VO2max pace & training paces

What VO2max pace is

Your VO2max pace is the speed you can hold for about 6 minutes flat out. It's the single most useful number for prescribing training paces because everything else (easy run pace, tempo pace, interval pace) is a percentage of it.

In French, it's called VMA (Vitesse Maximale Aérobie). Same concept, different name.

RunCadence uses your VO2max pace to compute every training pace in your plan. That's why getting it right matters: if the number is off, all your paces will be off in the same direction.

If you don't know yours yet, you have two ways to find out: tell the coach about a recent race result so it can estimate, or do a quick field test (see below).

Pace zones explained

Every session in your plan has a target pace zone. Here's what each one means in plain language:

• Recovery — very easy. You could talk in full sentences and still feel fresh. Used between hard sessions or as walking jog between intervals.
• Easy — comfortable conversational pace. The bulk of your training lives here. Easy runs build aerobic base without taxing you.
• Long — slightly faster than easy but still conversational. The right pace for long runs that build endurance without trashing you.
• Tempo / Threshold — comfortably hard. You can speak two or three words at a time, not full sentences. Sustainable for 20-40 minutes.
• Intervals (VO2max) — hard. You can barely speak. Held for short bursts (30 seconds to 5 minutes) with recovery in between.
• Sprints — full effort. Short, sharp, followed by long recovery. Used sparingly.

RunCadence picks the right mix of zones for your goal and your week. You don't need to memorize the percentages, just trust the prescribed pace and the haptic cues on your Watch.

How do I update my VO2max pace?

You can update it in two ways:

1. Field test — ask the coach for a demi-Cooper test (see the next section).
2. Just tell the coach — open the chat and say "my VO2max pace is 13.5 km/h" (or "my pace at VO2max is 4:27/km"). The coach updates your profile and recalibrates all your training paces.

It's a good idea to reassess every 6-12 weeks during a training block. Your VO2max pace improves with training, and your paces should keep up.

The demi-Cooper field test

The demi-Cooper is the simplest, most reliable way to measure your VO2max pace. It's a 6-minute all-out effort on a flat course, after a proper warmup. RunCadence reads how far you covered and computes your VO2max pace from it.

How to do it:

1. Pick a flat course — a track is ideal, but a flat road or wide path works fine. Avoid hills, wind, and uneven trails.
2. Warm up properly — at least 10 minutes easy jogging, then a few short accelerations (4 × 30 seconds at moderate pace, with 30 seconds easy in between).
3. Run 6 minutes flat out — pace yourself so you finish on empty. Start firm but not sprinting, hold a controlled hard effort, push the final minute.
4. Note the distance — your Watch or RunCadence will record it. The session in RunCadence is pre-set to log a field test, so just hit Save and the coach updates your VO2max pace automatically.
5. Cool down — 10 minutes easy jogging.

Do it fresh (not after a hard day), in cool weather if you can, and only once every 6 weeks or so. It's brutal but short, and it's the calibration that makes every future pace prescription accurate.