OK i'm cruising on the internet (read: avoiding all things important) and find a site that has a running 'pace' predictor from one's VO2Max. Hmmmm...being the ever so curious person that I am, I went and dug out the VO2 max test I had when I was a guinea pig in some poor grad student's experiment. And hey, those things are expensive and it was free for me. So sure, being a poor gradstudent myself I knew I wouldn't pay for one of those things anyway. (and being a skeptic into the whole importance of the VO2max...more on that...)
When I got to this website you can 'calculate' how fast or slow based upon your weight and a current time you have gone....bla, bla, bla. I know...not reliable...but this is the weird part about is that when I type in my 2 hour time for my half marathon, it comes up with a
VO2max of 36.5ml/kg/min...
Me...i'm thinking...um...no.
I know, I know...website calculations are phooey, but if I type in my VO2max test from two years ago (and again, i know...VO2max's shouldn't change much...whatever) which was 44.5ml/kg/min I get some OTHER very different numbers.
Apparently I'm 'supposed' to be able to run a mile in 6:28 (that hasn't happened), and my 'marathon' pace should be 8 min/miles (i wish...I wish I could run that for a 10K) and my 'slow' run time is supposed to be 9min/miles. (um...that's when I've trained like heck and have a base and let me tell you sister...i was not 'slow' running that half marathon back in Oct). Right now i'm lucky if I see a sub 10 min/mile. OK I know, i know...i have no base at the moment. But really...what the HECK is the VO2 max all about? I think it's a load of garbage at this moment because what exactly does it tell you except the amount of air you sucked down before you decided you should stop otherwise you might puke and you didn't want to puke in that little mask on your face. And to date I have not found any satisfactory answer to the mystery of the VO2 max. I'm puzzled. It's a perplexing thing...that's for sure.
So...my conclusion...VO2max predictors online...tell you...well...not much of anything. Does the VO2max tell you anything at all really? Any other takers on the subject?
1 comment:
Has your weight remained the same since you took the test? The "KG" in the equation is your weight. If it goes up then your VO2Max goes down along with your performance.
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