Run-Down Forums

[mjsbossman]

Does anyone out there know what the difference is betweem Max VO2, Running Economy, and Lactate Threshold? They all seem the same to me. How can you improve each of these areas? Can they be improved by doing base training? My coach said not to do any interval training this summer, but I have read that interval training helps in all these area. And I am currently running 45 miles a week, increasing 5 miles a week every 2 weeks.

[Dan]

I've never cared much for those other than just running efficient (economy) and hard. I don't really see that the other items are something you work with the aim of improving. They are an end result of good training.

Dan

[Guest]

Max VO2 is the maximum amount of oxegen your body can take in and USE. Obviously you want it to be as high as possible.

However, MaxVO2 is a notoriously poor predictor of performance. Why? Because not everyone uses that oxegen at the same effeciency. For this reason, the PACE at which you hit VO2max is really what is critical.

Example: John has a VO2max of 80, Bill has a VO2max of 65. John hits his max running at 5:00 per mile pace. Bill hits his max at 4:30 pace. Bill beats John easily in a race. Even though John can use more oxegen than Bill, Bill is much more efficent. He only has to use 65 units to run 4:30 pace whereas John uses 25% more oxegen units to run 30 seconds per miles slower. If Bill were able to raise his VO2max to 80, then watch out!

Lactate Threshold: this is th point at which the acumulation of lactic acid in your bloodstream switches from a linear to a non-linear accumulation. What? It all of a sudden starts going up real fast. When this happens, the amount of time you can keep running at the same pace starts to drop rapidly. So you want your lactate threshold to be as high as possible. In an ideal world it would be the same as your VO2max which would mean that you could run at VO2max pace for a long time (about an hour). For most people, it falls somewhere between 70 and 90% of VO2max.

In practical terms, lactate threshold is more important than VO2max. It will pretty much determine how far you can run at a certan pace.

Training both VO2max and LT is maximized by aerobic intervals where you hit your max near the end of each one. With experience you'll know when you hit it. You simply can't take in any more oxegen. For example, 6 X 1000 or 5 X 1600 would probably do the trick. I like 6 X 3min uphill.

Tempo runs are also well known for producing favorable increases in LT. Essentially, anywhere from 20-60 minutes hard will do the trick. These runs have the added bonus of getting you used to pain for long periods of time. Important for cross season.

[Anonymously Posted by: 'Paul']

[Dan]

Good stuff, Paul. More detail than I put into it, but similar in theory. You're on quite a roll today.

Dan

[mjsbossman]

Thanks alot Paul!!! You answered my questions.

[Dan]

Paul's good when it comes to that sort of thing.

Dan