My VO₂ Max Dropped… But I Got Faster?!

[00:00:00] My VO two max dropped, and honestly, I couldn’t care less because despite what my fancy running smartwatch and my lab test says, I’m running faster than I ever have in my entire life. Here’s why that number on your watch and even in the lab might be lying to you when it comes to performance in the real world.

[00:00:16] I’ll be going over why VO two max isn’t the whole story with science to back all of this up. Where to put your focus so you’re training the stuff that actually moves your race times. While a small drop in my VO two max like mine doesn’t mean that I’m falling apart. How to train without obsessing over a single metric and a free download to help you improve your VO two max.

[00:00:36] Right now, I’m Daren Delegue, running coach, 30 year runner slash endurance athlete. Full on data nerd looking to help 10,000 self-coach runners just like you get 1% better every day and improving their VO two max. And separating all the good signal from all that bad noise. Let’s get into the episode, the misunderstanding and why the number messes with your head.

[00:00:57] Most runners treat that VO two max number like a school grade, Garmin and Kros and all the other smart watches tell you it’s up and you’re a genius. It dips and suddenly you’re Googling iron deficiencies at 2:00 AM on your phone when you should be sleeping. Jack Daniels a pioneer in VO two max training from decades ago, and his VDOT free online calculator while way more accurate than the smartwatch stuff, Garmin, et cetera, it reverse engineers a VO two-ish score from your race times or workouts helpful.

[00:01:27] Sure. Perfect. Note lab test measure VO two max directly, and even that is just one piece of a bigger jigsaw puzzle. Quick run science nerve break defining VO two max. So back in 1923? Yes. Over a hundred years ago, researchers Hill and leptin were the first to really nail down what we call now VO two max.

[00:01:47] They discovered there’s a ceiling to how much oxygen your body can actually use during exercise, even if you push harder. VO two max is the maximum rate. Your body can consume oxygen during exercise. It’s still aerobic, but fuel by a whole lot of glycogen. AKA carbs. When you’re going that hard, that’s why it hurts and it helps.

[00:02:05] It’s basically your body’s oxygen processing horsepower. What about zone one and zone two training? Yes. Base training nudges VO two max up slowly builds the foundation, builds the concrete, builds the pillars, et cetera. It’s also the scenic root. Of getting to a high VO two max and your smartwatch, Garmin, choros, et cetera, those VO O2 MAX scores, it’s algorithm based.

[00:02:27] It’s limited inputs that only focus on a high heart rate and pace and time at that heart rate. So treat the smartwatch VO two MAX score like the weather. It’s a useful trend, something to go, oh cool. But it is not absolute truth Gospel. Here’s an analogy to help it stick. VO two max is like a car engine size.

[00:02:45] A big engine is a potentially fast car, but your watch, it’s guessing engine size by doing something like listening to the idle of the engine, the sound of the engine, sometimes close. Sometimes not. And race performance. That’s not just engine size, it’s gearing, aerodynamics, the driver, the tires, the road, the weather, you get it.

[00:03:03] Let’s zoom out to distance running. What predicts performance changes with race length for marathons and half marathons. That’s gonna be lactate threshold and running economy. They explain why more fast people. Are fast. So having high actic threshold and really good running economy. But for 5K in shorter races, VO two max matters much more.

[00:03:23] So think different tools for different jobs. In this episode, it’s about choosing the right tools. So if VO two max isn’t king for longer stuff, what should you focus on instead? For the shorter stuff, the real drivers of speed. So there’s two levers that runners under use lactate threshold and running economy.

[00:03:40] Let’s talk about the first one, lactate threshold. This is the fastest pace that you can hold before the wheels start wobbling. So whatever you can hold for 45 to 60 minute run, going quote unquote all out, that’s usually for half in full marathons. It’s your money metric. It’s exactly where you wanna be.

[00:03:53] You wanna train this very well, but for 5K, one mile, three K races, two mile races, et cetera, and shorter VO two max comes back into the spotlight as your hero. But you still want a higher ceiling. You still need that lactate threshold. And then number two, running economy. Not how pretty you look, but how much oxygen you need to maintain at a given pace.

[00:04:12] Better economy equals lower oxygen cost per mile or kilometer Translation, spend less to go the same speed or spend the same to go faster. This is also related to an efficient running form run science nerd break. Threshold is the temperature your car can cruise at before overheating economy is your fuel efficiency how far you can go in that same tank.

[00:04:34] Here’s something to note. Research going back to 1980s shouts to scientists. I’m gonna destroy the names. Conley and Kran Bull and Soja and Den Hag found that among competitive runners. Threshold and economy were actually better predictors of race performance than VO two max. Why? Once you’re reasonably fit, most runners, they cluster within a similar VO, O2 max range, but threshold and economy, that’s where the real separation happens.

[00:04:58] It’s like having a bunch of cars with the same size engine. The winners are determined by who can run cooler, burn less fuel, and just drive better. If you’re like, Hey, Daren, I want to use this information right now. Dope. So good. Download my free VO two max booster plan. It’s a short, clean training block that slots into normal training so you can touch VO two max without turning your legs into toast.

[00:05:20] For everything else could show up. For more workouts, show up for your life and you’re not tired all the time. Get it to QR code here, link below, and your show notes back to the episode. This is what focus looks like in training and how to do proper threshold and run economy. Improving workouts, threshold intervals.

[00:05:36] You can do two to three, seven to 10 minutes at threshold pace with a two to three minutes easy jog. You teach your body to shuttle and reuse lactate instead of panicking. You can do hills for running economy, uh, with nuance. So you could do anywhere from six to 10 depending on your fitness and your race goals, anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds.

[00:05:55] Uh. Uphill about probably four to 6% grade. Not too steep, not too flat, and then easy jog down. It’s great for leg strength and potentially better running economy. Though research is mixed specifically on the economy games, you can keep it powerful, not sloppy. It just feels good. Also helps a bit of VO two max.

[00:06:13] Long steady state. So 60 to 90 minutes at a controlled, I can hold this for a while. Effort builds durability and high aerobic power. Think high zone two, low zone three. So your late race. Self doesn’t hate you and doesn’t sabotage you and thinks that we need to tap outta this race. So zoom out to science again.

[00:06:30] VO two max plus Running economy together explain a massive chunk of performance variance in train runners to the order of 94%. In some context, that doesn’t mean that VO two max is useless. It means running economy plus VO two max and by extension v VO two max. We won’t get into the weeds of that. It’s where compounding happens.

[00:06:48] Small asterisk. So we stay honest. Training responses vary a lot between humans. You’re not a spreadsheet, you’re a person, but broadly speaking, this is the pattern. You know what’s best, consistency and focus. That’s what allows you to get better at your race times and stay injury free. My results, so context is greater than number seven years ago.

[00:07:05] My lab VO two max test was about 56 milliliters per kilogram. Per minute of oxygen. So that’s how they measure VO two max a few months ago. It read 54, 2 points lower, small but real. A few things to note. VO two max naturally declines with age, so rough estimate is about 1% per year after 30. Then as you get into your forties and fifties, it drops even faster.

[00:07:28] Sixties, so some drop over seven years into my early forties is totally expected. Lab tests are gold standard, accurate for VO two max. They aren’t perfect. Even in healthy people, you can see two to 4% test, retest variability depending on protocol equipment they use. Uh, the person doing the test variability on the day you as a human, don’t freak out over tiny swings.

[00:07:50] Training focus matters. When I took the test, I wasn’t hammering vo O2 max workouts, so my VO two was not at its optimal place. It also wasn’t seven years ago too, so that’s where the, the asterisk is. When I did the VO two max test a few months ago, I was in marathon focus block aerobic base. Sub-threshold, durability, lots of zone two, zone three work.

[00:08:09] So the engine size metric, it dipped a bit. That big VO two max engine, but I still got faster ’cause of all the other metrics. The lesson focus is better than fixation. Pick the levers that move your race ’cause that’s the most important thing, not just some random number. I’ll be talking more about focus in my upcoming book, the 1% Better Runner.

[00:08:29] So stay tuned for that. Just want to do a quick plug. If you want the fast, sane way to nudge a VO two max up, grab that free download VO two max plan. It’s gonna help you get faster. In a smart, strategic way, so you can sequence and plan all your workouts throughout the weeks, et cetera. And as a bonus, you’ll automatically sign up for my five minutes or less weekly newsletter.

[00:08:49] I’ll do deep dives like this VO two max episode, but also threshold stuff, sub-threshold stuff, tempo, long run strides, mental fitness. That’s a big one. Get it at the QR code here. Link below or new show notes. But ignoring your VO two max is one part of the fast performance equation. If you wanna really get faster at distance running, learn all about why strides, sprints, run throughs, and windups can help your running economy.

[00:09:11] That other thing that helps you race faster. Get that here or link below or in the show notes of your podcast app. Peace.