diff --git a/frontend/src/components/charts/ExpectedVsActualChart.tsx b/frontend/src/components/charts/ExpectedVsActualChart.tsx
index bd96cb7..c39f2a0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/charts/ExpectedVsActualChart.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/charts/ExpectedVsActualChart.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,17 @@
 import { Area, AreaChart, ReferenceArea, ResponsiveContainer, Tooltip, XAxis, YAxis } from "recharts";
 import type { Lap, Sample } from "../../types/api";
 
+// Speeds below this read as an implausibly slow "pace" (20:00/km is well
+// past even a very slow walk) -- in practice these come from GPS/motion
+// still settling right as recording starts, before the run itself begins,
+// not a real pace. Treating them as unknown keeps that artifact out of both
+// the trace and the axis scale it would otherwise blow out.
+const MAX_PLAUSIBLE_PACE_SEC_PER_KM = 1200;
+
 function paceSecPerKm(mps: number | null): number | null {
   if (mps == null || mps <= 0) return null;
-  return 1000 / mps;
+  const pace = 1000 / mps;
+  return pace <= MAX_PLAUSIBLE_PACE_SEC_PER_KM ? pace : null;
 }
 
 function formatPaceShort(secPerKm: number): string {
@@ -22,12 +30,54 @@ function formatElapsed(minutes: number): string {
   return `${m}:${s.toString().padStart(2, "0")}`;
 }
 
-// Recharts' "dataMin - N" domain expressions don't combine reliably with
-// reversed axes, so the padded numeric domain is computed directly instead.
-function paddedDomain(values: Array<number | null | undefined>, pad: number): [number, number] {
-  const nums = values.filter((v): v is number => v != null);
-  if (nums.length === 0) return [0, 1];
-  return [Math.min(...nums) - pad, Math.max(...nums) + pad];
+function percentile(sortedAsc: number[], p: number): number {
+  const idx = (sortedAsc.length - 1) * p;
+  const lo = Math.floor(idx);
+  const hi = Math.ceil(idx);
+  if (lo === hi) return sortedAsc[lo];
+  return sortedAsc[lo] + (sortedAsc[hi] - sortedAsc[lo]) * (idx - lo);
+}
+
+// The axis scale is built from the 2nd-98th percentile of the actual trace,
+// not its true min/max: a single stray sample (a brief pause, a moment of
+// GPS noise) can otherwise stretch the whole scale to accommodate one point,
+// squashing the rest of a steady effort into a sliver. The target band is
+// never trimmed this way -- it's a handful of real, deliberate values, not
+// noisy telemetry, and should always be fully visible when present.
+// Recharts' "dataMin - N" domain expressions also don't combine reliably
+// with reversed axes, so the padded numeric domain is computed directly.
+function robustDomain(actualValues: Array<number | null | undefined>, targetValues: Array<number | null | undefined>, pad: number): [number, number] {
+  const actual = actualValues.filter((v): v is number => v != null).sort((a, b) => a - b);
+  const targets = targetValues.filter((v): v is number => v != null);
+
+  let lo = Infinity;
+  let hi = -Infinity;
+  if (actual.length > 0) {
+    lo = Math.min(lo, percentile(actual, 0.02));
+    hi = Math.max(hi, percentile(actual, 0.98));
+  }
+  for (const t of targets) {
+    lo = Math.min(lo, t);
+    hi = Math.max(hi, t);
+  }
+  if (!isFinite(lo) || !isFinite(hi)) return [0, 1];
+  return [lo - pad, hi + pad];
+}
+
+// Pace axis ticks always land on a round 30-second mark (5:30, 6:00, 6:30,
+// ...) rather than whatever raw values the domain's min/max happen to be.
+// A fixed, small tick count (rather than every 30s multiple in range) keeps
+// labels legible in a ~100px-tall mini chart -- more ticks than that just
+// collide, and Recharts' own collision-avoidance would silently drop most
+// of them anyway, which is what left only one tick visible originally.
+function paceTicksEvery30s([lo, hi]: [number, number], count = 4): number[] {
+  const step = 30;
+  const ticks = new Set<number>();
+  for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+    const raw = lo + ((hi - lo) * i) / (count - 1);
+    ticks.add(Math.round(raw / step) * step);
+  }
+  return [...ticks].sort((a, b) => a - b);
 }
 
 // Pace and HR each keep one dedicated accent color across every chart, so
@@ -161,8 +211,17 @@ export function ExpectedVsActualChart({ laps, samples }: { laps: Lap[]; samples:
   const phaseBands = lapWindows.filter((w) => w.color).map((w) => ({ x1: w.start, x2: w.end, color: w.color! }));
   const phasesPresent = [...new Set(laps.map((l) => l.IntensityType).filter((t) => PHASE_COLORS[t]))];
 
-  const paceDomain = paddedDomain(points.flatMap((p) => [p.actualPace, ...(p.targetPaceRange ?? [])]), 10);
-  const hrDomain = paddedDomain(points.flatMap((p) => [p.actualHR, ...(p.targetHRRange ?? [])]), 5);
+  const paceDomain = robustDomain(
+    points.map((p) => p.actualPace),
+    points.flatMap((p) => p.targetPaceRange ?? [null, null]),
+    10,
+  );
+  const hrDomain = robustDomain(
+    points.map((p) => p.actualHR),
+    points.flatMap((p) => p.targetHRRange ?? [null, null]),
+    5,
+  );
+  const paceTicks = paceTicksEvery30s(paceDomain);
 
   const paceTooltipFormatter = rangeTooltipFormatter("Target range", (v) => `${formatPace(v)}`);
   const hrTooltipFormatter = rangeTooltipFormatter("Target range", (v) => `${Math.round(v)} bpm`);
@@ -187,7 +246,7 @@ export function ExpectedVsActualChart({ laps, samples }: { laps: Lap[]; samples:
               <ReferenceArea key={i} x1={b.x1} x2={b.x2} fill={b.color} fillOpacity={0.18} strokeOpacity={0} />
             ))}
             <XAxis dataKey="t" type="number" domain={[0, elapsedMin]} tick={{ fontSize: 10 }} tickFormatter={(v) => `${Math.round(Number(v))}m`} />
-            <YAxis reversed domain={paceDomain} tick={{ fontSize: 10 }} width={34} tickFormatter={(v) => formatPaceShort(Number(v))} />
+            <YAxis reversed domain={paceDomain} ticks={paceTicks} interval={0} tick={{ fontSize: 10 }} width={34} tickFormatter={(v) => formatPaceShort(Number(v))} />
             <Tooltip formatter={paceTooltipFormatter} labelFormatter={(t) => `${formatElapsed(Number(t))} elapsed`} contentStyle={{ fontSize: 12 }} />
             {hasPaceTarget && (
               <Area type="stepAfter" dataKey="targetPaceRange" stroke="none" fill="#9aa0ab" fillOpacity={0.25} isAnimationActive={false} name="Target range" connectNulls />