Marathon Training

[J.R.]

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Lance Armstrong trained for about 6 months for his first marathon. Lance has about the highest VO2 max known.

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Lance Armstrong by contrast reports a VO2 Max of about 84 to 85, but even this is a bit lower than the highest-ever recorded VO2 Max of 93.

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Derek Clayton, marathon world record holder at the end of the 60’s, had a lower VO2max value than mine, about 69 ml/kg/min, but he could run the marathon in 2h09’, approximately 20 minutes faster than my best performance ever.

This simply because he was able to run at an intensity of 90-92% of his VO2max without accumulating relevant concentrations of lactic acid: less than 2.5 mM/L!
At the same percentage of my VO2max value, my lactate concentration exceeded 8 mM/l.

In cycling the measuring of VO2max has about the same meaning as in running: it is useful and indicative of the potentiality of the athlete, but once again its correlation with competitive results is not so tight.
Lance Armstrong for instance was measured a VO2max of 82 ml/kg/min, which is an excellent value, but common to many other professional athletes that obtained far inferior results in their careers.

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List of elite athlete's VO2 max


That all said, these are lab tested VO2 Max. Some have suggested that in cycling events, the usage of chemistry altering substances can artificially increase these levels.