A pace conversion chart solves the small, constant friction of running in mixed units: a plan written in minutes per mile, a watch set to kilometres, a treadmill in miles per hour. It lays the equivalents side by side so a pace in one unit reads instantly as the same pace in the others, without arithmetic mid-run.
Miles, kilometres and the constant between them
A pace conversion chart rests on one fixed ratio: a mile is 1.609 kilometres, so a per-mile pace divides by that to become a per-kilometre pace, and multiplies back the other way. Running pace conversion is nothing more than applying that constant, but doing it in your head at mile five is exactly when it goes wrong, which is what the chart is for.
Pace and speed are reciprocals
The other conversion runners need is pace to speed: minutes per mile and miles per hour are reciprocals, so mph to minutes per mile is a division into sixty. A pace conversion chart holds that too, which is what lets you set a treadmill in miles per hour to match a pace written per mile, or read a 5K mile pace as a treadmill speed.
Using one number everywhere
The value of a pace conversion chart is consistency: pick the unit you think in, and convert everything else to it once rather than repeatedly. A runner who trains in minutes per mile can convert a metric race target once, run the pace they know, and never do the arithmetic again mid-effort, which is where conversions usually fail.
Questions people ask about pace conversion chart
How do you convert min/mile to min/km?
Divide the per-mile pace by 1.609, since a mile is 1.609 kilometres; the pace conversion chart holds the result so you do not do it mid-run.
How do I convert pace to treadmill speed?
Pace and speed are reciprocals: miles per hour is sixty divided by minutes per mile, which the chart tabulates so you set the treadmill to match a per-mile target.
Why use a pace conversion chart at all?
To avoid arithmetic under fatigue; convert your race target to the unit you train in once, and run the pace you already know.