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From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
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This section gives a high level, practical overview of aerobic intervals. [[Aerobic Interval Training 101]] gives some of the details around aerobic intervals and I would highly recommend the book Jack Daniel's Running Formula.
== Find your target pace ==
The best solution to this is to use a race result. Go to [http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm[VDOT Calculator]] and enter your race time and distance, then hit 'Calculate VDOT'. This will give you a series of equivalent times for other distances. It will also give you a list of aerobic interval paces for various distances. So, if you did a 5K in 21:00, you would get 400m in 1:38, 800m in 3:35, 1200m in 4:54. Note: you must enter the time of a race you have completed, not your target time for a race. Please repeat out loud "I will enter the time of a race I've completed". More seriously, this is a very common mistake that you need to avoid. Train based on your current fitness, not the fitness you hope to achieve.
An alternative approach is to see how far you can run in 6 minutes and use that as the pace for your intervals. This is not so effective, but it can do at a pinch.