Couch to 169K..... or bust

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Originally Posted by Travs

Are you still planning for the long race (was it something like 100 miles in July...?)

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If I can yeah. But it’s all about eating the elephant in bite sized portions. I was really worried for a short while that I wouldn’t even be able to walk in the hills again. Then I could, which was a win, and now I can run in the hills which is a win, win. I’m still though two or three wins short of being able to do the LL100 at the end of July :)

Next up it’s about being able to run longer distances. And run faster. If I can do both of those then that will be fantastic and I can straight away put them to the test next month - I’m down for the Ulswater Way trail 20 race on 5th June (20 miles) and then the Lakeland 5 Passes on 25th (33 miles)

Plenty of scope for car crashes yet

Yes that Lakes 5 Passes looks a cracking route, but (and i'm pretty sure the debate has already been had on here), Ascend Events' prices seem to have rocketed.... i'll be doing Great Lakes that weekend instead.

Best of luck...

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Originally Posted by Fellbeast

I'm now planning to really push the envelope with something a fair bit longer this coming weekend and I reckon that may be a make or breaker

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About 6 weeks to the 5 Passes I reckon. You could add 3 miles a week to your long run and be ready to hit that rather than rolling the dice this weekend. (Spoken as someone on the comeback from injury and the 5 Passes will be farthest I've run in a long time.)

So its now 12 full weeks since I started this thread and, coincidentally, my Garmin app charts my VO2 max over a 12 week period. Yeah I know VO2 max as measured by an app isn't going to be blindingly accurate, even though nowadays I wear my HR chest strap all of the time when exercising, but as a way of measuring relative fitness its really good I'd say. Especially good in fact as I'm now according to Garmin in the top 10% for my age and have a fitness age of 33 :cool:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...501e0347_k.jpg

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Originally Posted by Fellbeast

So its now 12 full weeks since I started this thread and, coincidentally, my Garmin app charts my VO2 max over a 12 week period. Yeah I know VO2 max as measured by an app isn't going to be blindingly accurate, even though nowadays I wear my HR chest strap all of the time when exercising, but as a way of measuring relative fitness its really good I'd say. Especially good in fact as I'm now according to Garmin in the top 10% for my age and have a fitness age of 33 :cool:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...501e0347_k.jpg

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I think you should now return to the Senior male category in future Fell Races, Fellbeast! ;)

On a more serious note, congratulations on your VO2 Max results. I have never worn a HR monitor but would like to think that mine would be similarly much lower than my real age.

Unfortunately I think this and similar results says more about the general fitness of the nation and confirms that we live in a country full of fat, lazy lardy arses!

Yes I’m now as fit and an average, slightly fat 33 year old couch potato bloke 😊

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Originally Posted by Fellbeast

So its now 12 full weeks since I started this thread and, coincidentally, my Garmin app charts my VO2 max over a 12 week period. Yeah I know VO2 max as measured by an app isn't going to be blindingly accurate, even though nowadays I wear my HR chest strap all of the time when exercising, but as a way of measuring relative fitness its really good I'd say. Especially good in fact as I'm now according to Garmin in the top 10% for my age and have a fitness age of 33 :cool:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...501e0347_k.jpg

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I have not looked at how Garmin estimates VO2 Max but I suspect it just makes an estimate from activity level and heart rate. At VO2 Max heart rate has levelled out at its maximum and O2 consumption no longer rises, despite an increase in activity - something that cannot be kept up for long. Of course Garmin cannot measure O2 consumption. It also wants to make people feel positive about their exercising. If people are "coming back" after an injury I suspect Garmin would portray this as an increase in VO2 Max. But well done! Mine has gone from 40 to 44 in 6 months - I keep trying to push it up to no avail.

I found this:

For Garmin to calculate the athletes VO2 Max it collects the following data from each user:

1 – Age and personal background is recorded
2 – Exercise is started with data collected from heart rate and speed.
3 – The data collected from the activity is segmented into different heart rate scales based on the user’s background information.

4 – During the activity reliability is measured based on continuous activity (stopping etc)
5 – The most credible data segments are then used to estimate the aerobic fitness level through heart rate and speed data.

VO2 MAX GARMIN CALCULATION

Speed data is then taken from reliable segments and used to estimate a VO2 Max score. This is taken from 20-30 second periods using one of the VO2 calculations below:

Walking and Pole Walking: Theoretical VO2 (ml/kg/min)=1.78*speed*16.67[tan(inclination)+0.073]
Running on a Level Ground: Theoretical VO2 (ml/kg/min)=3.5 speed
Running in a Hilly Terrain: Theoretical VO2 (ml/kg/min)=3.33*speed+15*tan(inclination)*speed+3.5
Cycling: Theoretical VO2 (ml/kg/min)=(12.35*Power+300)/person’s weight
Rowing (Indoor): Theoretical VO2 (ml/kg/min)=(14.72*Power+250.39)/person’s weight

Unit of speed = kilometers per hour (km/h)
Unit of inclination = degrees)(°)
Unit of power = watts (W)
Unit of weight = kilograms (kg)

I like the simplicity of multiplying running speed on level ground by 3.5. So for my 10 km PB of 40 minutes = 15 km per hour x 3.5 = 52.5. This agrees with the VO2 Max charts I have seen.

That’s great Mike. Garmin’s VO2 max for sure is good for measuring relative fitness and I’m now finding I have to go harder to get any gains. I’m currently looking to improve my anaerobic scores on the Garmin app but, broadly speaking, to do that I did to get my heart rate into zone five, which means pushing it above 165bpm for me.

So hill climbs on the bike, faster running (knee permitting) and high intensity gym stuff - none of which are particularly pleasant experiences :)