Recovery Pace

I never time my recovery runs. Just run to how I feel, some days recovery pace for me is probably about 7 min miling other days it maybe 6. In this way I'm always ready for the next key session. I think after a while you get a feel for the right effort to put into a recovery run without over exerting yourself and affecting your next hard session.

Try running a route you don't know the distance of. Run for time. This way you don't really know the pace because you have only a rough idea of the distance you ran and you will not run too hard because you are de-emphasizing time and you will not be rushing to finish up the run because you will just have to run extra time at the end.

The above is great, but if you are afraid you will just jog the whole thing and get nothing out of it then try the same formula, only use it for an out and back run. Go out really easy for half the time, or up to a minute more. Then come back faster, but comfortably (it shouldn't be a huge difference). i.e. say ~40 minutes is around a 5 mile recovery day for you, then go out 20:45 really comfortably, and come back in around 19:15. You still have a really easy day (the first half is REALLY easy) but you still teach your body to run the faster part of the run when your tired.

De-emphasize the actual pace and run by feel.

Excatly right. Run for a time not a distance. On your reco days go x minutes, who cares what distance is. Minutes are more important here. remember Reco is Reco, if you are doing something different it isnt Reco and we have other issues.

how fast do you run a 5k in?

use that to predict vo2max:

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/vo2.php

and plug that number in here:

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/tp.php?VO2=48.6&Submit=Calculate

works for me.

that chart was way off. it said my normal training pace is about a minute faster than i actually run it!

maybe you missed the "or slower" part, look again.