vVO2max (velocity at maximal oxygen uptake) is an intense running or swimming pace. This is the minimum speed for which the organism's maximal oxygen uptake is reached (after a few minutes of exercise at this intensity); at higher paces, additional power is entirely delivered by anaerobic processes. At this pace, blood lactate in the muscles reaches levels around 8-10 mM.
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The vVO2max of world class middle- and long-distance runners may exceed 24 km/h (14.9 mph or about 4:00/mile pace), making this speed slightly comparable to 3000 m race pace. For many athletes, vVO2max may be slightly slower than 1500 m or mile race pace.
Training
Research by Véronique Billat has shown that training at vVO2max pace improves both VO2max and the economy required to maintain pace at this intensity.
Training at vVO2max takes the form of interval workouts. For example, 3 x 1000 m with 3 minutes recovery between each repetition.
Determining vVO2max from VO2max
The formula from Léger and Mercier links the VO2max to the vVO2max, supposing an ideal running technique.
vVO2max = VO2max / 3.5where vVO2max is in km/h and VO2max is in mL/(kg•min).
Note: This formula is identical to that used to calculate the Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) score for a given VO2max estimation.