V02 calculation

It is a rolling average, thus it won't change with only one run

If you look at your VO2max trend on the watch you can see more granularity in its 4 week trend. The value you see in Connect is weighted to eliminate sharp jumps up or down from one really good or bad run. 

Also, 3 minutes off your 5k time seems like a lot to ascribe to a pair of shoes. Most estimates I’ve seen are on the order of 1-2% for super shoes. 3 minutes on a 30 minute 5k would be 10%, the percentage increase would look even crazier for faster 5k times. 

Maybe you were selling yourself short and the shoes gave you a confidence boost. 

Ok, I get it now. I'll have to reproduce the same results over time for V02 max to increase. I was expecting at least one digit higher but nope it remained the same.

Maybe I got a confidence boost as you say, but I noticed the difference immediately. My previous shoes were not running shoes, they were stiff with no bounce at all compared to the running shoes.

Yep, the value in Connect (and on your watch) is actually:

- a rounded whole number (the internal value is fractional)

- some sort of rolling average

The 4-week graph on the watch does show more granularity, but of course you can't see the exact numbers for each day or activity.

If you use the free site https://www.runanalyze.com (which syncs with your Garmin Connect account), you can see your VO2Max with two decimal places (it's saved to each activity). (It's the "VO2Max (file)" column). It's still a rolling average though, but runalyze also calculates its own non-average VO2 Max for each activity (it's similar to Garmin's calculation in that it looks at your pace vs. your HR). I would bet that runalyze's VO2Max for your race would be a lot higher than the VO2Max it calculates for all your other activities. (This would normally be true for races in general, since people tend to perform better than usual on race day due to adrenaline.)

+1 for Runalyze. Great resource. 

WillNorthYork said:

If you use the free site https://www.runanalyze.com

From what you described it looks like a great tool to have, however when I try to enter it says the connection is not secure, like it is some kind of virus. Is it safe?

because it is https://runalyze.com/ an not run-ana-lyze

Thanks!

I think runalyze uses different model. For me numbers are different like 5-6 points (sometimes up to 10).

Both are useful to see your tend though

I tried it for the first time after being suggested in this forum, and my V02 max values on runalyze were exactly the same as my garmin watch. The only difference is that runalyze shows also decimals.