highest effort you can hold steadily for a long time. Below it, your body and your lactate stay in balance. Above it, fatigue builds up fast. Researchers use different names for it, such as the second lactate threshold, the maximal lactate steady state and critical speed. They lie close together but are not exactly equal. According to Jones and colleagues (2019), you can't hold an effort at your critical speed for longer than about 20 to 30 minutes.
For training you need two numbers:
| Value | What it is | What you use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold pace | Your pace at your threshold, in min/km | Paces for threshold runs, intervals and long runs |
| Threshold heart rate | Your heart rate at your threshold | Heart rate zones and limits per session |
Why does your threshold matter for HYROX?
Because running is the biggest part of the race. In the study by Brandt and colleagues (2025), more than 60% of race time was running, and VO₂max was most strongly related to finish time. Your threshold pace determines which pace you can hold over 8 kilometres, also after the stations. A review by Jamnick and colleagues (2020) shows why fixed percentages of your maximum heart rate or VO₂max say little: two people with the same percentage can be in a very different exercise domain. A personal threshold gives a better anchor.
How do you do the 30-minute test?
After a good warm-up, run 30 minutes as hard as you can hold on your own. Preferably on a flat route or an athletics track, with no breaks.
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Easy warm-up jog, with a few short strides |
| 2 | 30 minutes as hard as you can hold alone, evenly |
| 3 | After 10 minutes, start a new round or lap on your watch |
| 4 | Note the average heart rate over the last 20 minutes |
| 5 | Note the average pace over the 30 minutes |
| 6 | Easy cool-down jog |
The average heart rate over the last 20 minutes is a good estimate of your threshold heart rate. That is also how Benchmrk explains it. The average pace is a first estimate of your threshold pace.
How do you check your threshold pace later?
With a threshold test of 4 × 1000 m. In the Benchmrk plan that is benchmark 1, at the end of the base phase.
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| Repeats | 4 × 1000 m |
| Pace | 4 seconds per kilometre faster than your current threshold pace |
| Heart rate | Stay 2 beats under your threshold heart rate |
| Logging | Average pace and average heart rate |
If your heart rate came out higher than your threshold heart rate, you were actually running above your threshold. Benchmrk then corrects your new threshold pace by 2.5 seconds per kilometre per beat of difference, with a maximum of 15 seconds. Per test, your threshold pace changes by at most 20 seconds per kilometre. That stops the app from overturning your whole plan because of one bad or too-good day.
In week 7, benchmark 2 follows: 3 × 2000 m at your threshold pace with 2 minutes of rest. That test shows whether you can hold the pace for longer too. Both tests are well before the taper, so you use the new paces for weeks.
Which heart rate zones go with it?
Benchmrk works out your zones as a percentage of your threshold heart rate, following Joe Friel's method. The upper limit is your maximum heart rate.
| Zone | % of your threshold heart rate | Example at threshold heart rate 170 |
|---|---|---|
| Z1 recovery | 65–84% | 111–143 |
| Z2 endurance | 85–89% | 145–151 |
| Z3 tempo | 90–94% | 153–160 |
| Z4 sub-threshold | 95–99% | 162–168 |
| Z5a threshold | 100–102% | 170–173 |
| Z5b | 103–106% | 175–180 |
| Z5c | from 107% | from 182 |
In Benchmrk, an easy run stays under the upper limit of Z2, a recovery day under that of Z1. Threshold repeats have a limit of 100% of your threshold heart rate. More background is on the science page.
How do you turn your threshold into training paces?
Every training pace is a fixed ratio to your threshold pace (T). An example at a threshold pace of 5:00/km:
| Session | Rule in Benchmrk | At T = 5:00/km |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold repeats | From 5 s/km slower to 6 s/km faster than T, per phase | 4:54–5:05/km |
| Intervals 8 × 400 m | T minus 15 s/km | 4:45/km |
| Easy run | T × 1.22 | 6:06/km |
| Long run | T × 1.25 | 6:15/km |
Your race pace in HYROX is slower than your threshold pace, because you run after the stations. How much slower is covered in run pacing. How often you do these sessions per week is in how often to train for HYROX. Once you know your threshold, you can also estimate your finish time, see predict your HYROX time.
How Benchmrk does it
At intake you enter your threshold pace and threshold heart rate, from a test or from your watch. All paces and heart rate limits in your plan come from them. Benchmarks 1 and 2 adjust your threshold pace, corrected for your heart rate. If you run too slow twice at a high heart rate, the app suggests lowering your paces a little. If you have a new value from your watch, you can enter it yourself.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between threshold pace and threshold heart rate?
Your threshold pace is how fast you run at your threshold, in minutes per kilometre. Your threshold heart rate is your heart rate at that point.
Can I use my watch's estimate?
Yes, as a starting point. Then check the value with a test of your own; in Benchmrk, benchmark 1 does that.
How often should you retest your threshold?
The Benchmrk plan has two threshold tests, in week 4 and week 7. On top of that, the app suggests adjusting your paces if your logs show they are too hard or too easy.
Why do you run the test alone?
The test measures what you can hold yourself. If you run along with others, you are more likely to measure their pace than yours.
What do you do if your heart rate goes above your threshold heart rate during the test?
Then you ran faster than your threshold. Benchmrk corrects the pace for that by 2.5 seconds per kilometre for every beat above your threshold heart rate.
Sources
- Jones et al. (2019), The maximal metabolic steady state – redefining the gold standard, Physiol Rep (accessed on 22 October 2026)
- Jamnick et al. (2020), An examination and critique of current methods to determine exercise intensity, Sports Med (accessed on 22 October 2026)
- Brandt et al. (2025), Frontiers in Physiology (accessed on 22 October 2026)