tragabigzanda wrote:Did a VO2 test at the university today. It’s basically an accelerated run with increasing incline, a heart rate monitor, and a CO2 mask to monitor your output, but which effectively limits your breathing something fierce.
Pretty brutal at the end, felt like I could have done another two mins at the next incline level (it’s in 2-minute stages) but I almost certainly would’ve puked.
Anyway I placed in the 93rd percentile for my age, which felt good. And most importantly, I’ve got hard numbers on target heart rate for burning carbs vs burning fat, which I can use for interval training, distance, post-heavy meal caloric burning, whatever. Generally I’m looking to decrease my run time from 60 > 30 minutes and burn more fat than calories, which I was doing before.
Good on you.
I wish I could put this level of thought/care/work into it. Super impressed.
It was a closely monitored 25 minute run (that wore me out as much as a regular 60-minute run), followed by a 30 minute consultation with masters students, for $100.
If you run for joy, connection to place, an excuse to get outside, probably this is of no interest. If you’re trying to maximize physical impact with a limited schedule, I think it’s a screaming deal! YMMV.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri October 06, 2023 3:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
I use a Garmin competitor that that does a great job of tracking your intensity via "heart rate". I run for pleasure but I do like to gauge my intensity to build endurance which ultimately leads to being able to run longer (more pleasure).
The watch (Coros Pace 2) has what I need for that, but if I really wanted to get into VO2 max and all that (like what Trag is doing), I think the data is fairly inaccurate without a connected chest monitor.
As I understand it, a fitness watch is best for benchmarks and not true heart rate accuracy.
dimejinky99 wrote:I could destroy any ai chatbot you put in front of me. Easily.
I've had both the chest and the arm band. I didnt notice much difference in measurements between the two but felt the chest strap to be more cumbersome.
I haven't managed to stack more than 20 miles total in the last 3-4 months. Damn good excuse to sign up for a race and get going again. Houston Half is January 24th. If I start rebuilding my base now, I think I could be ready for a 12 week training block at the end of the month. Once I get going consistently, the miles are easy to manage.
dimejinky99 wrote:I could destroy any ai chatbot you put in front of me. Easily.
