see vo2max for a SPECIFIC RUN

Thread moved from German to English language forum.

You can connect your Garmin account to Runalyze, which then can show your VO2max estimate after each run. You'll have to set Runalyze to show "VO2max (by file)", by default it shows its own VO2max estimate.

However, I don't think Garmin's VO2max estimate works by calculating a VO2max value from a specific single run alone. Rather it most likely compares the run to the current VO2max estimate, and then tweaks the estimate up or down a little, if necessary (this assumption is based on my experience and reading Firstbeat's white papers on the subject). So, if you want to know a run's effect on your VO2max estimate, you'll have to compare the estimate before and after the run to see the run's effect. That's probably easiest to do on the watch, by adding a Training status glance and looking at the VO2max graph under its VO2max section.

You can also export the activity in the default FIT file format, unzip it, and import to https://www.fitfileviewer.com/. If supported by the watch model, the exact VO₂max value (4 decimal places) estimated during given run, is then in the section "Activity Metrics"

TL;DR you should also be able to use fitfileviewer to see the *user* (not activity) vo2 max at the end of a given activity, which should match what is shown in Connect and on the watch (especially in the "unrounded" graph in training status > vo2 max)

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Unlike runalyze, FIT File Viewer also shows the *user* VO2 max to 2 decimal places, under User Metrics, and in my experience, it's very close to to the VO2 max under Activity Metrics (which the same as what runalyze shows), but not the same. 

I always thought the "activity VO2 max" in the FIT file was some kind of rolling average (or that it was somehow based on previous activities, like Bitti said), but I also used to think it was the same as user VO2 max.  Now that fit file viewer shows user VO2 max, I see the user VO2 max is not quite the same.

So it seems that even if activity VO2 max incorporates the trend from previous runs somehow (via some unknown weighting method), this value itself is only partially incorporated into the latest user VO2 max estimate (via another unknown weighting method).

(I always wondered why the fractional VO2 Max (from Garmin) shown in runalyze didn't seem to round properly to what was displayed in Connect and it didn't perfectly match the the graph in the training status vo2 max graph on the watch, which shows unrounded data points. Now I know why)

Bitti said:

That's probably easiest to do on the watch, by adding a Training status glance and looking at the VO2max graph under its VO2max section.

You might also be able to see this in FIT File Viewer.

Under User Metrics, it shows both "vo2 max" and "first vo2 max". I assume "vo2 max" is the value at the end of the activity, and "first vo2 max" is the first value calculated during the activity. I don't think "first vo2 max" is the value before / at the start of the activity, because when I look at 2 consecutive activities, "vo2 max" for the previous activity is not equal to "first vo2 max" for the next activity

It's too bad that runalyze doesn't show either of these values.

Speaking of runalyze, it does calculate its own per-run VO2 Max based on HR and pace data, and unlike Garmin's activity or user VO2 Max values stored in the FIT files, each value seems to be independent of other activities. I can see this by how the value fluctuates wildly when I run a good race or I have a bad run, unlike Garmin's activity/user VO2 Max which usually seems to change pretty gradually. Based on these this, runalyze also calculates an average VO2 Max for the user, which is usually a bit lower than the Garmin estimate, but maybe a bit more realistic

I have been using runalyze and it does seem to give me a vo2max for each run that varies a lot more than garmin.  I started running back in 2017 with a basic forerunner watch and I could swear that, maybe it was on the android app, it showed and individual vo2max for every run I did.  And the dots on the trend of vo2max matched to each individual day I had a run activity.  Seems like now everything is averaged out and you cant see individual run metrics in a trend.  Like, I want see any metric, over any time period, on a per run activity basis.  So if I did 100 runs in 6 months, I would like to see 100 dots on the 6 month trend for anything - distance, vo2max, calories, whatever.

Garmin also simply does not know how to do a proper graph of any kind and their web connect looks like its interface has barely changed in almost 10 years.  Like on stride length graphs, my stride is about 1 meter but the scale goes from 0 - 4 meters so the graph is so over scaled you can't see any visual difference.  And there are so many other simple improvements they could make but I guess nobody looks at it any more.  And don't get me started on the never ending sidebar scrolling you have to do to see your data.........

Anyhow, I think I can do some of this on RA but come on Garmin, I like your watches and the data collected is nice.  But its like having Mt Everest filled with data gold but you have to dig it out with a broken plastic spork.  

Guess I will work on getting my stride length up to 4 meters this week.