What is the Assessment Run and what does it do?

The Assessment Run is a Pro feature that Trait uses to roughly determine your threshold and thereby calibrate the higher zones (Hard, VO2max, Sprint).

How it works

• 20 minutes at a high speed.
• Not flat out – more like 90–95% of what you could do at most over that time. You should be able to hold the 20 minutes evenly without fading at the end.
• A warm-up beforehand makes sense; the session tells you what to do.

What it calibrates – and what it doesn't

• ✅ The fast zones 3–5: intervals, tempo runs, threshold runs.
• ❌ Not the easy zones 1–2. That's what your Feelgood Pace is for.

So if your easy runs feel wrong, a new Assessment Run won't help – adjust your Feelgood Pace instead. If your fast sessions feel wrong, a new Assessment Run is exactly the right thing. More on this under My paces don't fit me.

If the result doesn't match your other input

Trait checks the result against the rest of your input. If it doesn't add up – for example a Feelgood Pace of 7:30/km but 20 minutes at 4:30/km – Trait lets you know. Cases like this are hard to assess; often the Feelgood Pace was entered too cautiously. In that case, first check whether your Feelgood Pace is really your easy, comfortable speed.