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VO2 and marathon pace
Booky
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Does anyone know what percentage of their VO2max they run at for a marathon? Just curious 
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Can't find a source right now but I think it's generally in the region of 80-85% for a well trained athlete. I had a quick look at my Noakes book and he refers to Jack Daniels' VDOT training and says that threshold is equivalent to around 88% VO2max so marathon pace will be a bit lower.
Obviously no one will know their actual VO2max unless they've done a lab test. You can get an estimate from various sites from putting in a race distance, e.g. 5k which is run close to VO2max although 3k is closer, so I suppose you could estimate it from there. Jack Daniels is your man though if you want to look it up.
Cheers Phil
I've been looking for research and haven't actually come across a lot. Although I suspect that's my search strategy rather than a lack of data.
This might be worth a read, although I don't know who he is.
I would've had a look at my Pfitzinger and Douglas book but I think I might have leant it to someone. They definitely single out VO2max as one of the key variables worth training for marathon performance - although it's kind of ''icing on the cake'' after things like aerobic endurance and lactate threshold - so I'm sure they've got a bit to say about it. Might be worth searching on them as well.